Based on a document by Julie Zelenski, Cynthia Lee, and others

If, over the course of the quarter, you ever need any clarifications on course materials or policies, or are wrestling with a challenging bug, there are a variety of resources available. We hope you'll take advantage of them!

Helper Hours

Helper hours are a great place for discussion on conceptual topics or issues too complex for the discussion forum, both with other students and with the course staff. They are also the primary resource when you need help resolving a code-specific issue with a staff member. 1:1 help is limited to 15 minutes to ensure we can help as many people as possible. Helper hours are typically either in-person-only or remote-only. In-person-only helper hours are typically held in the Computing and Data Science Building ("CoDa") basement study area; remote-only helper hours are held on the Zoom link posted on the course Canvas ("Zoom" tab).

When joining remote-only helper hours, please join the Zoom. When it's your turn to be helped, you can let us know if the question you have can only be answered in a private room. Private room help is limited to 15 minutes, when demand is high, to ensure we can help as many people as possible. But our default is to help in the group room, so that we can help as many people as possible. Group discussions do not have a strict time limit, as our help there is more fluid and benefits more people - another reason to try and frame your question in a way that is appropriate to ask in a group setting!

Getting Help

• Working with other students: when working with other students in helper hours, please adhere to the Honor Code and collaboration policies. For example, do not discuss code-level or answer-level details with other students, do not look at others' code/solutions or share your code/solutions with others, do not work through debugging another student's program, and make sure to cite collaboration as appropriate.

Zoom Links

Join the CS107 Zoom link for remote helper hours here:

View Remote helper hours Zoom Link

Office Hours Schedule

Office Hours are planned for the following times:

Monday 2:45 PM - 4:45 PM (right after lecture)
Wednesday 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Friday 2:45 PM - 4:45 PM (right after lecture)

EdStem Discussion Forum

We are using a combination of IntelliCopilot and EdStem ("Ed").

IntelliCopilot is for immediate and longer-form discussion of concepts. It is effectively a 24/7 CA powered by a contextually informed AI assistant running on the current set of frontier-models. ED is used for questions that require a human response, private posts, and announcements. Both sites are monitored by the course staff and all non-private posts are shared across the class on both sites.

IntelliCopilot offers instant AI responses and provides support with logistical, theory, and general unix/conceptual questions. It also features custom AI agents that are contextualized to our class to provide detailed and relevant answers. Make sure to only ask questions that you would ask a friend under the Collaboration Policy . While the AI can provide code, we require that you avoid asking questions that would lead to the generation of solutions.

Acesss to IntelliCopilot will be setup during the first week. The link to ED is available on Canvas and below, all students are auto-enrolled.

The forums are appropriate for all topics of course relevance, e.g., discussions of readings/lectures, advice on using the tools effectively, clarifying specifications of an assignment, sharing resources, and more. Having the discussion in a public place means that everyone can benefit and keeps things efficient and inclusive to all. The course staff will also monitor and participate in the forum. Finally, the forum will also be used to source questions about lecture sessions, both during and after.

Note that it is not intended for in depth questions about your code - please visit helper hours for these questions! Please do not post code to either discussion forum.

Here are some tips:

• Search before you post
• Use a descriptive summary for your post
• Follow and respond to others' posts
• Heart questions and answers you find useful
• Share interesting course related content with staff and peers

We encourage you to participate openly and non-anonymously on the forum when asking questions or posting answers; it is immensely rewarding to know who you can thank for an answer to your question, or who you are helping by answering a question!

Please do NOT publicly post the code to solve a homework assignment (in whole or in part, or partial code in progress) on the class discussion boards, ever, for any reason; this can be considered a violation of the Stanford Honor Code. Also please do not publicly post highly detailed written descriptions of your solution to an assignment. It is, however, acceptable and encouraged to publicly post discussions of homework ideas in general terms, or refer to a non-homework piece of code, such as a lecture example or example from the textbook. You may publicly post any code you like as long as it is not part of a homework assignment solution.

By using clicking the links below / using the forums, you acknowledge that you have read the preceding text, and agree to abide by the rules written above.

Visit the CS107 Ed Forum Visit IntelliCopilot

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I schedule an appointment outside of the listed hours?

Our staff is committed to the 25+ hours scheduled per week. For this reason, requests for additional appointments with the TAs cannot be accommodated.

The staff queue is crowded the night before a deadline. How can I get help at a less busy time?

Any staff help hours scheduled close to the assignment deadlines are likely to be heavily attended with students focused on meeting deadlines, and the staff will need to keep up a brisk pace to efficiently process the large number of questions. Hours at other times in the week are more relaxed, and we encourage you to take advantage of those off-peak hours.

I showed my code to the staff but they didn't find my bug!

I'm sorry you are disappointed, but there may be a misunderstanding about what to expect from our staff. We do not intend to be a resource that, upon reviewing your code, will spot your bug and tell you how to fix it. Many bugs don't lend themselves to that sort of instantaneous resolution, but even for those that do, we intentionally avoid offering quick fixes. While finding and fixing a bug may solve the immediate problem, it does little to build self-sufficiency in debugging going forward. Debugging can be hard work, but it is an essential part of programming and only by working through it do you build up your skills. This is our goal for you!

When faced with a challenging bug, we can be your guide, your coach, your advisor, and your cheerleader. Ask for our help interpreting the symptoms and the observations you have made. Invite us to review what you have figured out so far and brainstorm what to try next. Seek advice on which tools and what experiments will be helpful. Lean on us for moral support and encouragement when the going gets rough. And celebrate with us when you nail that bug!