The scale for each assignment or exam below is created after the assignment or exam is graded. These are the cutoffs that will inserted into the announced grading formulas to determine the "raw score" cutoffs for final grades.The cutoffs given below are the bottom for the "flat" grade, not the minus grade. (For example, if the cutoff listed for a B is 50 points, then 50 is a B and 49 is a B-). The A- cutoff is 1/3 of the way down from the A cutoff to the B cutoff, the B+ cutoff is 1/3 of the way up from the B cutoff to the A cutoff, the B- cutoff is 1/3 of the way down from the B cutoff to the C cutoff, etc. (except that I do not give D-'s; anything lower than the D cutoff is an E).
A cutoff like "17.5" in a grade-scale does not mean that any half-points were given to any student on the corresponding assignment or exam; it simply means that I thought 18 was too high for the cutoff and 17 was too low.
The average for total homework points was computed just from currently-registered students, and therefore does not reflect students who may have turned in earlier homeworks (and are therefore reflected in the averages for those earlier homeworks) but have since dropped the class.
Homework
Scores (and cutoffs) for the different assignments are simply added together at the end of the semester. Example: if there are only two homework assignments, worth 60 points and 80 points respectively, and the "A" cutoffs are 50 and 70 respectively, then the "A" cutoff for the homework component of the final grade is 120 out of a possible 140. A student earning 55 points on each of the two homeworks would have the same homework grade as a student earning 30 points on the first assignment and 80 points on the second.
A B C D class average Assignment 1 (68 points) 60
(88%)50.5
(74%)38
(56%)29
(43%)47.7
(70%)Assignment 2 (53 points) 42
(79%)33.5
(63%)22
(42%)12.5
(24%)32.7
(62%)Assignment 3 (55 points) 45
(82%)37
(67%)26.5
(48%)16.5
(28%)37.6
(68%)Assignment 4 (32 points) 24.5
(77%)19.5
(61%)11.5
(36%)6
(19%)22.1
(69%)Homework totals (208 points) 171.5
(82%)140.5
(68%)98
(47%)64
(31%)143
(69%)
Midterm Exams
A B C D class median class average Exam 1 (100 points)
POST-2021 STUDENTS: DO NOT USE THIS AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT MY GRADE-SCALES HAVE BEEN. ALL DATA FOR THIS EXAM ARE MEANINGLESS. Exam had to be cancelled because of instructor's medical emergency (the first, and hopefully last, time the instructor has had to cancel an exam). To use the grading scheme announced in the syllabus, a percentage-based grade scale for this nonexistent exam still needed to be chosen. The 90-80-70-60 scale was chosen for simplicity.
(90%)
(80%)
(70%)
(60%)
(does not exist)
(does not exist)Exam 2 (138 points) 114.5
(83%)94
(68%)61.5
(45%)35.5
(26%)56
(41%)57
(41%)list of scores
Final Exam (158 points)
A B C D class median class average Final Exam (158 points) 135
(85%)112.5
(71%)70
(44%)36.5
(23%)95
(60%)88
(56%)list of scores
Raw-score cutoffs for each grade
See Canvas "Assignment" and syllabus for explanation.
max possible to date A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D 1000 850 804 758 712 643 573 503 447 390 333
Distribution of final grades for course
A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D E Number of students receiving grade 0 1 1 5 4 2 1 2 0 0 0 I will not send or discuss grades by email. If you have a question about your grade, please see me in office hours after Jan. 10. (Check my home webpage after Jan. 4 for my schedule). To get the Zoom info for my virtual office hours, email me after Jan. 5. For at least the first few weeks of the spring semester, I will probably restrict my in-person office hours to students in my spring class, but as long as you have no contagious disease and continue to take full Covid precautions, I'll allow you to come to an in-person office hour to look at your graded exam.