Course Pledge

Honor Expectations

As a student at the University of Virginia, you are trusted to be honorable and expected to behave in ways that merit that trust. We take advantage of this trust to provide a better learning environment for everyone. In particular, students in cs1010 are expected to follow these rules throughout the course:

I will not lie, cheat or steal. If I am unsure whether something would be considered lying, cheating or stealing, I will ask before doing it.

I will carefully read and follow the collaboration and resource use policy on each assignment. I will not abuse resources in ways that would be clearly detrimental to my own learning or unfair to other students.

Community Expectations

As a member of a learning community of students, faculty, and staff, you are expected to exemplify these behaviors in cs1010:

I will actively affirm the value and dignity of others and treat my peers with decency and respect. I understand that one of the benefits of attending the University is to be part of a vibrant community that encompasses a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities, personal and family histories, and world views. I will contribute to that community by sharing things that are unique about me with others, fighting against any biases I may have or that I observe in others, and being open to and respectful of people who are different from me. I will listen to the perspectives of others, and amplify those whose voices are not well heard. If anyone in the class (including the instructor) behaves in a way that violates this, I will let them know in an appropriate way. Depending on the situation, this could mean speaking out immediately, privately raising it to the individual, or privately raising it with the instructor or someone else.

I will not behave in ways that harrass, intimidate, diminish, or belittle others. If I observe such behaviors in others (including among my classmates, the course staff, or other University faculty), I will not tolerate them silently, but will either take it upon myself to mitigate them, or will inform one of the course instructors or another University administrator.

I will care for myself physically and emotionally. Staying stationary and working at home can make it difficult to maintain your physical and emotional well-being. I will ensure that whatever I am doing to succeed in my courses does not take priority over my needs to exercise, stay hydrated, make time to eat lunch and dinner away from your workspace, and to safely spend time outside.

I will be connected with others, and look out of the well-being of my classmates. Both local and global events may result in suffering and many hardships among our community, and put people under undue stress. We hope this class, and your learning cohort within it will become a supportive community. Seek out and maximize opportunities for postive interactions with fellow students and others in the university community.

I will ask for help. I will make a reasonable effort to do things on my own first, and will work collaboratively with my cohort and other classmates when permitted, but will ask for help before getting overly frustrated. There are many ways to ask for help including the class discussion board and office hours.

I will be open minded and curious. I understand that this course may do things in ways differently from what I expect, and may sometimes buck conventions that have been followed in other courses I have taken. I will ask questions when things make me uncomfortable, but also accept that being surprised, facing uncertainty, and being challenged with problems it is unreasonable to expect me to be able to solve, are often beneficial for learning new ways of thinking.

I grant the course staff permission to reproduce excerpts from my submissions for teaching purposes. My work will be attributed when it is shown in a postive way, but may be used anonymously if it is used to illustrate common pitfalls or other issues.

I will provide useful feedback. I realize that this is the first time this course has been taught, and it will be attempting many new things. It is important that I let the course instructore know what they need to improve the course, both for this semester when changes can still be made, and for future students in later offerings. I will provide feedback either anonymously or by contacting the course instructor directly. I will fill out all requested surveys honestly and thoughtfully.