On Monday, I mentioned some extra credit opportunities in preparation for the first graded review (GR). The details are below if you want to take advantage of them, which I highly recommend because they can be done as part of your studying.

Please note that the amount of extra credit is capped at 10 points total for the upcoming GR, spread across all the opportunities listed. That is, you cannot earn more than 10 points of extra credit for the upcoming GR.

Write (potential) test questions

A great way to review for an exam is to consider the important concepts and what types of questions could be asked about that material. I’m always looking to augment my bank of test questions; if yours is particularly good, it might even appear on the upcoming GR! I most value those questions that are closely aligned with the learning objectives listed for each lesson. Questions can be true / false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, definitions, short answer, or problems (e.g., creating a UML diagram given the description of a system). Answers must also be provided, including with appropriate citations if drawn from other sources such as the textbook.

Submission
Email me your questions (and answers!) no later than Tuesday, 18 September, to be considered for the upcoming GR.
Extra Credit
None, apart from the possibility that you may recognize and know the answer to some questions on the GR.

Bug Bounty

Despite the time that I spend reviewing and revising course materials, I always seem to have misspelled a word or have a broken link somewhere. I will “pay” anyone who finds a mistake in my published course material, which is essentially any information on Blackboard but predominantly that linked to from the course website. Just like industrial bug bounty programs, only the first person to find the issue will receive credit (although I can split it if multiple individuals find a mistake while studying together) and the amount of the award depends upon the severity of the issue. For example, no credit may be awarded if a word has been omitted from a slide intentionally (e.g., for brevity), a simple typographical mistake might warrant a half point, and missing an attribution might receive several points.

In general, I’d err on the side of reporting everything that looks like a mistake, but do not abuse this offer – I reserve the right to subtract credit for spurious bug reports, particularly if an individual continues to submit them after a warning. A good benchmark is that you should also provide the correction for everything that you report (e.g., if you’re claiming that I’ve used a word incorrectly, then you should provide all the definitions of that word to show that it is wrong and the correct word for the context along with its definition to support your claim).

The order in which I receive notifications about mistakes determines who receives the credit. Please be aware that it can take some time to verify (and correct!) each mistake so do not be alarmed if you don’t hear back from me immediately. Fixing minutia is often at the bottom of my task list.

Submission
Email me each mistake (and its correction) by 1030 on Thursday, 20 September to be counted toward the upcoming GR.
Extra Credit
Varies by severity of the mistake; half credit is awarded for the mistake and half for its correction. Up to 10 points total.

Course Material

I’ve never tried this extra credit opportunity before, but I’m going to give it a shot. Point me to or create a resource that you believe is a valuable addition to the existing course material, and I will reward you for your effort. This idea stems from the excellent suggestion that I received in class on Wednesday:

[Create] a sort of template that has an example for each of the diagrams [that we’ve discussed] and the syntax that should be included. Maybe have a basic scenario and each diagram references that one scenario with a reasonable level of depth […] with notes at the bottom explaining what each symbol means if applicable.

You can use your imagination here… I’ll consider credit for anything that’s related to the course material, and the more polished and comprehensive that it is, the more credit it deserves. For example, sending me a cartoon about UML to include in the lesson slides merits much less credit than developing the aforementioned handout for UML class diagrams. (Please be aware that any third-party resources – such as cartoons or diagrams created by others – must be licensed in such a way that I can legally include them in my course material and no credit will be awarded if that’s not the case.)

Given the open-ended nature of this opportunity, I suggest coordinating with me prior to spending a great deal of time on it. Let’s make sure that we have consensus on what you’re planning and how much credit it’s worth when completed. Larger efforts may be split among multiple individuals – e.g., a team creates a scenario for a system and different individuals construct a diagram related to that scenario.

Submission
Email me to coordinate what you’re planning and to submit it when completed. Material must be received by 1030 on 20 September to receive credit for the upcoming GR, but this offer remains open until explicitly rescinded.
Extra Credit
Varies by the resource that is submitted. Up to 10 points total.