This class is being studied as part of the High Productivity Computing Systems program. HPCS is trying to understand how people solve high-performance computing problems, and how much time they spend on different kinds of tasks while writing programs using various languages and systems.
Everyone in the course will fill out a background questionnaire, and as you work on the homework problems you will record an effort log describing how you spend your time. After you've done all four homework problems, you will fill out a post-assignment questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires and logs won't affect anyone's grade; in fact Professor Gilbert won't see them until after the course is over.
In order to have your data included in the study, you need to turn in a hard-copy consent form. (If you don't give us a consent form your data will be thrown away.)