View source for Email Sunday Feb 01

Students in Modeling and Identifying Neurosystems:

[I sent this email out over the weekend but to the wrong list of student email addresses.  The list I am sending to now does not include people who added the course last week.]

If you are having difficulty completing the homework for Lab B, please
email me and tell me what you are having trouble with.  My homework
problems are meant to be instructive but not onerous, and I wanted
students to be able to complete the problems in lab where I could
help.  Some students have turned in the homework already but most have
not.

Apparently, students in the class have widely different backgrounds.
Some students have extensive training in computation and mathematics,
which will make the completing some of the assignments much easier.
But such training is not part of the prerequisites and I want to make
the course interesting and accessible to everyone.  Students who have
focused their training on non-computational areas of neuroscience will
be more challenged to complete some of the assignments, but rest
assured that I am fully aware that the difference is one of training
and not aptitude.  Given the situation, it would be unfair for me to
have students competing with each other for grades.

I want to point out that the objectives of this course are to provide
an excellent learning experience through original creative research in
computational neuroscience.  Students will take different things from
the course depending on what they bring to it.  I believe that any
student who demonstrates a sincere commitment to learning and who
demonstrates a sincere effort to do well in the course, deserves an A,
regardless of previous training.

The only problem with basing grades on "commitment to learning" is the
fact that this quantity is very hard to measure.  If you are
struggling to complete the assignments, it is up to you to let me know
that you are in fact, working on the assignments.  Come to lab (if you
can), and ask questions.  Talk to me in lab, send me an email, or
schedule an appointment if you are having trouble.  Your feedback will
help me determine what to discuss in class when I wrap up the previous
day's homework.  In addition, I may be able to help you with the
issues you are having.

The assignment due Monday night will help you understand Tuesday's
lecture, so try to complete it if you can.  If it is too hard or
taking too much time (i.e. more than an hour or two, beyond what you
did in lab), email me before it is due and we will make arrangements.
Specifically, I will tell you what you can do to prepare for Tuesday's
lecture and still get full credit on the assignment.

Thursday we will start on the textbook and, for that material, I
expect that having previous training in mathematics and computation
will matter much less.

See you Tuesday,

Sean Carver

seancarverphd@gmail.com

Ames 139

x6-4030