The primary methods for engaging with the course material are through lectures, discussion sections, homework, and the notes. All are important, and exams will test a mix of the material from these sources.
Live lecture will take place 12:30pm - 2:00pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in Dwinelle 155. Lectures will be recorded and linked on the website/Ed once lecture is over. It is highly recommended that you watch the lecture the day it is released.
Release Schedule: Discussion worksheets are published at the beginning of the week. The solutions are published after all sections of the day are completed.
We will be assigning sections this semester. The form to sign up will be on Ed and attendance will be taken as part of your grade through a completely objective criteria. You will need to attend at least 13 sections to receive full credit for discussion attendance. You are welcome to attend other discussion sections, but your attendance will only be counted for the section you are assigned to. The discussion sections are designed not to cover new material but to consolidate the material covered in lectures and in the notes. All sections are equivalent: they all cover the same material. There will be one remote discussion section offered this summer.
Distinguished Alum Lili says, “When I took the course, I tried my best to attend every discussion and ask questions whenever I was confused!”
There is no textbook for this class. Instead, there is a set of comprehensive lecture notes posted on the front page for each lecture. Make sure you revisit the notes after every lecture. Each note may be covered in one or more lectures.
Distinguished Alum Megan says, “When I took the course, I studied the notes until I was able to comfortably reproduce all of the proofs.
Office Hours will be either in-person or remote, as specified on the calendar. The OH queue will be hosted at oh.eecs70.org. Remote OH will be primarily on Monday, as well as a 6-7pm block on Tuesday and Wednesday.
See the Calendar tab for OH time and location. You will submit a ticket online at oh.eecs70.org to join the OH queue. In the ticket please specify the room you are currently in. Once it is your turn a course staff member will call your name to help you with your ticket.
At the remote OH times listed on the calendar, someone on course staff will be monitoring the online queue. Again, you will submit a ticket online at oh.eecs70.org to join the OH queue with your location specified as online. A course staff member will provide a video call link for you to join when it’s your turn. In-person course staff will only help in-person tickets on the queue.
We encourage participation. Participation includes attending lectures live, contributing in discussion, asking and answering questions on Ed, using Party OH, and more. The more you engage with the class, the more fun it is and the better you do.
We will release weekly posts every week on Mondays via Ed. These weekly emails are required reading and contain important logistical information and resources to help you succeed in the course.
We will use Ed as the ‘one-stop shop’ throughout the semester: for a Q&A forum and official announcements. Enrollment in Ed is mandatory. If you have questions about anything related to the course, please post them on Ed rather than emailing the professors or TAs. Please do not post anything resembling a solution to a homework problem before it’s due. See the Ed Etiquette section for more on using Ed. To join the class on Ed, click the link in the header of the page.
All homework and vitamins will be submitted through Gradescope. All homework, vitamin, and exam grades will be returned through Gradescope. If you have not been enrolled in our Gradescope, please see Ed for instructions.
Please use Ed for all technical questions. If you have a more specific administrative question or any feedback, please send an email to the course administrative account cs70-staff@berkeley.edu. Emails sent to this account are only seen by the instructors and head TAs.
There will be weekly required homeworks designed to consolidate your understanding of the course material. We strongly recommend starting these early since there will be no office hours support on weekends.
Release Schedule: Homework for the coming week is released on Sunday. Homework is due on Gradescope the following Thursday at 11:59pm (grace period until Friday 11:59pm); the solutions for that homework will be released on Sunday along with the new Homework.
Homework scores will be out of 73% and no extra credit will be granted for getting over 73%.
Your lowest two homework scores will be dropped, these drops should be reserved for emergencies. No additional allowances will be made for late or missed homeworks: please do not contact us about missed homeworks or late submissions.
We may sample homework problems to grade each week.
We recommend that you start the homeworks as early as possible so you get more time to think about the problems and get help if you end up getting stuck. Additionally, Distinguished Alum Richard Hu also recommends that you carefully review the homework solutions after they are released and understand them to the point of being able to replicate them without needing to reference them. Having a comprehensive understanding of topics on the homework will go a long way in giving you the intuition you need to succeed!
Release Schedule: The vitamin for the current week is released on Gradescope on Sunday. The vitamin is due on Gradescope the following Thursday at 11:59pm (grace period until Friday 11:59pm, no question asked); the solutions for that vitamin will be released on Sunday.
There will be weekly required vitamins designed to consolidate your understanding of the course material. If you read the notes in advance and attend the lectures, they should be quick to complete. Vitamins are to be done individually. As a result we will not answer vitamin related questions in OH, and we ask that you do not post vitamin related questions on Ed.
Your lowest two vitamin scores will be dropped. These drops should be reserved for emergencies. No additional allowances will be made for late or missed vitamins: please do not contact us about missed vitamins or late submissions.
Vitamins are due at the same time as homework. You need to submit your answers directly on Gradescope. If you have questions on how to do this, please make a private post on Ed.
We will have three quizzes and a final. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Although we offer remote options for students who are not in Berkeley, you must request a remote exam 24 hours before the test, or receive an incomplete.
Unfortunately, due to large enrollment, we are unable to accommodate final exam conflicts with other classes; we strongly discourage enrollment in another class with conflicting lectures and/or final exam; if you choose to enroll in such a class you will have to make arrangements for an alternate final with the other class (i.e. CS61BL this summer).
We are grading according to department guidelines on grades. The score upon which the grade will be assigned will be computed as follows:
There will be no clobber policy. However, we will drop your lowest quiz score.
UC Berkeley is committed to creating a learning environment that meets the needs of its diverse student body including students with disabilities. If you anticipate or experience any barriers to learning in this course, please feel welcome to send your concerns to cs70-staff@berkeley.edu.
If you have a disability, or think you may have a disability, you can work with the Disabled Students’ Program (DSP) to request an official accommodation. The Disabled Students’ Program (DSP) is the campus office responsible for authorizing disability-related academic accommodations, in cooperation with the students themselves and their instructors. You can find more information about DSP, including contact information and the application process here: dsp.berkeley.edu.
Students who need academic accommodations or have questions about their accommodations should contact DSP, located at 260 César Chávez Student Center. Students may call 642-0518 (voice), 642-6376 (TTY), or e-mail dsp@berkeley.edu.
We take academic misconduct very seriously. Using any kind of homework or exam solutions (for example, from previous semesters) on a currently active assignment is strictly prohibited and is academic misconduct. Consequences of academic misconduct include negative points for the corresponding assignment, a failing grade in the class, and/or a referral to the Office of Student Conduct.
You are welcome to work on homework problems in study groups of two to five people; however, you must always write up the solutions on your own. Similarly, you may use books or online resources to help solve homework problems, but you must always credit all such sources in your writeup and you must never copy material verbatim.
We believe that most students can distinguish between helping other students and violating the policies. You may discuss approaches but your solution must be written by you and you only. You should acknowledge everyone whom you have worked with or who has given you any significant ideas about the homework.
Your attention is drawn to the Department’s Policy on Academic Dishonesty. In particular, you should be aware that copying or sharing solutions, in whole or in part, from other students in the class (or any other source without acknowledgment) is a violation of our policies. Any student found to be violating policies risks automatically failing the class and being referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
We are excited to teach you this semester! For tips and advice on how to do well in this course, please see our survival tips page.
Always feel free to contact us via email or visit us during office hours if you feel unsure about your progress in the course, or would just like to reach out. We are here to support you and help you succeed!