15-213/15-513 Intro to Computer Systems: Assignments

There will be weekly written assignments, starting in the second week of classes. Each written assignment consists of 1-3 questions that require students to write single paragraph answers. They are released and collected via Canvas.

Written assignments are always due at 11:59pm (Pittsburgh time) on Wednesday evenings. No late submissions are accepted. Canvas will generally accept only one submission.

Written assignments are graded by your peers: three other students will read what you wrote and provide short, constructive feedback and a score (1-10).

Each assignment is worth 15 points, total. You receive the maximum of your peers’ scores, plus five points for completing the peer reviews you are assigned.

There will be 8 written assignments in all, and we will drop your two lowest scores. The 6 remaining are each worth 2% of your course grade.

There is no written assignment due, or issued, the week of the midterm.

Schedule

Written	Weight (%)	Topic	Out	Due	Peer Review Due

W1	2	Bits, Bytes, Integers	May 25	Jun 1	Jun 7
W2	2	Floating Point and Machine Programming	Jun 1	Jun 7	Jun 15
W3	2	Machine Programming (Data, Advanced)	Jun 7	Jun 15	Jun 22
W4	2	Memory Hierarchy and Cache Memories	Jun 15	Jul 6	Jul 13
(Jun 27–Jul 1: Summer Break)
W5	2	Design, Debugging, Testing, Optimization, Linking	Jul 6	Jul 13	Jul 20
W6	2	Virtual Memory	Jul 13	Jul 20	Jul 27
W7	2	ECF and I/O	Jul 20	Jul 27	Aug 3
W8	2	Networking	Jul 27	Aug 3	Aug 10
Total	12

We will provide you with a model solution and a grading rubric after an assignment is due, to guide you in your peer reviews. This two-part (writing and evaluating) sequence has been shown to improve student learning. As your peers are grading these anonymously, you are not required to include your name either in your submission or feedback. If you disagree with the feedback from your peers, you can make a private post on Piazza within 7 days, as per any other regrades in the course.

If the feedback you received is offensive or otherwise not in support of a welcoming and inclusive climate, please email your Professor.