Math 143

Fall 2012

Grading Tables

Worksheets:  There will be a total of about 18 worksheets.  I will keep the best 14 scores.  Worksheets are distributed in class, and the due dates are given at the top of the worksheet as well as being announced in class.  Late worksheets will not be accepted except in the case of extended illness or similar reason (lasting at a minimum of one week, the exact time frame will be determined by me on a case-by-case basis).  Worksheets may be submitted early if you know you will be gone on the due date.  They may also be submitted by a friend/spouse/roommate/etc., who may slide them under my office door (MA 375B).  The worksheet due time is 3:00 pm on the due date or whenever I start grading, whichever is later.

Each worksheet is worth the same as every other worksheet.

In grading the worksheets, I initially give each problem however many points I think is reasonable given its difficulty and appropriateness for partial credit.  When the entire worksheet is graded, I then scale it to a 10 point scale.  In particular, I take the quotient (your total)/(total possible), and then multiply by 10.  If the decimal part starts with a 2 or higher, I round up.  If the decimal part starts with a zero or a one, I round down.

Homework:  There will be homework assignments from the book for every section.  The assignments are given here.  This list will be updated online as the semester progresses.  The book assignments will not be collected, but it is in your best interest to do the assignments.  They give you practice problems which will help with the worksheets, are more comprehensive and hence a better review for the exams than the worksheets, and will often follow the description in the textbook closely so it is easier to find an explanation of what to do if you get stuck. 

Exams:  Each hour exam covers the material since the last exam.  The final exam will cover the entire semester.  Because I give five hour exams, I am willing to be a little flexible with the exam grades.  If you do better on the final exam than on your lowest hour exam, I will replace that exam with your final exam grade.  Note, however, that this would make your final exam worth 29% of your course grade (the 15% it is always worth plus the 14% for the exam that it is replacing).  Hence, if you want to take advantage of this policy, you need to study hard for the final exam since it will be worth nearly a third of the course grade.

I give makeup exams rarely and only with valid, documented reasons that are given as soon as reasonably possible. In particular, this means before the exam.  This also means that I assume that if you are sick enough to miss the exam, I assume that you are sick enough to go to the student health center.  The health center can provide you with a signed and dated note saying that you were seen by a doctor (I do not need to know what you were seen for).  The documentation should be consistent with the excuse (health center note for illness, police report for a car accident the morning of the exam, funeral program or obituary for a funeral, etc.).  Makeup exams will not be graded until the documentation has been submitted.  In addition, all makeup exams are given on Study Day.  This semester, Study Day is Wednesday December 12.

Attendance:  I do not take attendance.  However, I would strongly discourage you from missing any classes.  I rarely have students even pass the course who do not come to class nearly every day.  Even those that do manage to pass do not receive the best grade that they are capable of earning.  Think of someone who works as a consultant.  They don't have to go to work every day because there is no boss keeping track of them.  But they won't get paid unless they complete all the work by the time scheduled in their contract.  When I was a freshman, I quickly discovered that if I missed a one-hour class where I knew what was going on, it took me 1.5 hours to make up the material.  The ratio was much worse if I didn't know what was going on.  I suspect similar ratios are true for most people.  It is simply more efficient to just go to class and hear a lecture and talk to classmates (who are often just as confused as you) than to skip class and try to learn it all on your own.