Clarification of grading policy
Overview
- Quizzes/in class participation - 10%
- In-class teamwork - 5%
- Programming projects - 25%
- Two in-class midterms - 30% (15% each)
- In-class final - 30%
Details
For midterms and finals you should already know what to expect.
Reading quizzes and in class participation (10%)
Each reading quiz submitted on time counts as 1 point. To get this point you must answer more than half of the questions correctly. For example, if the quiz has 6 questions and you answer 4 correctly you get the point, but if you answer only 3 you do not.
I also track when I ask you a question in class and whether your answer indicated you had properly prepared. If you were not, you lose the points for that day's quiz. I do not know the exact number of quizzes I will assign (much depends on how the class progresses), however your grade in the class for this part of the grading will be determined as the percentage of quizzes you have successfully completed, after dropping the 4 lowest scores (or missed quizzes). Thus, if you solve 15 out of 24 quizzes, they will count as 7.5/100 points (drop 4 and score is 15/20). If the quiz is late it will be graded according to the official late policy - 0.9 for the first day (including 1 minute late), 0.8 for the second day, and 0 afterwards.
In-class teamwork (5%)
This is something you'll end up grading. In class I will ask you to do group activities, and I'll also call on specific groups. I also expect that group members will help each other with assignments when appropriate, and generally help each other study or catch up if they miss any classes. At every midterm and at the end of the semester I will ask all group members to grade each other based on how much they participated in the group. Each of you will also receive a grade from the other group members, representing the percentage of full credit that you deserve for your participation. I will assign you a score proportional to the average of the scores you receive during the semester, after dropping the lowest 3 scores. For example, if you get 100% from your colleagues, you will receive 5/100 points towards your final grade. If you get 60% from your colleagues you will only receive 3/100 points.
Programming projects (25%)
The programming projects will be Rosalind exercises, with possibly additional requirements added on. For example, Rosalind asks you to give an answer without caring much about how you derived it. I may require that you use a specific algorithm for getting that answer and adjust your grade accordingly. Your score for this part of the grade will simply be the fraction of exercises correctly completed. As for quizzes, late assignments will have a decreased weight.