Project Progress Review Checklist

Used at the week-28 midpoint check-in (10 minutes per project, in the lab session) and by students as a self-check at the end of weeks 26 and

The midpoint decomposition document is worth 5 of the 30 project

points; this checklist is how the conversation is structured — it is not a form to submit.

Before the meeting (student)

[ ] The decomposition document exists (subproblem tree, assumptions, data plan, test plan — see the proposal you grew out of).
[ ] Some program runs — anything: even reading the data format.
[ ] You can name the subproblem you are stuck on, in one sentence.

The six checkpoints (instructor ticks each)

1. The tree is real

[ ] Subproblems match what the code will actually contain (a tree from week 26 that no longer matches reality is fine — say what changed and why; a tree that never changed is a warning sign).
[ ] The hardest subproblem is marked, and the student can say what makes it hard (unknown technique? unclear data? too big?).

2. The data exists

[ ] The dataset (or generator) is in the repo and loads.
[ ] Its size matches the proposal's claim (± a factor of 2 is fine; "no data yet" at midpoint is a red flag — the fallback is generating it that week, decided in the meeting).

3. One vertical slice works

[ ] At least one end-to-end path runs: input → one real output. Depth of one slice beats width of five stubs at midpoint.

4. The test plan has rows

[ ] ≥ 5 rows exist with expected outputs written before running.
[ ] At least one row currently fails — and the student can say whether the row or the code is wrong.

5. Assumptions survived contact

[ ] Each assumption in the document is marked kept / changed / abandoned, with one line on what changed it. Assumptions that were all "kept" usually mean the data was never looked at.

6. The cut order still holds

[ ] The proposal's §6 fallback is still the plan (or was consciously revised). "We will do everything" at midpoint is the classic week-4 crisis in formation.

The three outcomes

Outcome	Meaning
On track (5–6 ticks)	Proceed; the 5 midpoint points are recorded.
On track with cuts (3–4)	Proceed with the cut decided in the meeting — write the cut on the document; both sign.
Rescue needed (≤ 2)	Scope is reduced to the vertical slice + one question; a new one-page plan is agreed; the project can still reach the "good" band of the rubric — say so explicitly, mid-semester panic is the enemy.

After the meeting (student)

[ ] The decomposition document is updated (not rewritten) with the meeting's decisions dated.
[ ] The next week's single milestone is written in one sentence.