On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 11:54 PM Yale N. Patt <patt@ece.utexas.edu> wrote:

My students in EE 382N,

The University returns to business after Spring break on Monday. 
Not exactly the "business as usual" we would like during this nightmare,
so we will have to adapt.

Like just about everyone else on the faculty, I am making adjustments
to 382N. We are still in a fluid situation, so things could change
from where we are. If they do, we will adjust accordingly. If you
have suggestions for doing things differently/better than what I plan,
please let me know. As always, although the buck has to stop with me,
I welcome your input.

Before I begin, I want to be sure I am not missing any students who have
been recommended for certain special accomodation due to disability.
I don't think there are any in the class this semester, but I want to be
sure. If you are in such a situation, please email me with a copy of the
letter you were given by the end of the day, Monday, and we will figure out
a time to talk.

OK. The following is relevant:

1. The written exam, as you know was supposed to be last week. The question
for me has been whether to give it this coming Wednesday (April 1) or the
following week (April 8). I decided that April 1 made more sense since it
will allow you to focus almost all your energy on the project After April 1.

2. The exam will be taken at your remote location and turned in according to
a fixed mechanism. The details of the mechanism will be provided to you
between now and class time on Monday. The exam will start at 5pm on Wednesday,
April 1. You will be expected to submit your exam according to our
instructions by 8pm that same day. You will be on your honor to not use any
unpermitted materials. You are on your honor to not talk to anyone about the
exam during that 3 hour period. I am not expecting the exam to take more than
a little over an hour. I am allowing 3 hours for receiving your exam so as to
try to make sure no technical issue gets in the way of you successfully
completing and submitting the exam. The exam is closed book except you are
allowed to prepare 3 sheets of paper in your own handwriting that you can use
during the exam. My reasoning is that if you find something you feel you should
memorize, you can write it on one of the 3 sheets and thereby not have to
memorize it.

3. I have decided to return to lecturing on Monday, April 6, and to use
this coming Monday to get ourselves organized. I would like all of you logged
in via Zoom at 5pm. Aniket has already provided instructions on the course
website for doing so, and in fact all initial design reviews after the
University shut down the Friday before Spring break were done using Zoom. 
Aniket will supply some sample times over the weekend and on Monday for you
to test you ability to "join" the meeing. If you have any problems connecting,
please let us know. 

4. My plan for Monday is first to make sure we are all connected, and then let
Aniket hold a discussion session to help you prepare for the exam. Any
questions for me about the technical material, please send me email and I will
answer you as quickly as I can. My experience over the years is that students
feel more comfortable asking me questions over email. And, for my part, if I
think the whole class can benefit from my answer, I can easily strip away the
identity of the student asking, and respond to the whole class.

5. As I said in an earlier message, I am canceling the Oral exam. I do so
reluctantly because I do not think we give you enough practice in our courses
standing on your feet and thinking critically in a challenging environment.
But my experience over the years is that doing it remotely will not accomplish
my objectives so I would rather cancel it and have you concentrate on the
project.

6. Since there will be no oral exam, I need to adjust the grading in the
course accordingly. I am thinking approxmimately 1/3 for the written exam
and 2/3 for the project, with a few points allocated for homework problems
and my subject sense of your understanding.

7. Actual lectures will start on Monday, April 6, and continue on Mondays and
Wednesdays at 5pm. Since you will not be tested on the contents of the
remaining lectures, you will have to use your own good judgment as to whether
or not to attend class. My intent is to provide meaningful information. You
can decide whether you want it.

8. I have acquired an IPAD compliments of the ECE Dept to use instead of a
whiteboard. Not as good as the whiteboard in our classroom, but my hope is
that it will work.

9. As you know I had planned four guest lectures this semester. Two are from
out of town, so I doubt if those will happen. But the other two are local,
Aater Suleman, one of my graduates who has a start-up that helps clients use
the Cloud, and Peter Hofstee, an IBM researcher who was the chief architect of
IBM's Cell Processor. Both are eager to lecture so those will happen. I will
give you the dates of their lectures in due course.

10. As you know the project is the most important part of the course. From our
initial design reviews, I believe the groups are functional and you can all
finish the project. I realize that your constraints during this nightmare
could be problematic. If you find yourselves in trouble, please let me or
Aniket know. We both want you to finish the project successfully.

11. After the exam there will be no more discussion sessions unless Aniket
and I feel one or more are necessary. Aniket will still hold office hours
via Zoom, and I will still respond to email. If you need to talk to me by
phone, we will set up a time to do that. The objective is quite simple:
to help you finish the course successfully.

I apologize for the length of this email. I did not have time to draft a
short one.

Questions and comments are always welcome.

I look forward to all of us surviving this nightmare with no permanent scars.

Stay healthy.
Yale Patt