Here we explain what information can be accessed where, how we will communicate what with students, and how we expect students to communicate with us.

Website

The course website is the main hub to reach all lecture-related materials. From the website, we link to lecture slides, tutorials and exercises, homework assignments, and homework submission links. Here we also share the schedule for the course and other important information.

Zoom

Lectures

Lectures will take place in the Rolex Forum. Additionally, the lectures will be live-streamed on Zoom, as well as recorded and made available on the course website.

Lab sessions

Lab sessions will take place online only, on Zoom.

  • Live stream for lab sessions: https://go.epfl.ch/ada2021-zoom-lab
  • To attend, you must be logged in to Zoom, and you will need to enter the passcode 811811 (mnemonic: “ADA-leven ADA-leven”).

Zulip

Zulip is our main communication channel. Important announcements will be sent via this platform, so it is important to sign up and install the relevant clients for desktop and mobile. Here is a list of guidelines on how to use Zulip properly:

  • Install the desktop and mobile versions of Zulip, available at zulipchat.com.
  • Familiarize yourself with Zulip’s conversation model (it’s easy and intuitive, combining the best of email and Slack).
  • Zulip server to use: https://ada2021epfl.zulipchat.com
  • A sign-up link will be made available in the first lecture.
  • In order to receive alerts and notifications for class announcements in a timely manner, adjust your notification settings. (This seems to be possible in full detail only with the desktop client.)
  • Questions to assistants should be asked using Zulip. We will not provide answers via email.
    • Questions are posted in dedicated streams (e.g., #Homework1, #Project, etc.). This way, the other students can also become aware of the questions and answers.
    • Before posting a question, it is important to check that it has not already been answered.
    • Ideally, always create a new “topic” (Zulip’s word for what would be called a thread in email) within a stream to make navigation easier. For example, if your question is about whether you are expected to do a regularization or not, you can create a topic “Regularization” in the appropriate stream.
    • Alternatively, questions can be sent as private messages, but this should be done only for questions that aren’t of general interest; otherwise, use public streams.
  • Join all public streams.
    • Set your full name in the account settings and add a picture so that others can recognize you!
    • Important information will be shared in the #Announcements stream. This stream is read-only and is reserved for important updates
    • Generic streams (#General and #Random) are an informal place for discussion among students. The teaching team will not answer questions there.
  • When replying to a specific comment, use the ‘reply’ functionality. This way, the context of your reply will be clearer.
  • Be organized and use the communication platform early, well ahead of the deadline. The assistants will not provide answers during the final 24 hours before the deadline.
  • Avoid using @all or @stream. This would trigger a notification being sent to about 500 people.
  • Final note: Please keep the communication respectful, even when the semester is in full swing and the going gets tough. :)

GitHub

We use GitHub as the main platform to share tutorials, homework assignments, and the final exam. Similarly, students use our GitHub organization to submit their homework and exam solutions and their projects.

The GitHub repository will be updated with fresh content as the semester progresses. The links to new released content are always published on the website. Similarly, on the website we share the link that is used by students to create assignment solutions. Stay tuned!

GitHub is the de-facto industry standard for collaborative code development. Data scientists use it on a daily basis. So, by using GitHub as part of the class, you will acquire an important meta-skill.

Google Slides

Lecture slides will be available in Google Slides format. They will be linked from the website.

Google Forms

We will occasionally send forms to collect information such as team names or to gather feedback on exercises. We also use Google Forms to collect peer reviews. The links to these forms will be shared in lecture slides and on the class forum.

Moodle

Moodle will only be used for the online quizzes (during Friday lab sessions).

Complaints

If you think that an error has occurred in grading your deliverable, you may fill this form. We will then re-grade your entire deliverable, independently of the previous grading. The re-grading assistant will not know the number of credits you previously obtained, so the re-grading might result in an unchanged, higher, or lower grade than initially. After the independent re-grading, no further requests will be possible, and the updated grade will be considered as final. Please keep this risk in mind when deciding whether to request a re-grade.