First figure your homework grade. 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 1950 possible HW points for the
entire semester. However, we will figure the final HW percentage out of
only 1700 points. You can't get more than 100% though, so once you have
1700 points you don't need to submit any more HW (although hopefully you
will find the process of submission and feedback to be good practice for
the tests). There turned out to be 1910 (38 times 50, plus 10) points
available, so we will figure the final HW percentage out of only 1650
points.
Your MP gradebook ("My Scores") gives you a percentage of possible
MP homework points. Multiply this fraction times the number of MP
homework points possible (25 for the "Introduction to Mastering Physics",
plus 50 per assignment, less 10 or 20 points for each problem that had to
be written up and turned in -- there turned out to be 1795 MP homework
points possible; 35 were extra credit), then add your scores on the written
problems to this number (max possible on the written problems is 150); what
results is your total number of HW points. As an example, say you have
earned 75% of all possible MP points, and 106 points on the written
problems. Your total HW points for the semester would then be:
0.75*1795 + 106 = 1452 total HW points
With 1452 HW points for the semester your HW percentage would be:
1452/1650 = 88.0%
HW is worth 8 points overall, so you would have earned 7.04 HW points
(i.e. 88.0% of 8)
Now figure your PRS grade. There will be about 50 PRS questions
for the semester, so a total of 150 PRS points are possible. However,
we will figure the final PRS percentage out of only 135 points (or about
90% of all possible PRS points should the number of possible PRS points
change). Once again, you can't get more than 100%. Say you have earned
113 PRS points for the semester. Your PRS percentage would be
113/135 = 83.7%.
PRS is worth 5 points overall, so your PRS points for the semester are
4.19 (83.7% of 5).
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 7 points overall so your quiz points
for the semester are 5.74 (82% of 7).
Now figure your test total. Take your best 4 tests and average
them and 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 = 84.50
We now multiply by .6 since the Tests are worth 60 points overall.
84.5 times 0.6 = 50.70
OK, now you have your pre-exam total.
HW 7.04
PRS 4.19
QUIZ 5.74
TEST 50.70
total 67.67
The pre-exam maximum is 80 points, so your pre-exam percentage is
67.67/80 = 84.59%
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
121 Spring 2003 web page , or
121 Spring 2001 web page , or
121 Spring 2000 web page , or
121 Spring 1997 web page , or
121 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 67.67 points going in
to the exam. The exam is worth 20 so the best you can do is 87.67,
not enough to get an A if the class average is 75 or higher. On
the other hand, you need at least 12.33 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 (12.33/20)*40 right, or 25 out of 40, to
insure yourself of a B.