Frequently asked questions

Is attendance mandatory in the teaching sessions?

No. However, if you do not attend the teaching sessions, you will not get feedback on the diagnostic quizzes and will have to do a replacement assignment for the in-class assignment.

Labs

Do I need a lab partner? I would rather want to work on my own.

Yes, you must find a lab partner; we do not have enough tutors to give feedback on one-person labs. We can only grant exceptions to this rule for the advanced labs and per our Special needs policy.

How do I activate the lab environment?

The lab environment is available on computers connected to LiU’s Linux system, including those in the B-building computer labs. To activate the environment, issue the following command at the terminal prompt:

source /courses/TDDE09/venv/bin/activate

How do I use the lab environment in Visual Studio Code?

To use the lab environment in Visual Studio Code, you need to install it as an IPython kernel. You only need to do this once. Open a terminal and run the following command from within the activated course environment:

python -m ipykernel install --user --name TDDE09

After that, restart Visual Studio Code. The next time you open a notebook, you should be able to select TDDE09 as a Jupyter kernel. (Click on the Select Kernel button in the top right corner of the notebook.)

How can I prevent downloading large files from the course repo?

The course repo contains several large files (including data and pretrained models) that may push your user account over quota. You can avoid downloading them when cloning the repo like so:

GIT_LFS_SKIP_SMUDGE=1 git clone https://gitlab.liu.se/nlp/courses/tdde09

You can also configure your local clone to never download large files on updates. Inside the clone, run:

git lfs install --local --skip-smudge

This will replace large files with text pointers. If you are on LiU’s Linux system, you can still get a fully functional clone by replacing these pointer files with symlinks to the corresponding files inside the global course directory at /courses/TDDE09/tdde09.

How do I get remote access to the lab machines?

To get access to GPUs when working remotely, you can log in to one of the machines in the lab rooms Asgård or Egypten using RDP. (Connecting using SSH or Thinlinc will not work.) Please note that you should only login to GPU machines during the scheduled lab times, or when they are unused.

Links to RDP profiles for the GPU machines

Examination

When do I get my grade?

For each attempted module, the examiner will decide about your grade within 15 working days after the end of the relevant exams period (link). Your final grade will be set as soon as you have passed all modules.

When does an examination module count as attempted?

An examination module counts as attempted when you take an examination or submit an assignment that belongs to that module. Note that you cannot undo an examination or retract a submission.

What happens if I do not pass a module?

If you attempt but do not pass a module, the examiner will report the grade U (Fail). However, you can retake the examination during the re-exam periods (link). Contact the examiner at least ten working days before the start of the relevant re-exam period if you want to retake an examination.

Can I retake an examination for a higher grade?

No. As per the rules of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, the right to retake an examination for a higher grade only applies to written exams, digital exams, and computer exams. You cannot exercise this right for other types of examination, such as labs or oral exams.