What is a DUE session?
A DUE (Demo, Understand, and Eexperiment) session is a series of short low-pressure collaborations with several members of course staff! These are a chance for you to share what you have learned and accomplished over the course of writing a solution to the project!
The above may seem a little abstract right now, but we promise DUEs will become clearer as you continue reading the document and do a DUE!
Demo, Understand, Experiment
Each segment of the DUE is intended to exercise a different part of your “computational brain”.
The Demo component will allow you to show off the final product that you worked on to an audience.
The Understand component will stretch you to explain the higher-level ideas in your code (rather than the individual lines). This is a super important part of collaboration when working on code with a team.
The Experiment component will ask you to re-imagine what might happen if your code were somehow slightly different. To engage your computational thinking skills, we will ask you to make a guess before looking at the actual result, and we’ll work through any differences. This form of experimentation has been shown in various educational research to significantly improve learners’ conceptual understanding of higher-order concepts.
Expectations
Since CS1 is an introductory course, we do not expect you to understand every single line of code in a project. However, we expect that you understand what you did during the project. For more information, please see: “Why do we have DUEs” .
Due to the limited number of course staff hours, each section of the DUE will be timed. However, course staff will work closely with you during the three sections. Remember, DUE sessions are meant to be low-stakes, so we expect everyone who shows up for a DUE to pass despite the time limit in each section . If you are unable to make a DUE in the times offered, or if extenuating circumstances exist, you may be offered a chance to do a “reDUE”. Remember, our goal is to help you learn!
For more information about the timing of DUES, see: “When do DUEs happen?”.
You can expect each DUE session to average around 15 minutes.
Please familiarize yourself with how projects are graded. As a reminder, you must sign up for and complete a DUE session to receive a grade for any project with DUEs. Please be aware that some projects do not have DUEs.
It is an honor code violation to discuss the contents of a DUE with other students.
Why do we have DUEs?
DUEs are designed to give you opportunities to take ownership of your own curiosity and learning! We hope to show you that your work produced something. We hope to help you learn to confidently explain your own thoughts. And lastly, we hope you to feel encouraged to explore and play around with ideas and edge cases that you may not have before.
When do DUEs happen?
DUE sessions occur over several days after the deadline of a project. For example, if project01’s due date is Tuesday, there will be DUE sessions from Wednesday to Friday.
You can sign up for a DUE using a link provided at the end of each project’s guide.
If you are unable to make any of the times listed in the sign up link, please contact course leadership at cs001@caltech.edu.
If you are able to make a DUE session with your extension, please go to that session. If not, and you did not take a 72-hour extension, please contact course leadership at cs001@caltech.edu. If you took a 72-hour extension on a project with a DUE, you will have to complete a makeup DUE session (a “reDUE”) with the professor(s) themselves.
Where are DUE sessions?
All DUE sessions will be held in CS^2==ANB 106 unless otherwise stated by course leadership. CS^2==ANB 106 is also where office hours are held.
How do DUE sessions work?
Before going into your DUE session, please bring your laptop and any other related materials!
When you walk into CS^2 for your DUE, a course staff in charge of the Demo section of the DUE will greet and work with you through the Demo section. At the end of your Demo section, you will receive a “demo stamp”. Then you will work with either the Understand or Experiment TA. The Understand TA will give you an “understand stamp”, while the experiment TA will give you an “experiment stamp” at the end of those sections. Please make sure you have all three stamps, as that is the sign of a DUE completion.
During any section of the DUE, you may find yourself struggling and that is okay! We know that thinking under time pressure even in a low-stakes environment can be daunting and difficult. Course staff will try their best to help guide you through the DUE with the time limit, and if you need more help beyond the time limit, a member from course leadership such as the head TA or professor(s) will work with you through the DUE so that you can achieve the learning outcomes!
Remember, our goal is to help you take ownership of your own learning and curiosity, not to fail you!
How can I prepare for my DUE session?
Similar to our suggestions for quiz prep, we recommend that you understand the code that you have written! Please come to office hours if you need any help.