FAQ¶
Miscellaneous¶
Is this an online course?¶
No, this is a hybrid course. There will be a few in-person lectures in Konstanz. It will be announced individually which lectures will be held in-person and which will be held online.
Is it mandatory to attend the lectures?¶
No. Attending the lectures is voluntary - but of course highly recommended and encouraged! If you are more comfortable with self-study, feel free to go through the course materials at your own pace.
Note that if you go this way, it is even more important to actively engage in GitHub discussions and exchange with your fellow students.
As of now, the only requirement to be admitted to the exam is to give a presentation.
What communication channels do we use?¶
Everything that is related to the course content should be discussed via GitHub discussions. See the contributing guide for details.
Everything that is specific to the current semester will be announced through Moodle. E.g. room changes or organizational matters. This is to make sure that nobody misses anything.
For private matters, you can always send me an email or ask me in-person.
How do I get access to the course resources?¶
The course materials are available open source here: https://pkeilbach.github.io/htwg-practical-nlp/
To make contributions, you will need a GitHub account.
To participate in the kick-off lecture, it would be great f you open a Mural account.
How do I get access to the murals?¶
In order to access the murals, you will need to create an account.
The link to the murals will shared through the Moodle course or during the lecture.
Is there a PDF version of the script?¶
The content for this course was created using the MkDocs framework. As the course content is subject to continuous change, there is no PDF version of the script provided. But if you wish, you can convert any page to a PDF file by using the printing function of your browser. MkDocs will render a nice-looking PDF file without any menu or other web items.
What are the prerequisites to take this course?¶
The prerequisites can be found here.
In general, I want to keep the entry barrier as low as possible, but you should bring some basic computer science skills.
Let me know if you are unsure if you are unsure whether you can take the course or not!
Can I take the course if I just started programming?¶
I would say yes, and definitely encourage you to go for it even if you just started your programming journey! 💪
My goal is to design the course materials in a way that also students with little programming experience can participate. I will try my best to make it clear whenever we have a more advanced or language specific concept that goes beyond basic object oriented programming.
However, it is certainly easier for you to follow along and complete the assignments if you bring basic computer science and software engineering skills, like Linux, Git, Python.
If you are new to programming, your learning curve is probably steeper, as you may have to deal with some technologies of the ecosystem that may be new to you. But you should keep in mind that this is probably related to a certain technology or framework, and not the concepts of NLP.
Please check out the course prerequisites and let me know if you have any doubts.
Assessment¶
How is this course graded?¶
The course is graded based on a written 90-minute exam at the end of the semester. For more details, see the course profile.
The presentation and assignments are ungraded.
What are bonus points?¶
Throughout the semester you can earn bonus points that will be added to your exam score.
How can I earn bonus points?¶
You can earn bonus points for the exam through contributions and by completing assignments.
How many bonus points can I earn?¶
You can earn a maximum of 10 bonus points throughout the semester.
Contributions¶
How many contributions can I make?¶
There is no limit on that. You can make multiple contributions throughout the semester.
How many bonus points do I get for a contribution?¶
Each contribution will be rewarded with bonus points, depending on the size and the scope of the contribution. The value of the contribution will be defined by the instructor.
What kind of contributions can be rewarded?¶
A rewardable contribution is a code change that is successfully merged to the main branch of the course repository.
While participating in discussions is appreciated and encouraged, this a not a rewardable contribution.
Find more details in the contributing guide.
When can I start with contributions?¶
Unless announced otherwise, please wait with your contributions until we officially kick off the semester in the first lecture. There, we will go through the policy and details so that everybody is on the same page. This is to give everybody a fair chance to contribute, and understand the processes and policies for contributions and earning bonus points.
Assignments¶
When is an assignment considered completed?¶
An assignment is considered completed when all of its tests pass.
How many assignmnents do I need to complete?¶
All assignments are voluntary. But you can earn bonus points for the exam by completing assignments.
How are the assignments graded?¶
The assignments are ungraded and voluntary.
Can we get the sample solutions for the assignments?¶
I will show my sample solutions during the lecture but they will not be published or shared.
Presentations¶
How is the presentation graded?¶
The presentation is ungraded but it is mandatory to give a presentation to be admitted to the exam.
Do I need to submit any slides of my presentation?¶
No, you don't need to submit any slides.
What do I need to submit?¶
You need to submit the practical part of your presentation as a GitHub repository. For more details, check the presentation submission section.