Skills & Check-Ins
There are no traditional tests in CS 112. Instead, your grade reflects whether you can demonstrate the course skills in person, through three individual check-in appointments with the instructor, backed by the assignments you complete along the way.
The short version: Do your assignments, they are how you learn, and your completion percentage affects your final grade. Then come in for each check-in: a 25-minute conversation where you work through a question drawn from each cluster in that window. Every student books one appointment per window, three across the semester.
The Mastery Scale
Each of the three windows earns one of three marks:
Every window starts at N and moves up when you demonstrate understanding at its check-in. A mark can also move down, if a later session shows that a persistent skill from an earlier window is no longer solid, that window can return to D. The instructor will tell you and follow up; the Final Window is there to put it right.
Both N and D can be improved later, so an early stumble is not permanent.
What Happens at a Check-In
Each appointment is 25 minutes and covers every cluster in that window. It is a conversation, not a timed test.
How long you get per question depends on the window. Windows 1 and 3 cover two clusters, so each question gets roughly ten minutes. Window 2 covers three, so its questions run nearer seven minutes each. They are correspondingly shorter, you are not being asked to do more in less time.
A single question may touch more than one skill, and often will: removing a node from a linked list involves pointer manipulation and freeing memory. That is realistic, and it is fine. The session as a whole produces one mark for the window.
Check-In Windows
You book one 25-minute appointment per window, three across the semester, plus the Final Window. Each appointment covers every cluster in that window.
Book early, earlier than you think. The windows are not deadlines, but the instructor’s calendar is real, and this semester it is unusually tight right after each window’s reference date:
- Window 1 (ref. Oct 23), Fall Break runs Oct 16–21 and the instructor is away Oct 24–30. Everything for clusters A and B is taught by Oct 3, so you are ready three weeks early. Book in the first half of October.
- Window 2 (ref. Nov 20), the instructor is away Nov 21–24 and Thanksgiving follows. There are no slots between Nov 21 and Nov 29. Book on or before Nov 20.
- Window 3 (ref. Dec 2), clear, but it inherits anyone who slipped out of Window 2.
Everything closes on Dec 9, the last day of classes. Waiting is the single most common way students end up unable to get an appointment at all.
one 25-min appointment
one 25-min appointment
one 25-min appointment
(upgrade N or D → M)
Every Student Does Every Check-In
Check-ins are not optional and not selective. Every student books a 25-minute appointment in every window, three across the semester. Completing the assignments is not by itself proof of mastery; it is the preparation that makes the check-in go well. The check-in is where mastery is confirmed.
Book each appointment when you feel ready, ideally after you have completed the assignments for that window’s clusters. You do not have to wait for the window’s reference date. You also should not wait until the last week of the window.
Persistent Skills
A handful of skills are in scope at every check-in window, not just their home cluster. These are foundational habits that need to remain sharp as the course grows more complex, not just skills you demonstrate once and forget.
A persistent skill appearing at a later window can be upgraded (N → M or D → M) or downgraded if regression is observed (M → D). The goal is habit formation, not a one-time demonstration.
How Check-In Results Work
| What the instructor observes | Effect on your record |
|---|---|
| Correct, complete understanding | Skill → M (Mastered) |
| Core idea present, gaps remain | Skill → D (Developing) |
| Skill not demonstrated | Skill stays N (Not yet) |
| A prior M cannot be demonstrated | Skill → D; instructor follows up |
The last row is not a trap. If you genuinely engaged with the work but had a rough day, the instructor will schedule a follow-up. The goal is an honest picture of what you know, not to catch you out.
Assignments and Your Grade
Assignments are not graded for points. Their role is twofold:
- Practice. Doing the assignments is how you build the skills the check-in confirms. A student who skips the linked list assignment will meet linked lists for the first time at Window 2, with the clock running.
- Completion threshold. Completing a sufficient percentage of assignments is required to earn a given letter grade range. Strong check-in results alone are not enough, consistent engagement with the coursework matters. The specific thresholds are on the Grading page.
All 33 Skills
This is the complete list, every skill in the course, which cluster it belongs to, which check-in window assesses it, and which assignments build it. Nothing is assessed that is not on this page.
At each appointment the instructor draws one question per cluster in that window.
Skills marked † are persistent, once taught, they can resurface in any later window, because they are habits the whole course depends on.
const, and operatorsa00, a01new, delete)a05try/catcha03delete..h and .cpp with correct access modifiersa04Node struct. Write a function that removes the node at a given index from a singly linked list. Handle the edge cases.n = 4, show me the winding and the unwinding.contains and removein class (wk11)vector, list, stack, queue correctlya14set and map with iteratorsa14The codes on the right of each row show where that skill is built, an assignment, or class time where it is coded together. They are your preparation. Come to a check-in when you have done the work behind that window’s clusters and feel ready; there is no minimum number of assignments to unlock a booking.
How to prepare: do the assignments with genuine understanding, not just until the tests go green. Every question is drawn from the territory those assignments cover, so a student who worked through them honestly has already seen the ideas, just not the exact question. There is nothing to memorise and no trick waiting for you.