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.
Each average and median below was computed from the scores of only those students who took that exam, or who turned in that assignment. The average for individual homework assignments on which some student(s) received a penalty (for not following rules and/or not having paid attention to Assignment 0) was computed from pre-penalty points, to better reflect how difficult students found these assignments. The average for total homework points was computed from post-penalty scores. 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 (26 points) 20
(77%)14
(54%)8
(31%)4
(15%)21.5
(83%)Assignment 2 (52 points) 41.5
(80%)31.5
(61%)20.5
(39%)12
(23%)42.7
(82%)Assignment 3 (66 points) 49.5
(75%)37
(56%)23.5
(36%)13.5
(20%)41.4
(63%)Assignment 4 (counted as 55 "regular"
points plus 12 possible Extra Credit points
although no problem-parts were officially
designated as Extra Credit)47
(85%)32
(58%)18
(33%)11
(20%)32.2
(59%)Assignment 5 (31 "regular" points
plus 51 possible Extra Credit points
from designated Extra Credit problems)25.5
(82%)20
(65%)12.5
(40%)6.5
(21%)
without EC: 24.2 (78%) with EC: 36.9 (119%) Homework totals (230 points) 183.5
(80%)134.5
(58%)82.5
(36%)47
(20%)
180
(78%)(Average of post-penalty,
post-EC scores of assignments
submitted by students registered
at end of semester. Students who
dropped the class are not
represented in this average.)
Midterm Exams
A B C D class median class average Exam 1 (137 points) 114
(83%)92.5
(68%)60
(44%)37
(27%)112
(82%)90.5
(66%)list of scores Exam 2 (112 points) 92
(82%)71
(63%)44
(39%)22.5
(20%)71
(63%)66
(59%)list of scores
Final Exam (175 points)
A B C D class median class average Final Exam (175 points) 137
(78%)106
(61%)62
(35%)38
(22%)120
(69%)108
(62%)list of scores
Raw-score cutoffs for each grade
See Canvas "Assignment" (`raw-score points') and syllabus for explanation.
max possible to date A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D 1000 804 742 681 619 539 460 380 327 274 221 This semester's exceptionally difficult remote-learning environment factored into my grade scales for each assignment and exam, more heavily for the cutoffs for grades below B than for grades of B and above. In addition, at the end I bumped up the grades (by 1/3 of a grade-point) of students whose raw scores were within 15 points of the next-higher cutoff.
Distribution of final grades for course
A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D E Number of students receiving grade 4 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0