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Course Format:

The first thing to remember about the MMDS course is that everything -- lectures, homeworks, and final exams -- is divided into "Basic" and "Advanced" parts. In order to get a Statement of Accomplishment (SoA) you need to deal with only the basic components. To get an SoA with Distinction, you need to deal with both basic and advanced components.

The course material is given over seven weeks. There will then be a week for review and then a finals week. There are approximately a dozen videos each week, comprising 2-3 hours of material in total. Videos are identified as either basic or advanced. The will also be several homework sets each week, typically one basic and one advanced. An optional programming challenge will be issued, but it does not count in determining your grade.

Grading Policy:

For an SoA (no distinction), your grade will be determined as follows. In brief, the basic homeworks and basic final are weighted equally, and you need to score at least 50% of the possible marks. More precisely:

1. Take the sum of your scores on the basic homeworks only, divide by the sum of the maximum scores on those homeworks, and multiply by 50.
2. Divide your score on the basic final by its maximum score, and multiply by 50.
3. If the sum of (1) and (2) is at least 50, then you will receive an SoA.

For a notation of distinction on your SoA, basic and advanced homeworks represent half the grade and the finals count represent the other half. You need to score 80% in order to win distinction. More precisely:

1. Take the sum of your scores on the basic and advanced homeworks, divide by the sum of the maximum scores on those homeworks, and multiply by 50.
2. Divide the sum of your scores on the basic and advanced finals by the sum of their maximum scores, and multiply by 50.
3. If the sum of (1) and (2) is at least 80, then you will receive an SoA with distinction.