Working in Groups
Some assignments require you to work in groups. Here are the rules
regarding group work.
- A group must consist of either two or three people. Solutions
turned in by a "group" of one person, or by a group of four or more
people, will receive no credit.
- You can work in different groups on different assignments.
Unless the assignments explicitly say otherwise, there is no need to
keep the same group from assignment to assignment.
- Each group should submit a single solution, which should be
clearly labeled with the names of the group's members. Only one member of
the group needs to submit the group's solution. There is no need to
submit redundant copies for the other members.
- The members of a group will all receive the same grade on an
assignment, reflecting the quality of the group's collective solution
to the assignment.
- It is up to you to divide up the work within your group, and to
make sure that the other members of your group meet their
commitments. (If a member of your group is consistently irresponsible,
let us know and we'll take appropriate action.)
- If you have trouble finding a group, let us know and we will help
you.
Why Work in Groups?
There are several reasons for our decision to make you work in groups.
- In the real world, people work in groups. We want you to learn
how.
- We think that students learn more by doing hard assignments than
by doing easy ones. Giving group assignments lets us give harder
assignments without overworking you.
- Security problems require you to deal with engineering tradeoffs
and make difficult design decisions. We hope that you'll debate these
decisions within your group, and that the debates will be
educational.
Copyright 2000-2001, Edward W. Felten. All rights reserved.