Grading Pattern       

Physics 131, Fall 2012
Profs. W. Losert and E. F. Redish

• How grades are assigned -- We assign a grade level for each category (e.g., how many points you need to get to get an A on the quizzes, what you need to get an A on the HW, etc.) and then add up the points for each grade level to obtain what is need for each final grade.  We anticipate that the top third of each grade range will be "+", the bottom third will carry a "-"
  
  
• Curving: Labs and HW yes, exams and quizzes no -- For exams, we do NOT grade on a curve. We have an absolute expectation. On most exams, 75% will be an A, 60% a B, 45% a C.  This means that someone else's doing well on an exam will never negatively affect your grade. If you all do well on an exam we will give you all A's for that exam. 
  
  
• Exams: Exam problems will not be standard end-of-chapter problems. You will be expected to think, not recall previously memorized information. Questions of the type found on our exams will be included in the homework problems and problems from previous exams will be available on our web site.
  
  
  • You can improve an exam grade 1: Regrades -- Since we go over midsemester exams in class, you will be able to get a good sense of how it was graded. If you think the grader misunderstood what you were saying, or failed to give you proper credit, you can apply to your lead instructor for a regrade by writing a clear description of why you think you should have more points and turning it in with your exam. In addition to grading error, if you can make a case that you made an early error, but correctly carried out later parts that depended on that error, you can request consistency points. Again, you will have to explain carefully in writing your argument.
    
    Be sure not to write on your exam itself since this will mean we would have to look up the scanned exams to see what you originally wrote. If you alter a graded exam and request a regrade we will automatically reported it to the honor council. Don't do it!
    
    
  • You can improve an exam grade 2: Makeup exams -- Each midterm exam will be followed by a makeup exam on the Thursday a week after the exam, in the late afternoon. If you miss a midterm, you must take the makeup. If you are unhappy with your grade on an exam, you may take the makeup. If you take both the original and makeup exams, your grade for that exam will be the average of the two grades (whether you do better or worse). In our experience, students who carefully consider their errors and understand what they did wrong on the first exam almost always improve. Students who don't do this and just "take another shot" and "study some more" are as likely to go down as to go up.
    
    
  • Equation sheets on exams? No! -- Equation sheets will not be permitted on exams. This is NOT because we want you to memorize all the equations, but because if you focus on lots of equations you will miss making sense of the physics. We will expect you to know some equations -- but only a few; and they should make sense to you and be easy to remember. Exam problems will NOT be simple plug-and-chug applications of equation calculations but will require thinking and, on some questions, writing.
    
    
• Overall grades -- From past experience, we expect that an A will require about 800 ± 30 points, a B will require about 650 ± 30 points and a C will require about 550 ± 30 points. Passing (not getting an F) will require about 400± 30 points.  These grades reflect that the average points needed for a grade level on the homework and labs tend to be higher than on the exams. (The "±" ranges are not guaranteed but are standard deviations -- our best estimate for the range that the result will fall in 2 times out of 3.)
  
  

This page prepared by

Last revision 24 August, 2012.