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Grading |
Course grading will be based on whole letter grades, without plusses and minuses.
Points and the Final Grade:
If your final total is 900 or higher, you will be guaranteed an A.
If your final total is 800 or higher, you will be guaranteed a B.
If your final total is 700 or higher, you will be guaranteed a C.
To be guaranteed a D, you must have a point total of 600 AND 60% or higher on exam scores alone. Homework and extra credit will not allow you to pass if you have a failing understanding of the material.
In some cases, I can justify a slightly higher grade than the strict point total would suggest. For instance, if you received a D on your fist midterm and A's on later exams, I might downplay the D in the weighting. There are other special cases. I will give you the highest grade that I can justify.
In general, I will not do something for someone that I will not do for everyone else. For instance, it would not be fair to give one student a “B” because they came to me and said that they needed a B when other students who did as well or better got Cs.
Also please note that "working really hard" has nothing to do with grading. You will be judged entirely on your performance.
There will be three examinations. Each will be worth 200 points
Exams will have hands-on components based on Dodge and Stinson. They will also have a component based on class lectures.
Class lecture components of the exam be a combination of multiple choice questions and short answers (a few sentences).
For short answers, there normally will be three to five per page. Some will be worth a single point. Others will be worth two or three points.
In answers, you must communicate very clearly. If your answer is not clear, unambiguous, and understood by me, it will receive little or no credit. The burden is on you to communicate clearly, not on me to interpret what you have said. You will have to answer in complete sentences.
Exams will also include multiple guess questions.
Grading of multiple choice questions will be SAT-style for Multiple Choice Questions
A correct answer will receive one point.
An omission will receive no points
An incorrect answer will lose 1/4 point.If someone gets 38 out of 50 with no omits, for instance, they will have 12 wrong. They will lose an additional 3 points (12/4), for a net score of 35 out of 50.
If someone gets 38 out of 50 with 4 omits, for instance, they will have 8 wrong. They will lose an additional 2 points (12/4), for a net score of 36 out of 50.
Fairness
This “SAT scoring” is guessing-neutral. If you know the answer, you will get it correct. If you are completely ignorant, a blind guess will have a 1/4 chance of succeeding, so a 1/4 point deduction neutralizes blind guessing.
In general, if you can eliminate one choice, it pays to guess.
Is SAT scoring fair? Yes. For instance, suppose that someone knows nothing. Without the adjustment, they would receive 25%. That is hardly fair. With adjustment, they get 0%, which is the only fair way to grade.
Exams will be taken uniformly from the material. Don't "cherry pick" when you study.
Each exam will be curved separately.
The curved percentage times the number of points in the exam to get your points for the exam.
Example. You get 80% curved on a 200-point midterm exam. You get 160 points.
Project 1: U.S. Income Tax (200 points)
Project 2: Testing Pane (200 points)
Description will be provided later.