The course is lecture-based with regular problem sets and machine problem assignments plus a midterm examination and final examination.
Attendance is mandatory, but use common sense if you are sick or have other constraints. Attending the lectures is sometimes the only chance for you to learn
certain materials as they may not necessarily be in the textbook.
Because of the wide coverage of topics, you may need to read additional
materials besides the textbook.
The assignments are designed to ensure that students have a deep and precise understanding of the major algorithms, thus the students are required to complete them independently. However, discussion with others is allowed to the extent of helping understand the material. The course newsgroup may be a good place for discussions. The purpose of student collaboration is to facilitate learning, not to circumvent it. The actual solution must be done by each student alone, and the student should be ready to reproduce their solution upon request. If any substantial discussion happens, every one involved must write down the names of the people that he/she has discussed with and the nature or topic of discussion. In any case, you must exercise academic integrity. See the University Policy on Academic Integrity, especially the section on plagiarism.
Late submission of an assignment would result in a reduced grade for the assignment, unless
an extension has been granted by the instructor. An assignment is worth full credit at the beginning of
class on the due date (later if an extension has been granted). It is worth at most 90% credit for
the next 24 hours. It is worth at most 50% credit for the following 24 hours.
It is worth 25% credit after that. If you need an
extension, please ask for it (by sending email to the instructor) as soon as the need for it is
known. Extensions that are requested promptly will be granted more liberally. You must
turn in all assignments.
Students who take the course for 1 unit credit are required to finish a
small project, which could be either a literature review on a
bioinformatics topic or some piece of research work in bioinformatics. Team work is allowed. Students who plan to do such a project should discuss the
plan with the instructors early in the semester.
Grading will be based on the following weighting scheme (tentative). The total score will be scaled appropriately depending on whether the course is taken for 0.75 unit (= 3 hours) or 1 unit.