CSC108H (StG, Summer 2011): CodeLab

What is CodeLab?

CodeLab is a set of online Python exercises delivered and supported by a company called Turing's Craft. They are worth 5% of your course mark, and the first set is due at the beginning of week 2. 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 worth 0.5% of your course grade, and is marked out of 2. To earn 1 mark out of 2 you must:

• attempt all of the exercises
• get at least 75% of exercises correct (see examples below).
Example 1: If there are 10 exercises, then you must attempt all 10 exercises and get at least 8/10 correct.
Example 2: If there are 3 exercises, then you must attempt all 3 exercises and get all 3/3 correct.

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

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

The first 10 exercises in CodeLab are free so you can start doing the CodeLab homework before paying. But first you must register to get a username and password and put yourself on your instructor's CodeLab roster:

1. Go to this web site: http://www.turingscraft.com
2. Click REGISTER in the upper right hand corner of the page.
3. Choose the 'Student: I am in a course that uses CodeLab.'
4. You will be asked for your Section Access Code. Each time we teach CSC108 there is a different code; please be careful to use the correct one! Our code for CSC108 on St George campus this term is: TORO-5979-KABQ-9.
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, use your UToronto email. (If you don't have a UToronto email address, please get a UTORid now!)
If you don't use your proper name 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 UTORid account! TuringsCraft needs to be able to contact you; for example, if you forget your password they can then email you a new one. We will occasionally email important course announcements to your UTORid account, and UofT 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 registering and 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.