GRADING CRITERIA
Physics 231/231C

GRADING SCALE

4.0

92

3.5

84

3.0

76

2.5

68

2.0

60

1.5

52

1.0

44

WEIGHTS

3 Midterms

20 pt.s each

Final Exam

30 pt.s

Homework

10 pts.

EXTRA CREDIT

Extra points on Midterms
(231C only)

Up to 7 pt.s total: Midterms (I,II,III) will have (22,22,23) questions.

Quiz/Participation Points
(231 only)

Up to 5 points, see explanation below

Extra points on final

Final will have 32 instead of 30 questions.
  • All midterms are counted in the score (no dropping of lowest score). Make-up exams will be given after each exam, but students need to obtain permission BEFORE normal exam to take make-up.

  • Homework percentage will be calculated relative to 80% of the total possible HW points, HW% = 100 * (HW points)/(0.8 * possible HW points). The HW score will be capped at 100%. This provides 20% buffer for technical problems. For example:
      If you correctly answer 40% of the problems, you get 50% of the points.
      If you correctly answer 80% of the problems, you get 100% of the HW points.
      If you correcly answer 98% of the problems, you get 100% of the HW points.
    No extensions will be given for HW without exceptional circumstances. Students are responsible for finding a site from which they can enter their answers. "The net was down when I tried to enter problems from Ohio" or "I couldn't get LON-CAPA to work from my parents computer" are not valid excuses, but "I was in the hospital for two weeks" is a valid excuse.

  • After each midterm, "Exam Corrections" will appear on the the LON-CAPA system at 6PM on the Fridays of exam weeks. "Exam Corrections" will be a copy of the exam problems. If the score on the "Exam Corrections" is higher than the original exam score, a new score will be calculated by averaging the original score, with 0.75 weight, and the corrections score with 0.25 weight. This allows students to earn up to 1/4 point for each problem they missed on an exam. Even if a problem was completed correctly during the original exam, it must be re-done if it is to be counted in the "Corrections" score. Exam corrections are due the Tuesdays after the midterms at 11PM. There are no "Corrections" for the final exam.

  • Quiz/participation points (PHY 231 only) will be given electronically in lecture using clickers to enter answers. The quiz percentage will be calculated relative to 70% of possible quiz points, QUIZ% = 100 * (quiz points)/(0.7 * possible quiz points). The quiz score will be capped at 100%. Absences for in-class quizzes will not be excused as the 70% base allows for more than a reasonable number of absences. For each clicker questions, 1 point will be awarded for entering an answer, and an additional two points (3 total) will be awarded for a correct answer.
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