Tutorial is where you actually build things. Once a week you’ll spend 80 minutes working on that week’s tool with your TA and the rest of your tutorial group, and you’ll leave with something you made.
Tutorials will start on week 2, and meet either Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. You’ll be placed in one of those blocks and you’ll stay in it, with the same TA and the same table group, all quarter.
What happens in tutorial
Every week runs the same way, so you always know what you’re walking into:
- First 20 minutes — the tool. A walkthrough of the week’s tool: what it does, what it’s genuinely good at, and where it falls apart.
- The other 60 minutes — you build. You work on this week’s build. At some point during the hour, your TA will pull you aside for a ten-minute check-in to go through last week’s homework with you — so come with it ready to show. Meanwhile, other TAs are circulating the room the whole time to help with whatever you’re stuck on today, and you can always ask your table group. You don’t have to wait for your own TA to get help; whoever’s free will come to you.
You get one new tool and one new concept each week. The full week-by-week plan is under the Tutorials tab.
Your TA
You’ll have the same TA every week for the whole quarter, and the weekly check-in is how they keep up with you: they’re the one who reviews your homework, signs it off, and knows what you’re building and where it’s going. They’re the first person to email when you’re stuck, confused, or need to miss a week.
Other TAs will help you debug during build time, and that’s what they’re there for — but your own TA is the one who follows your work across the quarter.
If you have to miss a week
Life happens. If you can’t make your own block in a given week, come to a different one instead. Every tutorial has TAs in the room whose job is helping whoever’s there, so one of them will pull you aside, do your ten minute weekly check in, and then you’ll join another group for the remainder of that day’s tutorial.
Just email your TA ahead of time so they know where you’ll be.
Office hours
This quarter, we’ll be combining tutorials and office hours. If you want to come to office hours, come to any tutorial, and one of the TAs who is on floater duty will come help you out.
Common questions about tutorials
How do I sign up for tutorial?
We’ll be sending out a preferences sheet in the first week of the quarter! Once we have those preferences, we’ll assign people to tutorials starting Week 2.
Where is tutorial held?
Coda, B80
Where do I find out which tutorial I’m in?
You will get an email during the weekend of week 1!
Is tutorial attendance mandatory?
Yes. Attendance and participation are graded, and tutorial is also where your assignments get graded — so you need to be there to get credit for your work. If something about your circumstances makes attending or participating hard (time zone, technology, anything else), email Piper and we’ll work out accommodations.
How is tutorial participation graded?
Your TA will tell you how you’re doing at the end of each tutorial. Grading is S/NC, so you’ll hear it as one of three buckets: exceeding expectations, passing, or needs improvement.
Where can I find the tutorial materials?
Under the “Tutorials” tab on this site.
What do I need to bring?
Tutorials are in person, so bring a laptop. If that’s a problem for you, email Piper and we’ll sort something out.