Figuring Your Grade
MOST of the assignments in this course (homeworks, quizzes, exams, and the final)
will be based on percentage points. However, some are based on RAW point totals
(add-ons). This makes it real easy for you to know where you stand grade-wise.
Please also note that the Homework Service DOES NOT calculate your final grade
(score) - I do that via my own local files. I DO extract your SCORES (percentages
and in some cases, RAW scores) from the Homework Service for each assignment though.
Exam Curves
All of your assignment scores are kept on the homework service. Unfortunately
the HW Service does not allow for any curves (add-on percent points). So
use the following add-on percentage points for each of your exams to get
the "official gradebook" score. Find your PERCENT score from the homework
service, then add the following amounts to those scores and you'll have
your official gradebook score. |
| Exam 1 |
Exam 2 |
Exam 3 |
Exam 4 |
Final |
| +3 |
+4 |
+1 |
+4 |
+10 |
ADD ONE MORE POINT IF we did NOT have to correct your exam scores.
This means if there was a NON-ZERO score for you right after the exam you get
another point added to your score for bubbling in your Student ID number and
version number correctly. This is true for ALL FIVE exams.
Your Overall SCORE for the Course
|
Quizzes
(average ALL 4) |
5 % |
Exams
(average best 3 of 4) |
65 % |
FINAL
yes, you HAVE to take it |
30 % |
|
|
G R A D E B
R E A K S
|
|
A
87.00
|
B
77.00
|
C
67.00
|
D
57.00
|
F
< 57.00
|
|
Other NEW scenarios:
- If your Exam average is higher than your quiz average I will substitute the exam average
in place of the quiz average.
- If your Final Exam score is higher than your Exam Average I will let it count
50% and your Exam Average count 45%. This rewards those who improve substantially
on the final exam and allows one to realistically raise their letter grade in the
course.
- I will do the scenario that gives you the highest score possible
|
YOUR FINAL LETTER GRADE
Will there be a curve? Maybe - maybe not. Don't count on it though. You must make
at least the cut-off score or higher to get the appropriate grade. Yes, some students
will miss the cut-off by as little as a tenth of a point. Please read the following
about being on the bubble.
On the Bubble - Borderline cases for letter grades
What is "on the bubble"? The bubble is when you have an overall
score of 79.33 and the break for getting a "B" in the course is set
at 79.50. It simply means that you have NOT met the criteria for a particular
letter grade but are very very close - as in a few 1/10ths or even 1/100ths
of a point. How do I decide such cases? Read on...
Yes, you get to DROP one exam grade. Yes, you can have all ZEROES on the homework
and still get an A in the course. However, be forewarned! I WILL look at your
performance on those things (your dropped exam score, your dropped quiz score,
and your homework scores) when you end up on the bubble (ie borderline). What's
my method? First, I look at your score on the final exam. If you did much better
on the final than other work AND it is considerably higher than the grade break you will
receive the higher grade. Next, I look at what your score was on the dropped
exam. If you completely bombed the dropped exam, you will most likely NOT get
the higher grade. If your dropped exam is actually quite close to the average
of the other 3 AND your overall score is only a few tenths (as in 2 or 3 tenths, not
2 or 3 whole percentage points) away, you'll probably
get the higher grade. And third, I'll look at your homework scores. Did you
do all of them? Are the scores in keeping with your exam averages? Did you do
ALL the work for the course? Did you do all the quizzes?
There you have some of the criteria for beating the bubble. The only SURE way
to beat the bubble is to NEVER be on it to begin with. Stay on the high side
of the grade breaks and you'll never have to worry about these details.