Assignment Problems and Support

Assignment Problems and Support

Different kinds of problems need different kinds of help. Choosing the right support path can save time and protect your graded work.

Assignment Requirements, Grading, or Feedback

Contact your instructor through D2L Brightspace when your question is about:

• what the assignment requires;
• how the rubric will be applied;
• whether a particular design choice satisfies the assignment;
• instructor feedback; or
• a course-specific exception or accommodation.

The current Module Three Assignment Guidelines and Rubric and your instructor take priority over repository or Wiki explanations.

Repository-Use Questions

Use GitHub Discussions for questions such as:

• how to use a provided repository file;
• how to open a file in VS Code;
• what a repository instruction means;
• how the optional practice tools are intended to work; or
• general questions about the repository workflow.

Do not post a completed graded flowchart or pseudocode publicly.

Technical Problems With Course-Provided Files or Tools

Use GitHub Issues to report a reproducible technical problem with:

• a provided starter file;
• a broken repository link;
• documentation;
• a GitHub Actions check;
• the optional test file; or
• repository configuration.

A useful technical report includes:

• what you were trying to do;
• what you expected;
• what happened instead;
• the exact error message, if any;
• whether you are using the CVD, Windows, macOS, or Linux; and
• enough detail to reproduce the problem without sharing your completed graded solution.

Course IDE Setup Problems

If the problem is with the course IDE itself rather than the M3 assignment files, return to the Module One Setup Tasks.

Examples include:

• GitHub authentication is not working;
• VS Code extensions are missing;
• the Draw.io integration does not open;
• Git or GitHub CLI is unavailable; or
• a local computer was not configured through the course setup process.

GitHub Authentication Problems

Start with:

gh auth status

Confirm that the GitHub account you use for IT 140 is active.

If it is not, follow the GitHub section of the Module One Setup Tasks rather than repeatedly running assignment repository-creation commands.

Repository Already Exists

If GitHub reports that it140-m3-assignment already exists, you probably already created your personal repository.

Do not immediately delete it.

Instead:

1. Check your GitHub account for the existing private repository.
2. Check ~/Repos for the local assignment folder.
3. Open the existing work if it is the copy you want to keep.

The repository README contains safe restore/restart procedures when a fresh copy is actually needed.

Draw.io Does Not Open

Check that:

• you opened the entire repository folder in VS Code;
• the Draw.io extension from the Module One Setup Tasks is installed/enabled; and
• the file still has the .drawio extension.

Do not convert the required assignment file to an image or PDF simply because the editor is not opening.

Pseudocode Looks Like Plain Text

That is okay. A .pseudo file is a text file.

The important requirements are the logic, organization, indentation, and appropriate keywords described by the assignment—not a particular visual editor appearance.

GitHub Assignment Check Is Red

Open the most recent Assignment Checks run and read the failed step.

Common reasons while working include:

• a graded design file is still unchanged from the starter;
• pseudocode TODO prompts remain;
• a course-provided file was changed;
• the Draw.io XML was damaged; or
• a required file is missing.

A red X does not itself determine your assignment grade.

Optional Python Test Fails

If you chose the optional construction practice, compare the failing case with:

1. the SRS;
2. your flowchart;
3. your pseudocode; and
4. your Python program.

Correct the first artifact that is wrong. Do not edit the course-provided test just to make it pass.

See Testing and Debugging.

Protect Your Work Before Troubleshooting

Before any destructive recovery step:

• save your files;
• commit and push good work when possible; or
• make a backup copy of the local repository folder.

Do not delete or overwrite a working repository simply because a command reports that something already exists.

Where to Go

Question/problem	Best starting point
Assignment requirement or grade	Instructor / D2L Brightspace
Repository-use question	GitHub Discussions
Technical defect in provided repo content	GitHub Issues
Course IDE setup/authentication	Module One Setup Tasks
Optional testing/debugging	Testing and Debugging

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