Grading

Assignments will include tests, quizzes, group assignments, projects, small/large programming assignments, written homework, instructional video watching, homework, and other assignments. Please keep a record of your grades so that there will be no surprises.

90 <= x <= 100 is an A;
80 <= x < 90 is a B;
70 <= x < 80 is a C;
60 <= x < 70 is a D;
x < 60 is an E.

Grades will be posted using pointsEarned/pointsTotal.

Assignments are typically worth the following:

  • lecture quizzes are typically worth 2 points of your final grade
  • problem sets are typically worth 20 points of your final grade
  • tests are typically worth 20 points of your final grade
  • lecture codes are typically worth 1 point of your final grade

    (I reserve the right to change the point value of a particular assignment )

Quizzes, however, do not always have exactly two questions.  Sometimes they have two questions, but sometimes they have 3 questions and sometimes they have four questions.  So I adjust the gradebook weight of each assignment to make sure that quizzes are worth similar point values, problem sets are worth similar point values, tests are worth similar point values, etc.  As an example, suppose we take a lecture quiz in which there were 10 possible points you could score.  You score a 7 out of 10.  I would enter this into the gradebook as a 7/10, but I would adjust the weight to 0.2 rather than 1.  That way, the quiz as a whole is worth 2 points, and your 7/10 really registers as a 1.4/2, but it saves me the headache of either engineering the quiz to easily be worth 2 points or scaling your score manually down to 2 afterward.  Doing things this way allows me to make one day's quiz worth the same amount as the next day's quiz, even if it has one fewer or one more question.

Another example: Your problem set will likely be graded on a scale of 0 to 5.  But rather than have a week-long problem set be worth the same as two and a half lecture quizzes (which take just 10 minutes each), I will enter a weight of 4, giving your problem set a final value of 20 points in your grade.

These weights do not always show up properly in the student and parent EdLine applications.  Whereas in my gradebook, I can see fractional weights like 0.2, students and parents will see weights rounded to the nearest integer.  Let me be clear: I do not typically give assignments weights of 0.  If I mean for an assignment not to count at all, I will put it in the ungraded category, NOT give it a weight of 0.  I understand this is somewhat confusing, but until I can recalibrate my grading system, bear this note in mind when looking at your grades. 

One final note: Assignments for which you have no recorded grade have not yet been graded and do not count against you.  Assignments for which you have a Z indicate missing work.

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