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.
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 320 possible HW points for the second summer session. However,
we will figure the final HW percentage out of only 280 points. You
can't get more than 100% though, so once you have 280 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 249 HW points for the semester.
Your HW percentage would be:
249/280 = 88.9%
HW is worth 10 points overall, so you would have earned 8.9 HW points.
We round all point calculations to the nearest tenth of a point.
90 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR A PASSING GRADE
IN THE COURSE. LESS THAN 90 HOMEWORK POINTS IS AN
AUTOMATIC E.
Now figure your quiz total. We grade quizzes out of 10 points
and we take your best 12 of 16 quizzes. Say your best 12 quizzes total up
to 94 points. Your quiz average is then 94/12 = 7.8. Quizzes are worth
10 points overall so your quiz points for the session are 7.8.
Now figure your test total. In the summer there are four tests
in 2 parts each, for a total of 8 parts, or "halves". Multiple Choice
halves are worth 60 points and Problem halves are worth 65 points. You
may keep any three MC halves and any three Problems halves except that
you must keep at least one part of test 4, which serves the purpose of
an exam. Your test total is the total of the six halves you keep,
divided by the total points possible for those six halves, times 80.
For example, say these are your test scores:
TEST 1 TEST 2 TEST 3 TEST 4
MC PROB MC PROB MC PROB MC PROB
45 56 40 38 45 52 30 54
With these scores you would want to drop TEST 2 PROBLEMS and TEST 4
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Your test total would be:
80 points * (45 + 56 + 40 + 45 + 52 + 54)/375
= 80 (292/375) = 80 (.7787) = 62.3
This makes your overall total 8.9 + 7.8 + 62.3 = 79.0. What will
be your final letter grade? 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
this spring's web page
or fall 2001 web page
or fall 1999 web page
to get an idea for what this year's scale might be.