APS105H: CodeLab

What is CodeLab?

CodeLab is a set of online C exercises delivered and supported by a company called Turing's Craft. The exercises are worth a total of 5% of your course mark, and the first set is due at the end of week 1. CodeLabs are due Sunday nights by 11:59 pm. We will have CodeLabs most weeks, although some of the later weeks in the term may not have one. A final schedule will be announced later in the term.

In order to use CodeLab, you must purchase a registration from Turing's Craft; the price is $25 USD.

The set of selected exercises has not been finalized; we will finalize each set a week ahead of time.

How do I earn full marks on a CodeLab?

Each set of CodeLab exercises is marked out of 2, and your total CodeLab mark across all weeks will be weighted as 5% of your term mark. This means that each CodeLab will be worth approximately 0.5% of your course grade, although this percentage may vary slightly depending on the total number of CodeLabs.

To earn 1 mark out of 2 you must:

• attempt all of the exercises

• get at least 75% of exercises correct (see examples below).

To earn 2 marks out of 2, you must get all the exercises correct.

Example 1: If there are 10 exercises, then you must attempt all 10. 75% of 10 is 7.5, so you must get at least 8/10 correct to earn 1 mark. You must get all 10 correct to earn 2 marks.

Example 2: If there are 4 exercises, then you must attempt all 4. Since 75% of 4 is 3, so you must get at least 3/4 correct to earn 1 mark. You must get all 4 correct to earn 2 marks.

The idea behind CodeLab is to give you a place to practise with feedback and hints that will help you learn. So you are allowed to attempt questions more than once. There is one limitation though: you can attempt each question a maximum of 5 times every 30 minutes. This is just to prevent you from randomly trying every possible answer you can think of -- which wouldn't help you learn anything at all.

How to Start Using CodeLab

To register for CodeLab:

1. Go to this web site: http://www.tcgo1.com/
2. Click 'Register for CodeLab'.
3. Choose the 'Student: I am in a course that uses CodeLab.'
4. You will be asked for your Section Access Code. Each course that uses CodeLab is assigned a different code; please be careful to use the correct one! Our code for APS105H this term is: TORO-7170-NGLA-11
5. When asked to enter your name, be sure to use your real name (as it appears on ROSI). And when asked for your email address, please use your UTORmail (@utoronto.ca) email address. If you don't use your name as it appears on ROSI and the email associated with your University account, we won't be able to give you credit for the work you do in CodeLab.
6. (Be sure to check the email sent to your UTORmail account! Turing's Craft needs to be able to contact you; for example, if you forget your password they can then email you a new one. We may occasionally email important course announcements to your UTORmail account, and U of T sends critical information, for example about your fees, to that account too.)
7. Follow the instructions until you get to the LOGIN screen.

These CodeLab slides have screenshots that walk you through the process of solving exercises.

How to Purchase CodeLab

To submit answers to the exercises after the first 10 you must purchase CodeLab access. You can purchase with a credit card, send a cheque to Turing's Craft, or use Paypal.

Credit Card

1. Login to CodeLab.
2. Click the GET FULL ACCESS button.
3. Follow the instructions; you can choose to pay by credit card, PayPal, or Canadian Postal Order (although the postal order has a $2 surcharge).
4. Fill out the sequence of forms, making sure to click "Continue" at the bottom of each form.
5. Return to the LAB portion of CodeLab and continue.