Your grade for Math 131 will be based on exam scores, quiz scores and scores from WeBWorK assignments. These scores will be combined to produce your TOTAL SCORE (a percent) for the course.
There will not be a scale for converting your TOTAL SCORE into a letter grade until after the final exam. This gives me a little more flexibility, and usually this works in students favor -- I probably would be stricter with the grading scale if I had to nail it down in advance.
However, there are some guidelines to give you a rough idea of where you stand. The information below tells you how your TOTAL SCORE will be calcuated at the end of the course, and gives some partial information about how that score will be converted, after final exams, into a letter grade.
To illustrate, here's the calculation of the TOTAL SCORE for John Doe.
- The 4 exams will be based on 100 points each. Each of the exam scores (E1, E2, E3, and E4) will be weighted to count as 18% of your TOTAL SCORE. Your final exam score will replace your lowest previous exam score unless your final exam is your lowest exam score. The final exam score cannot be replaced.
- Your quiz total (after discarding the 3 lowest) will be rescaled to a basis of 100 points to get your QUIZSCORE, which contribute 18% toward your TOTAL SCORE. (See Discussion Sections for more information on quizzes.
- Your Webwork points will be totaled and converted to a percent WEBSCORE. WEBSCORE will contribute 10% toward your TOTAL SCORE. (See Webwork for more information.)
Hypothetical Data for John Doe Exam Scores Exam 1 83 (out of 100)
Exam 2 68 (out of 100)
Exam 3 71 (out of 100)FINAL 84 (out of 100)
Quiz Scores Q1 = 6, Q2 = " " , Q3 = 3, Q4 = " " , Q5 = 4,
Q6 = 5, Q7 = " " , Q8 = 4, Q9 = " "
( " " indicates a missing quiz score: absent from discussion
section. These become 0's.)Webpoints 249 out of possible (say) 300
Calculation of TOTAL SCORE for John Doe John's Final Exam score (84) is better than his lowest exam score (68), so we replace the 68 on Exam 2 with 84.We count only the 6 best quizzes, so there are 36 total possible quiz points. Only three of John's 0's are discarded, giving him a total of 6 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 0 = 22. So John's QUIZSCORE is 22/36 = 0.61 = 61 %
John's WEBSCORE is 249/300 = 0.83 = 83 %
John Doe's TOTAL SCORE = 0.18* (SUM OF TEST SCORES) + 0.18*QUIZSCORE + 0.1*WEBSCORE =
= 0.18* ( 83 + 84 + 71 + 84) + 0.18*61 + 0.1*83 = 77.2
General guidelines about final letter grades- You will need a TOTAL SCORE score of 50% to pass (grade of D or better). I feel that about half the material on the tests and quizzes covers "basic competency" material so that this is a fair cutoff for getting 3 units credit for the course.
- If you are taking the course on a "pass/fail" basis, then you will need a grade of C- or better to earn a "passing grade" P.
- If there are any students who are registered just to audit the course, then I will need to assign a "grade" of L ("successful audit") or "Z" ("unsuccessful audit") at the end. You need to talk with me early in the course about what you need to do for a "successful audit."
- The "middle" grade in Math 131 sections in recent years has been in the vicinity of B /B-. That could change in any given semester, but most likely it will be about the same.
- The letter grades in the table below are guaranteed at the end of the course. The scale for converting TOTAL SCORE into a letter grade might turn out to be more generous (or not); if it is more generous, the changes probably won't be dramatic. The scale will not be any more strict.
TOTAL SCORE GUARANTEED LETTER GRADE
(possibly with a "+" or " -" attached)90% - 100 % A 80% - 89.99% B 65% - 79.99% C 50% - 64.99% D Below 50% NCR (F) So John Doe is guaranteed a C, possibly a C+. His grade might turn out a bit higher (or not).