First figure your homework grade.  Keep your returned HW papers
in case your instructor makes a mistake in recording your grade.
Also check your recorded grades occasionally on the web.  Keep a
running total of your HW grades, plus a running total of the number
of HW points possible.

     Your HW percentage is your total number of HW points divided by
the number of HW points which are possible.  If I have counted correctly,
there are 354 possible HW points for the entire semester.  However,
we will figure the final HW percentage out of only 300 points.  You 
can't get more than 100% though, so once you have 300 points you don't
need to turn in any more HW, unless you just like to have your HW
graded.

     As an example, say you have earned 264 HW points for the semester.
Your HW percentage would be:

             264/300  = 88.0%

HW is worth 10 points overall, so you would have earned 8.8 HW points.

     OK, now figure your quiz grade.  We grade quizzes out of 10 points
and we take your best 10 of 14 quizzes.  Say your best 10 quizzes total 
up to 82 points.  Quizzes are worth 10 points overall so your quiz points 
for the semester are 8.2.

     Now figure your test total.  Take your best 4 tests and average
them, then multiply by 0.6.  For example, say your test grades are 79,
85, 83, 72, and 91.  Your test average is then

     (79+85+83+91)/4 = 84.5

We now multiply by .6 since the Tests are worth 60 points overall.

     84.5 times 0.6 = 50.7 

     OK, now you have your pre-exam total.

                 HW      8.8
                 QUIZ    8.2
                 TEST   50.7

                total   67.7

The pre-exam maximum is 80 points, so your pre-exam percentage is

           67.7/80 = 84.6%

     Will you be able to get an A?  That depends on what the final
grade scale is.  I start with no curve.  That is 

                 90 and above           A
                 80-90                  B
                 70-80                  C
                 60-70                  D
                 below 60               E

If the class average is 75 or higher, there is no change.  If the
class average falls below 75, I feel obliged to relax this scale
somewhat.  Look at 

                111 Spring 1997 web page , or
                111 Spring 1996 web page 

to get an idea for what this year's scale might be.  I will make 
a guess at the final grade scale during the week before the exam, 
but the true final grade scale ultimately depends on overall class 
exam performance.

     Let's get back to our example.  You have 67.7 points going in
to the exam.  The exam is worth 20 so the best you can do is 87.7,
not enough to get an A if the class average is 75 or higher.  On
the other hand, you need at least 12.3 points from the exam to insure
yourself of a B.  The exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions,
so you need to get at least (12.3/20)*40 right, or 25 out of 40, to
insure yourself of a B.