Throughout the course, the following activities will be carried out:

Theory sessions, in which the teaching staff will provide information on the course content and on strategies to acquire, expand, and organize this knowledge. Active student participation will be encouraged during these sessions, for example through discussions on topics that may have multiple technological solutions.

Problem-solving sessions, in which students will actively participate in groups to consolidate their knowledge by solving, presenting, and discussing related problems and activities. A distinction is made between problems and activities, on the one hand, and exercises, on the other, which may be considered trivial problems. Problems and activities will often admit multiple solutions and may generate discussion among students.

Laboratory practical sessions, in which small projects will be proposed for analysis and development by student teams. These sessions will have been planned, documented, and scheduled by the teaching staff in advance, and students will be required to prepare for them beforehand by reviewing the relevant theoretical concepts and the basic technical aspects of the development work. The practical sessions are intended to help students acquire the skills associated with the course and contribute to the development of competencies such as autonomous learning.

Preparation of the course e-Portfolio. Students will work autonomously in teams to research and prepare materials that provide evidence of their learning, both in theory and problem-solving, and to study these materials. The evidence will include extensions of the topics covered in the theory sessions and the collaborative resolution of problems. The teaching staff will monitor the work of the different teams and provide feedback based on the tasks completed, questions raised, and errors identified.

The development of the e-Portfolio is intended to help students achieve the course competencies. The teaching methodology and assessment process are closely linked to the virtual e-Portfolio system, which serves as the integrating element for the different learning activities throughout the course and enables a continuous and formative assessment process embedded within teaching and learning activities. The e-Portfolio will help students maintain consistent work habits, enabling them to achieve the intended knowledge, skills, and competencies associated with both the theoretical and problem-solving components of the course.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Final Grade Calculation

The final course grade, which includes the assessment of knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired, will be calculated as follows:

• 40%: knowledge validation grade. A minimum score of 5 out of 10 is required.
• 25%: laboratory practical sessions grade. A minimum score of 5 out of 10 is required.
• 20%: portfolio grade. A minimum score of 5 out of 10 is required.
• 15%: problem-solving sessions grade. No minimum score is required.
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A minimum final grade of 5 is required to pass the course.

Knowledge Validation Grade

Knowledge validation will be assessed through a midterm examination and a final examination.

Students who obtain a score higher than 5 in the midterm examination will not be required to retake that part in the final examination.

Laboratory Sessions Grade

To be eligible for grade averaging, students must:

• Obtain a score higher than 4 in each laboratory assignment.
• Pass the validation test conducted together with the knowledge assessment examinations.

If one of the components requiring a minimum score is not passed, the weighted average will still be calculated using the grades obtained.

• If the resulting average is 4.7 or lower, that average will be the final grade.
• If the average is higher than 4.7, the final grade will be 4.7 (Fail).

This course does not offer a single-assessment evaluation system.

The assessment mechanisms used in the course are described in greater detail below.

Retake Process

Retake opportunities focus on the following components:

• Knowledge validation.
• Laboratory sessions.
• Portfolio.

If any of these parts have not been passed before the final examination date, they may be recovered through:

1. A written examination (knowledge validation).
2. A second submission of the laboratory assignment.
3. Submission of the portfolio before the final examination date.

For portfolio recovery, the outcome will be assessed only as Pass or Fail.

• If Pass is obtained, the maximum grade awarded will be 5.
• If Fail is obtained, the previously earned portfolio grade will remain unchanged.

Grade Review Procedure

For each assessment activity, a review session with a specified place, date, and time will be announced, allowing students to discuss and review their work with the teaching staff.

Students may submit grade appeals during this review process, which will be evaluated by the instructors responsible for the course.

Unless otherwise specified, students who do not attend the review session will not be entitled to subsequent grade reviews.

Special Grading Cases

Students who:

• Do not complete any laboratory work,
• Do not take any midterm or final written theory examination,
• And obtain a portfolio grade below 5,

will be classified as Not Assessed.

All other students who do not pass the course will receive a Fail grade corresponding to their achieved score.

Students who fail because they do not meet the minimum required score in one or more assessment components will receive as their final grade the score corresponding to the component in which the minimum requirement was not met, using the lowest score if several components are involved.

Honors Distinction

The awarding of an Honors Distinction (Matrícula de Honor) is at the discretion of the instructors responsible for the course.

According to UAB regulations, this distinction may only be awarded to students with a final grade of 9.00 or higher.

A maximum of 5% of enrolled students may receive this distinction.

Misconduct, Copying, and Plagiarism

Without prejudice to any additional disciplinary measures and in accordance with current academic regulations, any misconduct that may affect the grading of an assessment activity will be assigned a grade of zero.

Copying or allowing others to copy a laboratory assignment or any other assessment activity will result in:

• A grade of zero for that activity.
• Failure of the course if the activity is required to pass the course.

Such activities are not eligible for recovery, and the course will therefore be failed with no opportunity for recovery during the same academic year.

Assessment of Repeat Students

Students repeating the course may validate independently:

• The knowledge examination.
• The portfolio grade.
• The laboratory assignments.

The final grade will be calculated according to the same criteria, taking validated components into account.

Details of the Laboratory Assignments

The laboratory component consists of several projects aimed at developing both previously taught and new knowledge and skills.

Equal importance is given to the practical implementation work and to understanding the underlying concepts.

Four projects will be carried out during the course:

• Distributed Applications Programming (2 weeks × 2 hours): Berkeley socket programming. Practical case: concurrent clients and servers.
• Network Creation and Administration I (1 week × 2 hours): network design and operation. Practical case: networks and subnetworks.
• Network Creation and Administration II (1 week × 3 hours): network implementation and configuration. Practical case: basic configuration.
• Network Creation and Administration III (1 week × 3 hours): network and protocol analysis. Practical case: traffic capture and analysis.

Details regarding organization (groups, schedule, weighting, etc.) and monitoring procedures will be published on the Virtual Campus.