Where to ask
- Course question
- Post on Ed Discussion so everyone can benefit from the answer. Search first, and keep follow-up discussion in a thread.
- Project question
- Use your private Slack channel with your four-person team and assigned mentor. These channels will be created after teams and mentors are assigned, by the end of Week 3. Keep decisions and useful context in the channel rather than scattered across direct messages.
- Grade or feedback
- Discuss privately in office hours or a scheduled meeting. Grades and individual feedback should not be discussed on Ed Discussion or in a team Slack channel.
- Accommodation or personal concern
- Arrange a private conversation with a course instructor. Share only the information needed to discuss course implementation.
- Deadline
- Check Canvas. It is the official source of truth for due dates, submissions, and grading.
Ed Discussion and project Slack
Ed Discussion will be available from the start of the quarter. We will not set up Slack until project teams are chosen. By the end of Week 3, each four-person team will receive a private channel with its assigned mentor. If you are new to Stanford Slack, sign in with your SUNet ID and review Stanford’s setup guidance.
- Read the announcements thread on Ed Discussion for course-wide updates.
- Use Ed Discussion for course Q&A so answers are visible and searchable.
- Use your private team Slack channel for project mentoring, decisions, and progress updates with your assigned mentor.
- Reply in threads and use descriptive first messages so discussions remain searchable.
- Reserve
@channeland urgent mentions for time-sensitive issues affecting the whole group. - Never post API keys, passwords, private user data, grades, accommodation information, or sensitive team concerns.
Response expectations
The teaching team aims to respond to Ed questions by the end of the next business day. Each mentor will set expectations for their team’s private Slack channel. We do not continuously monitor Ed or Slack during evenings or weekends. A teammate’s presence indicator is not a request for an immediate response; teams should agree on their own normal working hours in the team charter.
Ed and Slack are not emergency services. For an urgent health or safety concern, use the appropriate Stanford support or emergency resource.
Office hours
Madeleine’s office hours are Thursdays from 2–3 p.m. in Huang 251, or by appointment. Office hours are for early ideas, half-formed questions, technical blocks, product decisions, team concerns, or simply talking through what to do next. You do not need a polished question.
For technical debugging, try the 15-minute rule: make a focused attempt, ask your tool to explain the failure, then bring the error, the expected behavior, and what you already tried.