Calculating Your Grade
Go to Quest for all of your assignment scores. I do NOT use BlackBoard!Please note that Quest does NOT calculate your overall course grade (score) - I do that via my own local files. I DO extract your SCORES (percentages and in some cases, RAW scores) from Quest for each assignment though.
| Exam Curves Please use the following add-on percentage points for each of your exams to get the "official gradebook" score (Quest does NOT do this). DO find your PERCENT score from Quest, then add the following amounts to those scores and you'll have your official gradebook score. |
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| Exam 1 | Exam 2 | Exam 3 | Exam 4 | Final |
| zero | zero | +2 | zero | pending |
| Grade Cut-Offs (never to change - etched in stone) | |||
| no such A+ | B+ ≥ 83.33 | C+ ≥ 73.33 | D+ ≥ 63.33 |
| A ≥ 90.00 | B ≥ 80.00 | C ≥ 70.00 | D ≥ 60.00 |
| A- ≥ 86.67 | B- ≥ 76.67 | C- ≥ 66.67 | D- ≥ 56.67 |
| F< 56.67 | |||
Your Overall SCORE for the COURSE
Your overall score will be calculated by one of three methods.
Note 1: Your iclicker score SUM will be uploaded to Quest periodically.
Note 2: Remember to add the curves to exam scores before you average.
Note 3: IF your Final is higher than your exam average, use method 2 (else use method 1). ONLY if you didn't take the final is method 3 used.
Your overall score will be calculated by one of three methods.
| method 1 | method 2 | method 3 | |
| Homework drop 2 for average |
5% | 5% | 5% |
| iClicker (see Note 1) |
5% | 5% | 5% |
| Exams (see Note 2) |
60% (avg 3 of 4) |
40% (avg 3 of 4) |
90% (avg 4 of 4) |
| Final (see Note 3) |
30% | 50% | 0% |
Note 2: Remember to add the curves to exam scores before you average.
Note 3: IF your Final is higher than your exam average, use method 2 (else use method 1). ONLY if you didn't take the final is method 3 used.
YOUR FINAL LETTER GRADE
You now KNOW the curves so you can calculate your grade. 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. There is no "gray area" here, but a very black and white set of cut-offs for letter grades.
There are NO Borderline Cases! Clear the Cut-Offs or get the LOWER grade
Realize from day one that your score will determine your overall grade and nothing more. You MUST clear the cutoffs given above in order to make that grade. I will NOT change these whatsoever during the semester - they are etched in STONE! So you will know exactly where you are gradewise thoughout the semester. If you email me about your grade, I will look at your score and give you what the score indicates. It's that simple.