Agricultural & Biological Engineering II

Luis F. Rodriguez & Yuanhui Zhang

• Professor Rodriguez will teach the second half of the course covering the topics described herein. This document refers to the management of the second half of the course.

Ryan Goss, Tao Lin

I generally keep an open door policy, but to guarantee that I will have time to talk to you I'd suggest you should make an appointment. I generally prefer mornings. Here is my calendar. Helpful tip: click the Week tab to view the length of each appointment.

217-333-2694

lfr@illinois.edu

Or via IM (take your pick):

• rodriguezluisf via AIM
• wheezito via YahooIM
• wheezito@hotmail.com via MSN
• wheezito via iChat
• luis.f.rodriguez1@gmail.com via Google Talk
• wheezito via Skype (please make prior arrangements to Skype)

376C Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building

All students will begin the semester with zero points. Points shall be accumulated throughout the semester based on the evaluations listed in Table 1. Both absolute and curved grades will be determined based on the graded evaluations and the proportions described in Table 1. The better of the two grades on the respective scales will constitute the final grade. Please note: this score will be averaged with the score acquired from Professor Zhang's half of the course.

A written report will be required for each computer laboratory assignment. The outline of the report will include:

• Statement of the Problem,
• Methods,
• Results and Discussion,
• Conclusions, and
• Appendix.

All sections of the report are required, except for the Appendix section. However, if you generate any code while performing an assignment, it should be included in the Appendix.

You are expected to write quality laboratory reports. All your reports will be rigorously graded for technical content and the quality of your writing. Here is a laboratory grading rubric to help you prepare the reports. Please note that quality writing is assumed. Any substandard reports will be returned for reworking.

Depending on the size of the class, laboratories may be delivered as group assignments. This determination will be made at the first laboratory period. In any case, the option to work individually is always available to any student.

You may rewrite and resubmit your lab reports as many times as you like for 1/2 of the points that you did not obtain in the prior submission. For example: the lab is worth 30 points, but you got 20. You can resubmit for a total of five possible points. Supposing you resubmit and obtain two of those five points, then you can resubmit for half (1.5) of the remaining three points.

All laboratory assignments must be turned in one week after they are assigned at the beginning of class. A hardcopy is preferred.

Late assignments will lose 10% of the total available points per day, up to 50% of the total value.

In the event of extenuating circumstances please contact me prior to any due date.

All homework assignments must be turned in one week after they are assigned at the beginning of class. A hardcopy is preferred.

Late assignments will lose 10% of the total available points per day, up to 50% of the total value.

In the event of extenuating circumstances please contact me prior to any due date

I consider punctual attendance the first step towards class participation, but certainly not the whole package. Your class participation is expected and, with the wiki, there are now several media which can allow you to do so. During class I will expect you to be an active participant. I will make every effort to incorporate active discussions in the class, but there is no doubt that this is two way street.

As we work through each discussion topic, I will note which students have made a positive contribution to the discussion. Positive contributions bolster the discussion by ensuring that all key points regarding the subject matter receive due attention. Similarly, I will monitor activity on the website. Our focus in active class discussion is to help every person in the classroom achieve the objectives of this class.

Our wiki inherently incorporates a discussion page at every location that can be edited by any user. I would encourage you to use this feature to discuss content. You are invited to become active users of our wiki by clicking log in / create account, on the top right, and following the instructions. Please be sure to sign all of your discussion points. This is required if you would like me to give you class participation credit for activity on the wiki. Please send me your wiki username so that I can keep track of your participation. Here are some guidelines for managing effective discussion threads .

Again, class participation is a two way street. I will be monitoring the wiki on a regular basis to see what you may have posted. I similarly expect each of you to do the same. I personally use the watch function to be advised of when changes happen on pages that I am interested in. You might find this helpful as well.

All reading assignments must be completed prior to the related lecture. This is imperative to the ability of this class to function and there can be no exception. This will be considered a lack of class participation and the class participation portion of your grade will suffer.

Two examinations will be administered during this course. Exams may occur in several formats including: in class, take home, open book, and oral. It is possible that examinations may be given over multiple class periods. Final examinations will be administered by the university schedule and will comprehensively cover semester topics taught by Professor Rodriguez.

There will be no cheating. We will generally default to the university policy on cheating. Please think twice before taking the risk of putting either of us in such an uncomfortable postion. If, however, suspicious activity is observed you should expect swift action on my part.

That being said, I still encourage you to, and expect you will, work together. This is not, however, an excuse to turn in the same piece of work with two different names attached. At all times, you are responsible for turning in original work that is representative of your understanding of each topic. Failure to do so will be considered a violation of your academic integrity.