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.
There are about 1800 possible HW points for the entire semester. However,
we will figure the final HW percentage out of only 1600 points (or about
90% of all possible points should the number of possible points change).
You can't get more than 100% though, so once you have 1600 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).
Your MP gradebook ("My Scores") gives you your total MP points for
the year. Add your scores on the written problems to this number; what
results is your total number of HW points. As an example, say you have
earned 1304 MP points and 104 points on the written problems. Your total
HW points for the semester would then be:
1304 + 104 = 1408 total HW points
With 1408 HW points for the semester your HW percentage would be:
1408/1600 = 88.0%
HW is worth 8 points overall, so you would have earned 7.04 HW points
(i.e. 88.0% of 8)
600 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE.
LESS THAN 600 HOMEWORK POINTS IS AN AUTOMATIC E.
Now figure your PRS grade. There are expected to be about 45 PRS
questions over the course of the semester, so the maximum possible PRS
score will be about 135 points. The final PRS grade will be determined
as a percentage out of 120 points (or about 90% of all possible PRS points
should the number of possible PRS points change -- there ended up being
50 PRS questions; however, because we didn't give an early notice of this
fact, we felt that it was most fair to still figure the percentage out of
120). Once again, you can't get more than 100%. Say you have earned
100 PRS points for the semester. Your PRS percentage would be
100/120 = 83.3%.
PRS is worth 5 points overall, so your PRS points for the semester are
4.17 (83.3% of 5).
OK, now figure your quiz grade. We grade quizzes out of 10 points
and we take your best 10 of 13 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 mutiply 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 7.04
PRS 4.17
QUIZ 5.74
TEST 50.70
total 67.65
The pre-exam maximum is 80 points, so your pre-exam percentage is
67.65/80 = 84.56%
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
131 Spring 2005 web page , or
131 Fall 2002 web page , or
131 Spring 2002 web page , or
131 Fall 2001 web page , or
131 Fall 1999 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 67.65 points going in
to the exam. The exam is worth 20 so the best you can do is 87.65,
not enough to get an A if the class average is 75 or higher. On
the other hand, you need at least 12.35 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 (12.35/20)*40 right, or 25 out of 40, to
insure yourself of a B.