Tokens are meant to give you the opportunity to revisit work from our course that challenged you the first time around. We hope this system will remove some of the pressure of “performance” in our course, since you may resubmit some things without penalty.
You may earn tokens by supporting your peers and being an active member of the Grinnell computer science community. Eligible opportunities will be listed in a shared spreadsheet and may be announced at the beginning of each week. There is no limit to the number of tokens you can earn.
There are two primary uses for a token.
In general, you can earn tokens in one of four ways:
All elligible tokens will be logged on the Approved and Pending Tokens list. You are encouraged to add items to this list yourself to obtain instructor approval.
To earn tokens after attending events, submit information about your attendance to one of the token submissions on Gradescope.
Q: How can I earn a token?
A: Attend an approved event. (See the linked excel doc above) Then submit the Token assignment on Gradescope.
Q: I attended an approved event. How do I get my token?
A: Submit the Token assignment on Gradescope. (Unless it was a mentor session, then your token is awarded automatically)
Q: I attended something that wasn’t on the list, and I think it should count.
A: The very best thing to do is to always bring up your suggested events before it occurs to get approval. You can ask your instructor about it after the event, but know that since there are so many eligible opportunities we are less inclined to approve things after the fact.
Q: Can I participate in an extra credit opportunity before I need any resubmissions?
A: Yes, participate in activities at any time, and cash in on your tokens as you need them.
Q: Can I “use” a token before I’ve earned it? Can I submit a revision before earning a token?
A: Yes, participate in activities at any time, and cash in on your tokens as you need them. At the end of the semester if you haven’t earned enough tokens, your grade will be adjusted appropriately.
Q: If I earn a token, do I need to complete a revision within a particular time frame?
A: No, earn tokens at any time, and cash in on your tokens as you need them.
Q: When are revisions due?
A: If you would like to use a token, the only hard deadline is 5pm on the last day of classes (December 12, 2025). However, you are only allowed to submit at most 2 resubmissions in any given week (Sunday – Saturday), so you will need to plan to complete some things before the last week of the semester. Coding challenge revisions will have a soft deadline (a suggested deadline) if you would like it to be graded in a timely manner.
Q: What if I resubmit a coding challenge, and I still don’t get the grade I want. May I resubmit it again?
A: You may, by using another token.
Q: May I use a token for coding challenge that I didn’t turn in?
A: You may not. This system is meant to encourage you to take a second look at concepts that you may have struggled with initially, not as a way to turn in things late. Coding challenges in particular must show a good faith effort initally in order to be resubmitted.
Q: Can I use a token to turn in something late? To redo a lab? To redo reading questions?
A: You may use a token to turn in a lab or coding challenge late. Tokens are not meant for redoing low stakes assignments (labs and reading questions), for which you should typically get full credit by turning it in on time.
Q: Can I use a token to redo a quiz problem?
A: No tokens are needed for quiz problems, you have the opportunity to redo those automatically.