Course Info » Grade information
Contents:
Details of the various graded items
Course grades are determined from the following components:
(Click on any highlighted link to learn more)
|
15% |
|
Exam 2 |
15% |
Exam 3 |
15% |
30% |
|
Mastering Physics homework, plus some prelecture assignments given within Mastering Physics (weighted accordingly) |
15% |
Tutorial attendance, and Tutorial homework |
10% |
Extra Credit: we "unweight" a small fraction of your missed midterm points (that's midterm, not final) based on clicker performance.
Please see formula below, this is NOT simply EC added to your score!! When we compute your score, we follow the formula below. Please do not email us after the semester asking us to add your clicker points "your way" (whatever that might be...) |
Note: if you miss the final, or more than 1 midterm, you cannot receive a passing course grade!
To be even more explicit: your total course points (100 maximum) are computed as
45 * (Avg midterm % score) + 30*final +
15*(Mastering) +
+ clicker score*4.5*(100%- Avg midterm exam score)
That last line is the clicker bonus. Note that it has a factor of (100%-Ave midterm score) in it. That means if you got 100% on your exams, clicker points add nothing to your grade. As stated above, clicker scores only make up for a fraction of MISSED midterm questions! It's not a simple "addition".
Please, do not send us an email after you get your grade asking about your EC bonus - we use a spreadsheet with the formula above coded in it, there won't be a mistake in that!
In that formula, Clicker score = (your total clicker points)/(maximum total possible clicker points, after dropping your lowest three days worth)
Ave midterm exam score = (your average % for the midterm exams only)
MP score = (your total Mastering Physicspoints) / (maximum total possible) (after dropping your worst one! All weekly sets will count equally, irrespective of how many questions is on it) Note that there will be some "prelecture viewing" assignments, these will be included in your MP score, weighted appropriately ( each viewing assigment will count roughly as one homework problem.)
We will drop your (worst) one week's written Tutorial homework, and will automatically excuse one week of Tutorial attendance, one Mastering Physics week, and one "prelecture viewing" assignment. (This drop is for any reason - including athletic events, illness, family emergency,.. or simply poor performance that one week!)
It is your responsibility to make sure you have no conflicts with the exams! If you have a conflict, you should retake Physics 1110 in a semester when you can make it to all the exams. If you are absent for a serious medical reason, or with prior approval from Prof. Dubson, you may be excused from 1 midterm. (In that, very unusual, situation, we will compute an appropriately weighted average of other midterms and the final)
Medical excuses must be submitted no later than 1 week following the exam. There are no makeup exams.
Earlier in the semester, when we try to estimate your grade (e.g. after the first midterm), we just substitute your first exam for *all* the exams above (so it gets weighted by 15+15+15+30 = 75%! So obviously, our grade estimate near the beginning of the term isn't all that accurate. It's merely our best guess given the avaialable information at that time.
After computing this course score (from 0-100), we will use a pretty standard scale:
90-100 = A's (including A-'s)
80-90 = B's (
" B-'s and B+'s
")
~69-80 = C's (" ")
~55- ~69 = D's (" ")
< ~55 = F
(We will set exact +/- cutoffs later, but most likely something like low 90's = A-, 88-90 = B+, etc)
Please note that this scale is built on the TOTAL course grade. Some people try to "translate" this to individual exams, but this isn't appropriate, since recitation and homeworks (25% of your grade) are typically much higher in this course than exam scores. (So, when thinking about your grade, remember to combine exams, homeworks, and Tutorials in the appropriate way first before estimating your grade!)
IMPORTANT! If the class average comes out lower than we expect (due to say, some overly tough exams) we will certainly consider "stretching" the scale down a bit (i.e. being more generous than the above). But, we promise that no matter what, we will not get tougher than the above. That means even if everyone in the class gets 91%, we will happily give everyone A's! (Well, in that particular case, A-, but you get the point.) In my experience teaching this course, however, we have rarely needed to stretch this scale at the "higher end" (That is, I expect those A and B lines will be about what the scale above says). We are perfectly comfortable giving well more than half the class A's and B's, if they are earned. At the bottom end of the curve (I'm referring in particular to the very critical C-/D+ cut, and also the D/F cut) I strongly suspect that will "stretch" a little in your favor in the end. But I cannot say how much yet - a few points most likely. This is "friendly curving" - the scale can curve in your favor in the end, but it will never curve against you.
We do this to encourage collaborative
work and a supportive atmosphere - it's not a competition with other students,
helping someone else in the class will not harm your grade in any way!
Also note that your clicker score "unweights" midterm exams, (and fills back in as a perfect score) a small amount: it's a bonus that eases the pressure on midterms. (That also means that missing clicker points has NO possible negative impact on your grade... other than maybe not learning the material, of course!) Look at the formula, clicker points do NOT simply "add in" as simple extra credit. (In particular, if you get high exam scores, the clicker points do almost nothing for your credit, since you have so few missed exam points to make up for! One consequence is that clicker points do not compensate for missed homeworks or Tutorials in any way.) Please don't send us an email asking us to recompute your extra credit, because you have your own idea about how Extra Credit points should work - please look at the formula, it was published at the start of the term, we do not deviate from it.
IMPORTANT: Collaborative work is valuable, and we encourage it (except during exams) It means working
together, discussing ideas and even specific problems. It means asking for (and giving) help. It does NOT mean copying.
On any assignment, what
you turn in must be, in the end, your own work. Copying an answer from someone
without understanding it (e.g. plugging in your own numbers into a copied
formula for MP) is NOT collaboration, it's cheating.
If you are not sure,
feel free to ask your professors or a TA. We're always happy to talk. This course operates on an assumption of trust
and respect - if you feel comfortable,what you're doing is probably fine!
(and vice-versa: if it feels uncomfortable, it's
probably not o.k., and you should talk to us about it! )
MORE DETAILS ABOUT GRADED PARTS OF THE COURSE FOLLOW:
Exams will be multiple choice. You have 100 minutes (1:40) to do them. You will receive a
numerical score online (in the form of % correct), and will get the exam back
in recitation. Solutions will appear on the web. See our exams link for more details.
Grading: If your exam was incorrectly scanned (this is rare!) please contact Prof. Michael.Dubson(at) Colorado.edu ASAP. For obvious reasons, we cannot change your grade if you misbubble, so please be VERY careful when you bubble in the scan sheets!
You are allowed to bring a single 8.5" x 11" formula sheet to each exam. You can write anything you want on your formula sheet (both sides!) but you must write it by hand - no photocopying, typing, or sharing allowed.
We are not interested in having people memorize formulas or problem solutions. Exam questions will be closely related to material from lecture, texts, labs, and homeworks. But, it will rarely if ever be identical - you need to understand the concepts, not memorize facts or solutions.
Calculators with scientific notation are allowed and sometimes needed. (You will not be allowed to share calculators or crib sheets.)
Please read and follow the CU honor code. Don't use high (or low)
technology to try to take advantage of us.
We trust you on this, please respect
and value that trust!
The final exam will be cumulative (it will cover all material from the course, including material after the 3rd midterm). You have 2.5 hours for it.
MP (Mastering Physics) homework is due weekly, Tuesday evening (technically, MP stops accepting inputs at 11:59 PM)
Note: We will excuse one MP set, automatically. MP gives you instant feedback, with (in most cases) little or no penalty for wrong answers. However, you have a limited number of tries, typically 6 per question. After that, MP will ignore whatever you try to input. So, we urge you to work on the MP hw away from the computer - try to solve the problem carefully, and just use MP to "check". If you sit at the terminal with your calculator, and make notes in the margins, you will not learn much physics, and run the risk of using up your tries on trivial/algebraic errors.
Prelecture video assignments are given on occasion within Mastering Physics. They are meant to cover some "lecture" material that we will not explicitly cover, but that you need to know. They will factor in as part of your MP homework score.
Tutorial Participation is required. Please show up every week. Participation points come from working on the physics - you won't get participation points for coming and talking about other homework problems (or the upcoming football game...) You must write and work on the activity, with your partners, to get participation credit.
Written Tutorial homeworks are due in your Tutorial section the following week. We will automatically drop one worst (or missed) written homework without penalty, but no more. These are an important part of the course, they are a chance for us to see your "thinking" about physics. These questions may require some thought or a little creativity. You may get help from TA's or other students, but in the end, your work must be your own. (Do not copy someone else's solutions, "getting help" means talking about the ideas, but figuring it out and writing it up for yourself!) It's not easy explaining and justifying your answers, as these homeworks often ask, but it's an essential skill for this course (and beyond!)
Clickers: EVERY class there will be some clicker questions. In general, they count as pure extra credit (see above for details). Unless otherwise announced, you will get 2 pts for clicking in, and you get one more point for getting the correct answer. If we ask a "survey" question (which has no correct answer) I give 2 pts for any answer. Your clicker score makes up for a small fraction of missed exam points (extra credit, see above for details) In this way, the more clicker points you pile up, the less your exams will weigh (to a point!). But please understand, if you don't miss any exam points, the clickers then do not add any extra credit, they make up for MISSED exam points. If you miss a day, or get some wrong now and then - no worries at all. We drop three days worth, and in any case, there is NO PENALTY (of any kind) for missing clicker points! They can only help your score, there is no way they can possibly hurt your grade!
There may be occasional opportunities to fill in an online survey or otherwise participate in the course (by asking questions on an online forum, e.g.) on our web or D2L site. Keep your eyes on that, we will give points for participation that will fold in to your clicker score.