HPCS Guide for Students / Study Subjects

Instructions for participants in HPC studies.

This is a guide for participants in HPC productivity studies. These instructions apply to participants of individual studies or of classroom studies, unless otherwise noted. When different instructions apply, the instructions will be marked appropriately:

• (C) applies to participants in classroom studies
• (I) applies to participants of individual studies

Content:

1. At the beginning of the study
   1.a Create an account on Experiment Manager
   1.b Configure your account for instrumentation
   1.c Register your machine account names in Experiment Manager
   1.d Fill in background questionnaire
2. During the study
   2.a Logging your effort
   2.b Logging your defects
3. At the end of the study
   3.a Upload final submission
   3.b Fill in end-of-study questionnaire

1 At the beginning of the study

1.a Create an account on Experiment Manager

Go to our Experiment Manager and create an account. Follow the link "If you are a student please enroll here!". Please make sure to have the Study ID (Class ID) for your study before registering:

• (C) If you are part of a classroom study, your professor should provide you with this information.
• (I) If you are part of an individual study please contact hpcs-issues@cs.umd.edu to get the appropriate Study ID.

After you register, you will receive an e-mail with a password to access the Experiment Manager system. Also included in this e-mail is a "Hackystat key", which you will need to configure your account in the next step.

1.b Configure your account for instrumentation

The next step is to configure your account for instrumentation.

• (C) If you are part of a classroom study, please follow the instructions in this document.
• (I) If you are part of an individual study, please follow the instructions in this document. The complete instrumentation package can be downloaded from the umdinst page.

1.c Register your machine account names in Experiment Manager

After you receive your Experiment Manager's account password in your e-mail, log in to the Experiment Manager. From the main page, follow the link "Maintain cluster logins and Hackystat key". Enter the login account(s) for the machines you will use. Click "save".

1.d Fill in background questionnaire

To fill in the background questionnaire, from the main page of Experiment Manager, follow the link "Complete Background Questionnaire". Answer the questions in the form and click on "send" when you are finished. You will see a confirmation page if your form was successfully submitted.

2 During the study

2.a Logging your effort (when you were instructed to do so)

If you have been asked in your study, use the experiment manager to keep track of how much time you spend working on the different assignments. Use the option "Report on your effort" from the main page of the Experiment Manager to do this.

You can enter the data manually indicating the details of your activities in the appropriate fields or you can use the "online Report Tool". The online tool is the easiest way to report your effort.

• To enter the data manually simply enter the start and stop time, and select the appropriate options for the other fields.
• The link to the "online Report Tool" can be found at the bottom of the Effort Page, where it says "Enter new data manually or use the Online Report Tool." The Online Report Tool allows you to track your time as your work, you can select different activities and record breaks by using the "Start/Break" button. Simply keep the small window on your desktop. Every time you start a new action, simply pull down the menu and switch activity. If you take a break or switch to another unrelated activity, simply click “break.” Remember to click “start” when you return.

2.b Logging your defects (when you were instructed to do so)

If you have been asked in your study, use the experiment manager to keep track of any bugs that you encounter in your code (that take you more than 5 minutes to fix). Use the option "Report Defects" from the main page of the Experiment Manager to do this. Please provide information that is accurate and detailed as possible.

3 At the end of the study

3.a Upload final submission

If you have been asked in your study, use Experiment Manager to upload your final submission for the assignment. Use the option "Upload final submission for an assignment" from the main page of the Experiment Manager to do this.

3.b End-of-study questionnaire

Log in to the experiment manager and fill out the end of study questionnaire. This option will be available in the Experiment Manager, after your study was finished. The option is available from the main page in Experiment Manager under "Complete end of study questionnaire". Answer the questions in the form and click on "send" when you are finished. You will see a confirmation page if your form was successfully submitted.