Grading Policy
- Graded Items:
- A "graded item" is any work receiving a grade; for
example a homework, an exam, a quiz, or class
participation. Each graded item is graded on a 100
point scale, where these numeric scores may be "curved"
to get a more reasonable grade distribution.
If I receive no work for an item, its score
(including its "curved" score) is zero.
For a typical assignment, I may curve the non-zero
scores to ensure that their median is at least some
threshold (like 85).
I may not always curve in this way, especially in a small or
experimental class.
If you have questions about a particular mark, just ask!
I don't penalize students for discussing grades.
- Grade Scale:
- For the course letter grade, the curved item scores
are simply combined as a weighted average, and then
your course letter grade is determined by the following
table.
Average
Score | College
Grade | LGS
Grade
|
| 93 and above | A | A
|
| 90 to 92.99 | A- | A-
|
| 87 to 89.99 | B+ | B+
|
| 83 to 86.99 | B | B
|
| 80 to 82.99 | B- | B-
|
| 77 to 79.99 | C+ | C+
|
| 73 to 76.99 | C | C
|
| 70 to 72.99 | C- | C
|
| 67 to 69.99 | D+ | F
|
| 60 to 66.99 | D | F
|
| 0 to 59.99 | F | F
|
Emory College does not allow A+ or D- as letter grades. The
LGS does not allow C- or below. The Math/CS department
requires a "major GPA" of at least 2.0 (C).
- Choice of Weights:
- The relative weights of the graded
items should be declared early in the semester. For example, if I say
that homeworks will count for 50% of your grade, then this means that
they will have weights (probably equal) summing to 1/2. Or I could
say that all homeworks will count equally, and the final exam will be
weighted like three homeworks. In that case, the exact weight of the
final exam will depend on the number of homeworks.
- Makeups:
- I may offer makeup versions of some assignments or exams. If
attempted, the score on a makeup replaces a previous score.
A makeup typically has a maximum score less than 100.
- Extra Credit:
- Extra credit problems are expected to be difficult. If solved,
these problems simply increase the score of that homework or exam,
possibly above 100.
- Low Scores:
- In a course with many small marks (for example, weekly quizzes or labs),
I may offer to "throw out" the lowest mark before averaging.
Otherwise, the process is the same.
- S/U Grading (also known as pass/fail):
- For S/U grading, S is equivalent to a letter grade higher than an F.
S/U courses cannot count towards a Math/CS major or minor.
Consequences
Some consequences of the policy:
- Curving happens on the individual graded items, not at the end of
the semester. This is intended to keep you well informed about your
standing in the course. That is, you can average your scores during
the semester, and that average should be a fairly good predictor of
your final grade.
- Individual graded items may receive a letter grade, but what
really matters is the curved numeric score, which is used to compute
the final average.
- The F range is very wide. Because the curved scores are numerically
averaged, a 55 or 40 is much easier to overcome than a 0. For this
reason, you should always turn in your work, even if it is incomplete
and you expect a failing grade.
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Last Modified: 27 Aug 2019