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Class Logistics

Links and Logistics

Syllabus

Class: Logistics (this page!)

Section: Section syllabus

Schedule

Weekly Materials

Lecture videos and slides

Videos: Perusall (gated)

Slides: Access through Weekly Materials

Readings

Perusall (gated)

Problem sets

Download: Canvas (gated) OR Perusall (gated)

Upload: Canvas (gated)

Peer review

Canvas (gated)

Live class meetings

FAS: Mondays, 3:00-5:00pm in CGIS S010

DCE: Zoom URL on Canvas (gated)

Live class recordings 

DCE students ONLY: Canvas (gated)

Section

FAS: Wednesdays, 1:30-2:30pm in CGIS K050 OR Thursdays, 3:30pm-4:30pm in CGIS K031

DCE: Wednesdays, 6:00-7:00pm, Zoom URL on Canvas (gated)

Drop-in office hours

Uma: Wednesdays 2:30-4:00pm in CGIS K105

Aleksandra: Thursdays 4:30-6:00pm in CGIS K031

1:1 office hours

Uma: Thursdays 10:00-11:00am in K452 OR Zoom (sign up here: Uma's Calendly)

Aleksandra: Fridays 4:00-5:00pm in CGIS Café OR Zoom (sign up here: Aleksandra's Calendly)

Undergraduate office hours

1:1: Thursdays 3:00-5:00pm on Zoom (sign up here: Masaoud's Calendly)
Drop-in: Fridays 1:00-4:00pm in Kirkland Dining Hall

Meeting with Professor King Message Maria Martins on Perusall (gated) to schedule
Replication paper office hours
FAS only
Uma: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00pm and Thursdays, 11:00am-12:00pm in K452 or Zoom (sign up here: Uma's Calendly)
Aleksandra: by Perusall appointment

Weekly Schedule and Deadlines

If you want to see the information above in a chronological format...

Monday

3:00-5:00pm: Class

5:00pm: Problem set released

Tuesday

11:59pm: Peer review due

Wednesday

1:30-2:30pm: GOV2001 (FAS) section

2:30-4:00pm: Drop-in office hours (Uma)

6:00-7:00pm: STAT E-200 (DCE) section

Thursday

10:00-11:00am: 1:1 office hours (Uma)

3:30-4:30pm: GOV2001 (FAS) section

4:30-6:00pm: Drop-in office hours (Aleksandra)

Friday 4:00-5:00pm: 1:1 office hours (Aleksandra)

Saturday

11:59pm: Problem set or replication check-in due

Sunday

~7:00pm: Peer review released

 

 

Course Content, Expectations, and Policies

Your Part 

Much of this class is designed as a collective experience -- following social science research to help you learn more, understand the material faster, and remember it for longer. This means that other students will be counting on you (and you on them), so not meeting a deadline or not coming to class hurts you and all those around you.  Please come to class prepared and meet all assignments as listed on the class web site. If you don't understand something, that's perfectly fine; we'll figure it out together and make sure you're not left behind. Your main job is to try and to stay engaged.
 

Perusall

We will use Perusall to watch the lecture videos and do the weekly readings. All questions regarding problem sets, course logistics, etc. should also be posted on Perusall. This way, everyone has access to the same information and you don’t have to ask a question that your classmate already received an answer to. Annotations should relate to the specific content in the lecture or reading. We also encourage you to discuss the 'big picture' context of the material, in a separate discussion chat channel. You can directly access our Perusall group through Canvas by clicking on the “Perusall” button.  Do not send us emails or messages through Canvas. You can post your questions under “General Discussion” on Perusall or send us a private message. 
 

Lecture Videos  

Pre-recorded lecture videos are a key component of this course. The videos are embedded as “assignments” on Perusall, and you should watch them before the due date shown on Perusall.
 

Class Meetings on Mondays  

We will also hold synchronous class meetings once a week on Mondays from 3:00-5:00pm in CGIS S010 (the Tsai Auditorium). DCE students can join through Zoom, linked here.
 
Attendance of live class meetings on Mondays is mandatory for FAS students and optional for DCE students. FAS students can ask for exemptions on an individual basis.
 

Sections

As of now, two equivalent sections for FAS students will be held every week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and one section will be held for DCE students on Wednesday evenings over Zoom (link here). You can join whichever session fits your schedule best. Please review the section syllabus here.

 

Office Hours

Each TF holds two problem set office hours per week. One hour is reserved for one-on-one meetings, which can be booked here (Uma) or here (Aleksandra). The other hour is "drop in": all students can attend, no sign-up required. See "Weekly Schedule and Deadlines" for locations and times. Replication paper "office hours" are treated separately, available only to students writing the replication paper, and held explicitly to discuss their papers.
 

Problem Sets

Weekly problem sets are one of the two assignment types in this course (complemented by the replication paper for FAS students and the class final for DCE students; see below for more). Problem sets can be found on our website but are gated, meaning only those enrolled in the course can access them. You can and should work on problem sets in groups, but be sure to (1) specify all of your group members each week as a comment on your Canvas submission and (2) write up your own answers. We will often include "individual" questions on the problem sets, which you are required to work through by yourself (though you can discuss them with the teaching team).
 
The schedule works as follows: problem sets are released right after class on Monday. They are due at 11:59PM on the Saturday of that week on Canvas. For example, PS2 is released on Monday, September 12 after class and is due Saturday, September 17.
 
Each week, you will also peer review the problem set submission of one other student on Canvas. We will assign peer reviewing on Canvas on Sunday evening. Every week, you have at least 48 hours to complete peer-reviewing, so peer reviewing is due on Tuesdays at 11:59PM. The goal is to give helpful feedback and compare the submission to the solution key we provide.
 

Replication Paper

Along with problem sets, several progress checks will be due on the listed Saturdays at 11:59PM. Research is gradual, and the you won't want to miss the checkpoints below!
  1. Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 11:59pm EDT: A one page write-up of your project is due.
  2. Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 11:59pm EDT: Due date for the second milestone for the replication paper. You should have successfully replicated the main results in your paper.  
  3. Sunday, November 27, 2022 at 11:59PM EDT: This due date is aligned with the holiday and final class day. You will turn in a first draft of your paper. This draft should contain all figures and tables, and a proposed outline of the paper, in a relatively polished form. This draft need not have much text yet (although the more you complete, the more useful comments you will get in return). Also turn in a replication data file, with all of the data and information necessary to replicate your results and reproduce your tables and figures. At the same time, we will assign your paper to several other students to replicate, and you will receive another group’s paper to replicate. 
  4. Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 11:59PM EDT: You will replicate the other group’s proto-paper and write a memo to them (with a copy to us), pointing out ways to improve their paper and analysis. You will be evaluated based on how helpful, not how destructive, you are. The best comments are written so fellow students can hear and learn from them rather than trying to demonstrate how smart you are.
  5. Saturday, December 10, 2022, 11:59PM EDT: Turn in the final version of the paper. By the same deadline, you must also follow standard academic practice and create a permanent replication data archive by uploading all your data and code to the Gov2001 Dataverse (j.mp/G2001dv). 
  6. Saturday, December 17, 2022, 11:59PM EDT: Once your paper is turned in, we will assign it to another student and assign you another paper to evaluate. Your last assignment for this class is to read and comment on a fellow group’s final paper. Your main objective is to give feedback on what changes and improvements need to happen in order for the paper to be published (we’ll explain!).
Each replication paper group is “assigned” to one TF; we attempt to match on the degree of fit between the paper’s topic/methods, and our own areas of relative expertise. This is not to discourage you from meeting with the other TF or Gary, but a way of providing you with relatively consistent, coherent feedback. You are required to meet with your assigned replication adviser at least once between the first and second, and second and third, progress checks. Note that we will not have section or any office hours the week before November 28 because of the Thanksgiving holiday, so you will need to make an appointment during the two weeks that follow the November 5 check-in. To make an appointment with Uma, please select a time on her Calendly. To make an appointment with Aleksandra, please message her on Perusall.
 

Final

Students in the DCE section (STAT E-200) will complete a take-home, open-note 24-hour final exam instead of the replication paper. You will be able to check it out for any 24 hour window starting December 9th, 11:59pm EDT to December 12th, 11:59pm EDT. That means December 13th, 11:59pm EDT is theoretically the latest that you can submit your final exam if you check it out 24 hours prior. You may not discuss any aspects of the exam with anyone other than the teaching staff until solutions are posted. We will not accept any submissions after this date nor any submissions completed in more than 24 hours. You may consult any of the materials you or we have created this semester to complete it. You may also consult the Internet, to the extent that it's helpful.
 

Grades

All assignments and deliverables are to be submitted on Canvas. You will also be able to view your grades here.
Final grades will be a weighted average of:
  1. The replication paper (or final exam)
  2. Weekly problem sets and assessment questions
  3. Engagement.
Problem Sets
Problem sets are graded using a coarsened scheme described in the table below (with each problem weighted according to the point value enumerated next to its title). You should aim for a mix of twos and threes. Note then that a two is notequivalent to a 67%/D letter grade. If you submit your problem set after the Saturday, 11:59p deadline withoutcommunicating an extenuating circumstance to us, your work will be credited according to a higher grading standard (after the grade based solely on your work is returned to you). In all cases, if you submit your problem set after the release of peer reviews on Sunday evening, you will not be able to complete a peer review for that week, although we will still read and mark your problem set submission.
Numerical Value
Conceptual Correlate
Definition
3
Check-plus
Indicates an exceptional understanding of the material; answers are comprehensive and insightful
2
Check
Indicates a satisfactory understanding of the material; answers are complete and mostly correct
1
Check-minus
Indicates an incorrect or incomplete understanding of the material; answers would benefit from additional review
0
Insufficient material
Indicates an absence of sufficient material to assess comprehension level; answers are either incomplete or missing
Engagement
Your engagement score has three basic components:
  1. Class and section attendance (GOV2001 students only)
  2. Lecture and reading annotations (due before class on Monday)
  3. Peer reviews (due Tuesday evening)
To be an “engaged” student, you must be helpful to your fellow students. You can do this by coming to every class and section prepared, and joining in the discussion in class and out of class (through Perusall annotations and via assignment and paper groups). We recognize and understand that you may prefer to participate more in person, online, or both, and compensating for one by emphasizing another is fine; that’s why we provide these different channels. However, to receive engagement credit as an FAS student, you must at a minimum come to class every week and be a responsible member of the class community. Finding other ways of helping your classmates learn more or to build class camaraderie is also appreciated.
 
Weekly annotations and peer reviews are scored according to a coarsened scheme, which is detailed below. On your peer reviews, you should aim for a mix of ones and twos; you should try to make at least a few annotations on the reading or the lecture videos over the course of the semester. The goal here is to demonstrate consistent, thoughtful interaction with course material, and a willingness to work with your peers to achieve comprehension. Please do not annotate lectures and readings simply for the sake of annotating; ask questions when you have them, answer others’ questions when you can. Annotations are not a signal to us that you’ve read and watched the material; they’re a means of communicating, of you asking questions and answering others, all of which helps you and the rest of us learn.
Given this, remember that participation in discussions, and annotations on Perusall will be evaluated based on the extent of meaningful engagement with the material and your fellow students; how often you produce the right answer is not relevant.
Numerical Value
Conceptual Correlate
Definition
2
Check-plus
Indicates particularly thoughtful, helpful comments that extend recipients’ engagement with and comprehension of material
1
Check
Indicates useful, coherent, and clarifying comments
0
Insufficient material
Indicates an absence of material to assess
Other Concerns
For undergraduate students, final grades will take into consideration that this is a graduate-level course.
 

Distributing or Publishing Course Materials

The majority of GOV2001 materials are publicly available on this website. Students must obtain permission from the course instructors to make anything that is not currently available on the course site public. Such materials include, but are not limited to, the following: in class lecture slides, section slides, problem sets, and problem set solutions. Students who sell, post, publish, or distribute these course materials without written permission, whether for the purposes of soliciting answers or otherwise, may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including requirement to withdraw. Further, students may not make video or audio recordings of class sessions for their own use without written permission of the instructor.
 

Extension School Policies

Accommodation Requests: Harvard Extension School is committed to providing an inclusive, accessible academic community for students with disabilities and chronic health conditions. The Accessibility Services Office (ASO) (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/accessibility-services/) offers accommodations and support to students with documented disabilities. If you have a need for accommodations or adjustments, contact Accessibility Services directly via email at accessibility@extension.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-998-9640.

Academic Integrity: You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/student-policies-conduct/academic-integrity/) and how to use sources responsibly. Stated most broadly, academic integrity means that all course work submitted, whether a draft or a final version of a paper, project, take-home exam, online exam, computer program, oral presentation, or lab report, must be your own words and ideas, or the sources must be clearly acknowledged. The potential outcomes for violations of academic integrity are serious and ordinarily include all of the following: required withdrawal (RQ), which means a failing grade in the course (with no refund), the suspension of registration privileges, and a notation on your transcript.  Using sources responsibly (https://extension.harvard.edu/for-students/support-and-services/using-sources-effectively-and-responsibly/) is an essential part of your Harvard education. We provide additional information about our expectations regarding academic integrity on our website. We invite you to review that information and to check your understanding of academic citation rules by completing two free online 15-minute tutorials that are also available on our site. (The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.)

 

Course Google Calendar 2022