Notification on Bonus Score and Letter Grade

[minseongg]

We have awarded several bonus points to students who contributed to the progress of this course:

Examples:

• Those who achieved good PPA results in Assignments 2 and 3.
• Those who actively asked many questions in the class and on the Issue Tracker.
• Those who were the first to discover bugs in the HazardFlow language.

You can check whether you got bonus points in the "CREDITS" section on GG.

• If your score is "1", you got bonus point.
• If your score is "0", you did not get bonus point.

(Note: A score of "1" does not imply that the bonus point carries the same weight as other assignments.)

If you would like to request bonus points even if you do not fall under the cases mentioned above, please send an email to minseong.jang@kaist.ac.kr and jeehoon.kang@kaist.ac.kr by 12/27 (Fri) 23:59:59.

[minseongg]

Brief Notice on the Letter Grade:

Students who completed all assignments will receive at least an A-.

Depending on the bonus points, your grade may be higher (A0 or A+).

[JongyCysec]

@minseongg @jeehoonkang

안녕하세요.
이번 학기 CS492 마이크로 아키텍쳐 수업을 수강한 이종헌입니다.

우선, 처음 개설되는 과목임에도 한 학기 동안 양질의 수업과 프로젝트를 준비해 주신 교수님과 조교님들께 감사의 말씀을 드립니다.

성적 산정 방식에 있어 학생들이 다소 당황스럽거나 혼란스럽게 느낄 수 있는 부분이 있을 듯 하여,
이를 조금 더 유연하게 조정할 수 있는 방안이 있을까 하는 생각에 학기가 마무리되는 시점에 글을 쓰게 되었습니다.

강의 전반에 걸쳐, 프로젝트가 성적의 100%로 반영된다고 알고 해당 프로젝트를 완수하기 위해 저를 포함한 수강생들이 노력하였던 것 같습니다. 그러나, 학기가 끝난 후 수업 참여가 추가적으로 반영된다는 소식을 접하게 되었고 해당 부분이 작지 않은 점수 차이를 내어, 학생들이 프로젝트에서 만점을 받았음에도 내심 기대했던 것에 미치지 못하는 성적을 받아 다소간 당황스러울 수 있을 것 같다는 생각입니다. 더불어, 수업 참여 여부가 성적에 반영된다는 것이 미리 공지되었다면, 더 많은 학생이 적극적으로 참여하지 않았을까 하는 생각입니다.

수강생의 입장에서 프로젝트를 모두 완수하면 최고점까지는 아닐지라도 높은 성적을 받을 수 있을 것이라는 기대가 있었던 한편, 교수님과 조교님들 입장에서 프로젝트를 완수한 모든 학생에게 기존의 성적보다 더 높은 그레이드를 부여하는 것은 학과의 규정 상 현실적 어려움이 따랐을 것이라 생각됩니다.

물론, 별다른 외적 동기가 없었음에도 개인적인 시간을 내어 다른 학생들에게 도움이 될 만한 내용들을 제보하거나, 수업에 적극적으로 참여하였던 학생들에게는 감사한 마음입니다. 또한, 본 글이 자칫 성적 산출에 있어 교수님께서 가지시는 재량권을 침해하거나, 공정한 평가 과정을 존중하지 않는 것으로 비춰질까 염려하는 마음입니다.

감사합니다.
이종헌 올림.

---

Hello,

I am Jongheon Lee, a student who took the CS492 Microarchitecture course this semester.

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the professor and TAs for preparing high-quality lectures and projects throughout the semester, especially since this was the first time the course was offered.

I am writing this note at the conclusion of the semester to share a thought regarding the grading system, which might have felt somewhat surprising or confusing to students. I wonder if there might be a way to make it more flexible.

Throughout the course, students, including myself, understood that the project would account for 100% of the grade and worked diligently to complete it. However, after the semester ended, I learned that class participation was also factored into the final grades. This seemed to result in notable differences in scores, such that even students who received full marks on the project might not have achieved the grades they had anticipated. Moreover, I feel that if the inclusion of class participation had been announced in advance, more students might have been encouraged to participate actively.

From a student’s perspective, there was an expectation that completing the project in its entirety would secure a high grade, if not the highest. At the same time, I understand that from the professor’s and TAs’ perspective, awarding higher grades to all students who completed the project may have faced practical limitations under departmental policies.

I truly appreciate those students who took their personal time to contribute helpful information to their peers or actively participated in the course without any external motivation. Additionally, I am mindful that this letter might unintentionally seem to challenge the professor’s discretion in grading or appear disrespectful to the fairness of the evaluation process.

[accelerator1672]

Hello,

My name is Khongor Damdinbayar and I’m taking the CS492 this semester.
I would like to thank the teaching team for their efforts and the great content of the course. I also want to express my thanks to Jongheon for pointing out the flaw in the grading criteria. I completely understand that bonus points should be awarded to students who went out their way to participate and report bugs. However, I believe that many students worked hard to complete the projects themselves and tried their best to work diligently in time.

Although there are problems encountered during assignments, I’m sure that many people worked hard to figure it out themselves and tried as many times as possible despite any problems. I believe it takes time and effort to try and investigate the problems yourself, read through the documentations with the goal of improving.

Regarding the grading criteria I believe that it’s a bit strange to fix it at this point. In my case, from the specified announcements, completing the projects was the only criteria I knew so I had to check my code so many times even though there was no need, but I had to try and look for any errors. The project completion was the only criteria I knew and thus I followed. Regardless, I really enjoyed the course and wished to complete all the criteria that were given to me even if there were more assignments.

Finally, I apologize for the inconvenience of creating extra trouble. Although it’s my last year, it is my first time being genuinely frustrated with the outcome since I had tried my best from the start of the semester to perform well in the course. I feel saddened that, in relative grading, it always seems necessary for some people to be ranked higher than others. Looking back, it’s regrettable since I was doing everything wrong and perhaps, I should have been more creative.

Thank you for reading my opinion.

[seo-rii]

Hello. My name is Seohyun Lee, and I was a student in your CS492 uarch class last semester.

I know that writing a “letter of appeal” regarding grades is not appropriate, and I sincerely apologize for bringing this up. Nevertheless, I would like to share a few of my thoughts, hoping you would consider them as feedback from a student.

Of course, assigning grades is entirely at the professor's discretion. However, based on my experience in the SoC, students generally expect an A- when their exam scores are between 0.7 to 1.2 std above the mean, and an A+ when they exceed 2.3 std. While the practical difference in GPA between these grades may only be 0.6 out of many credits, seeing the letter grade on the transcript does leave a noticeable impression. This is especially so because the effort required to achieve those grades often feels significantly different.

In this regard, it feels a bit disappointing that the noticeable difference in grades appears to have been influenced by unannounced criteria. Of course, I understand that departmental grading policies make it impossible for everyone to receive an A+, and logically, it is natural that such standards exist. Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel a tinge of regret.

If this message comes across as rude in any way, I deeply apologize. I completely respect that the authority to assign grades rests solely with you, and I simply hope that my thoughts might serve as a point of reference.

Thank you very much for your time and understanding.

Sincerely,
Seohyun Lee

P.S. Separate from this, I found this semester’s course to be incredibly engaging. I sincerely hope it becomes a regular course so that more students can have the opportunity to take it!

[jeehoonkang]

Hi all,

I'm writing to let you know that I'm carefully reviewing your messages. I'll make my decisions within a few hours and post an update here.

Best regards,
Jeehoon

[jeehoonkang]

After consideration of your feedback, I decided to maintain the current grading criteria.

I sincerely apologize for the confusion and frustration caused by evaluating your work based on criteria that were not announced in advance.
A significant number of students went beyond expectations, earning full marks on the assignments.
In retrospect, I should have adjusted the grading criteria to reflect this and communicated those changes clearly from the beginning.
I know that many of you put in a tremendous amount of effort, and I am truly sorry that the grading outcome does not fully reflect your hard work and dedication.

I will make sure I learn from this experience and improve my teaching practices.
In the future, I will ensure that all grading criteria are clearly communicated well in advance, allowing everyone to understand the expectations and strive for their desired grade.

Sincerely,
Jeehoon

[accelerator1672]

Thank you for your considerations!