Course development

This course offering (HT25 P1) is given back-to-back with (HT25 P2) and the changes that we will discuss here do not apply to HT25 P2 but rather HT26. Oral Examinations: The format of oral examinations will be revisited with new exciting ideas that will help us continue to offer a course that does not contain written examination but can still offer fair examination in this new age where students are using more help from digital agents to complete their assignments. The changes will allow us to reduce variability and improve consistency in grading practices, addressing student concerns about TA variability. Assignment Redesign: Assignments are being redesigned for a refresh that will introduce a new scenario and no dependencies on older python libraries or versions. This directly addresses student feedback regarding the "end of life" status of Python 3.8 used in previous labs. The new assignment is also prepared to offer students more exciting challenges. Communication: In HT26 we will also start providing more streamlined weekly updates as it was requested in this course evaluation to improve structure and planning clarity.