Grades

It is important to realize that grades in this class reflect your outcome performance (i.e., measured results), not your effort.  Your course letter grade is assigned based on the weighted average of the grades that you earned during the semester. The class has no traditional final or midterm.

The overall winners of the HT get an A+.  Being above-average in the three dimensions (homework, participation, and HT) guarantees  you an A.

UVA does not have an official scale to translate average points into lettergrades. Based on last year's outcomes, these are the thresholds for this course:
    100~95 = A
    95~93 = A-
    93~90 = B+
    90~87 = B
    87~80 = B-
Scores lower than 80 will be decided on a case by case basis. Based on numerous past editions, the class is likely to have a GPA of about 3.5. If needed, I may curve in your favor participation, homework, or HT results.


Grading the homework

Generally, each homework consists of a program submitted electronically via the myCommSite. The class schedule indicates what is due and when. All homework must be uploaded before the deadline according to the McIntire server clock (not your computer clock, which might be off or even in a different time zone).  The server will automatically shut down at the deadline. Do not cut it close!

Because we publish full solutions shortly after the deadline, all late homework is penalized at 50%.  Remember that you have two freebies that you might use if you happen to be late. In the rare event that the network or the server malfunctions and you are not able to upload the homework, please send me your submission via Teams.  The timestamp of the posted files will be proof of your timely submission.  Always keep a copy of all files.

Pay attention to zipping and uploading. It is easy to lose points for being careless (e.g., uploading a link rather than the homework, uploading a non-final version of the project because you did not saved it properly, etc.).
Tip: make sure that you zip and submit the whole homework folder.
Tip: if you cannot zip, it is liekly because VS is holding some of your files.  To fix that:  1) quit VS, 2) wait a minute or two for VS to fully quit, 3) zip again, 4) Open the zipped folder to make sure that the files are there.

If the tip above does not work, check whether you have some instances of Excel still active with the Task Manager, and if you see one, end it . To call the Task Manager, press the start button in windows and type "task  mgr" or press ctrl-alt-del.  If you see the summary view, click 'more details'.   You will likely find an instance of Excel still running. Right click it and end it.

Want to double-check your submission?

Go to myCommSite, and click "Past Submissions." Download your submission, unzip it, and run it.  That is what the grader will do.

Remember that you cannot run a zipped file.  If you want to double-check your homework you need to unzip it and run it.


Homework Rubric

We use the following scale:
    96-100 = excellent homework, full functionality, no flaws
    90-95 = very good, full functionality, minor flaws (but still satisfies all requirements)
    84-89 = incomplete functionality, does most of what was requested
    75-83 = incomplete functionality, does about half of what was requested
    60-74 = incomplete functionality, does not do most of what was requested
    1-59 = crashed or missing files
    0 = nothing or very little submitted

Most students in class find it initially hard to adapt to the precise requirements of the homework. Not following the requirements will cost you points. Tip: read carefully what you are asked to do.  Do not follow blindly the videos.  Sometimes, even a single comma or a space put in the wrong place may introduce major defects in your software. This is the nature of this field.  In math, it is the same: 2.57 is definitely not the same as 25.7 even if just one dot was moved by one space. Please do not argue that you lost points "just because of a typo" and therefore you should get more.

I will drop your two lowest assignment. Use these drops wisely. Please do not ask for more in fairness towards your classmates who will only get two.  Starting the course late, important recruitment meetings, and family events are not reasons to get more: they are already factored in your two freebies.  Evidence of COVID or other serious illness is a possible exception.

If you are unsatisfied with the grade assigned to you by the TA, please contact me.  I reserve the right to audit any homework, no matter how old. I also reserve the right to require a verbal code walk-through from any student to verify understanding of the materials and originality of the work done.

If we will end up doing more/less homework, I will scale the weight so that after subtracting the two lowest ones the homework still weigh 70%.

All homework is pledged. DO NOT copy and paste work done by others. It is an honor violation. You are not learning anything from doing that, and you might insert in your homework subtle errors that might reveal what you did. I will pursue honor violations according to UVA policies.


Team Submissions

To submit team homework and to participate in the Tournament, you need to have a team Id.  Teams of 1, 2 or 3 people (max) will be formed mid-semester. To get your team ID, use the form I will send you via Teams.  Include all team members' names, userids (e.g., sg6m), and a fun team name. When I get that, I will assign you a team ID.

At the end of the semester each team member will have an opportunity to evaluate their teammates. Grades can be modified by  confidential peer feedback.

I will let you know when you can do team submissions, typically around H14.  Team submissions are optional. Working and submitting individually is encouraged, because it may get you to learn the materials better.

This is how it works:  either you submit the homework individually, as you normally do, OR you submit a .txt file titled "[Student First and Last name] submitted for me" (e.g., "Olivia Sullivan submitted for me.txt"). If you do that, the TA will assign to you the points of that student.  No .txt file, no points.  You cannot do team submissions with people outside your team.

Often, one person in a team submits the homework and the others submit the text file.  However, partial team submissions are also possible. Example: A, B, and C are in a team. A and C worked together and submit jointly: A submits and C submits the .txt file.  A and C get the same grade. On the other hand, B submits a separate homework that is graded separately. Since I cannot know what you intend to do (individual submission, skip a homework, team submission, partial team submission...) I ask that you let me know each time by either submitting the homework or the text file. No .txt file, no points.  Late text file submission will be treated as a late homework submission.

Grading Participation

Participation is worth 10%. It is assessed virtually every day. Your final participation grade is determined based on the average of your daily participation scores.  These are the scores and their definitions:

   +3  Stood out as an exceptional contributor to class dialogue.  Made memorable, high-quality comments

   +2  Appeared engaged and prepared, contributed as expected

   +1  Attentive, but did not engage in the discussion, or made repetitive or irrelevant comments
          that did not add much value

    0  Absent

   -1  Appeared distracted or unprepared; behaved in ways that negatively impacted the classroom experience

Class participation is defined broadly: it means to have a positive attitude and a leadership role in class. This includes asking good questions, picking interesting WINITs, and offering insightful comments during demos and code walkthroughs. It means helping others to learn within the limits of the honor code and helping making the class a more productive and fun learning environment for all.  It also means filling the end-of-semester survey. If somebody asks a question in the class chat and you can answer it, do so! This is healthy collaboration, not a violation of the honor code. I am monitoring the chat and might give you extra participation points for helping others.
See also the Attendance policy.

Bug Bounty

If you are the first to find and report via Teams a material error in the videos or class materials, you will be rewarded with 1 extra participation point (the "bug bounty"). The bug has to be material to get the extra point.  This policy helps the whole class to access accurate learning materials.



WINIT = What Is New In Technology (counts as two participation days)

Knowing what is going on at the intersection between finance and technology is important for your career. Also important is being able to explain it clearly to peers and managers. WINIT gives you an opportunity to keep up to date with what is new in technology and business, as well as to practice your skill at presenting/explaining technical topics.
Every time the class meets, a volunteer selects a recent newspaper article or short video and summarizes it for the class. Pick a video or an article about IT and Business that interests you and you believe that will be of interest to the class. It must have a business angle. A fintech company or product is always a good choice. If you are not familiar with fintech, read this Knowledge@Wharton article to familiarize yourself with the topic.  If you do not know where to start, look at the technology section of the FT, WSJ, WP, or NYT  (as McIntire student you have free access). 
Prepare a 3-4 minute verbal presentation and one question or two for the audience. No slides or supporting materials are required, although a short video is very often well received. You should be able to explain clearly to the class what you have read and why it is important.  Do not assume that the class knows about the topic. Ask good general questions designed to generate a lively conversation.
Evaluation Criteria: is the topic IT+Business (even better: finance and IT)? Is it current? Was it able to generate an interesting discussion in class?

WINIT replacement

Although WINIT is optional, i realize that there are more students in class than class days. To provide a fair opportunity to everybody who wanted to present a WINIT but could not do so for logistical reasons,  you may optionally submit alternative work.
The alternative work is a .pptx document that contains the research that you would have presented as WINIT.  Feel free to include video links and pictures, as if you had been in class.   Since you will not be there to present, you will need to add words so that the deck can be understood without your presence. There is a minimum number of words (1,000-1,500), but  no fixed page length, so you can insert any material (tables, pics, etc) you like without worrying about space, font sizes etc.   Add a conclusion that summarizes your opinion on the issue, as we present it, do in WINIT in class.  Pledge it.
Deadline: the last day of class at midnight.


Grading the Hedge Tournament (HT)

The Tournament is worth 20%. The key metric for assessing your performance in the Tournament is how well you hedge your risks, and it is measured by your weighted cumulative tracking error (we will explain in class what that is). Specific rules for the HT will be provided to you by mid-semester.

As for the homework, the Tournament rewards actual financial outcomes, not effort. Please do not petition for a better grade based on the hours you poured in it.

The grade is obtained by a linear interpolation that compares your performance withe  the performance of the best team in class (100 points) and the performance of the unhedged portfolio.


AI Tools

You are encouraged to use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot.  However, be warned that these tools often produce incorrect or excessively complicated answers. This means that they are not valid reference sources.  In other words,"The AI made me do it", or "That is what the AI said"are NOT valid excuses for incorrect answers or assignments. You are fully responsible for what you hand in. Critical thinking still matters!

Contents

The HT

Some of the following links will be enabled later in the course.