g PHY2054 Grading Policy

PHY 2054 (Physics 2 without Calculus) Fall 2017


Grading Policy

Final Score Determination

Your final score is the sum of the following:

  Source Max Points   How calculated
  Quizzes 20   20 x (total points/max points/0.9) *
  Homework 5     5 x (total points/max points/0.9) *
  Exam 1 25   25 x (exam score out of 20)/20
  Exam 2 25   25 x (exam score out of 20)/20
  Exam 3 25   25 x (exam score out of 20)/20
  Total 100   **

* Homework and quizzes include a 0.9 forgiveness factor
** We also add up to 5 extra credit points for HITT (see below)

Extra credit is possible by answering H-ITT class participation questions (5 points maximum). The HITT score is added to your other points and the total is truncated to 100.

Quizzes

Each quiz in your discussion section will be based on a homework problem from the homework turned in that week. The particular problem given in each discussion section is chosen at random so sometimes it will be an easier problem and sometimes a harder problem. Quizzes will be given on Tuesday or Wednesday.

You will be permitted no more than 2 documented (e.g. medical note) absences from the discussion sections, with make-ups for missed quizzes to take place at the first opportunity determined by your TA. The documentation must be provided to your TA within 1 week of the missed quiz or a rational reason that it will be delayed must be e-mailed along with the projected receipt date of the documentation to both your TA and to the instructors within that period. All quizzes must be made up within two weeks.

Quiz scores are divided by a 0.9 "forgiveness factor" before the grade is determined to account for bad days, etc. The maximum grade cannot exceed 20.00.

Homework

Homework is based on the WebAssign online homework system and assignments are due Mondays at 10PM (except for HW1, see schedule). Each student gets a unique set of numbers for each problem. Because of the length of time each homework set is available, there are no extensions on the homework. You are strongly encouraged to start entering your answers well ahead of the deadline to avoid possible technical problems that might occur on the day the homework is due. If an unforeseen technical difficulty like a down internet connection or computer virus causes you to miss the deadline, you will not receive credit for the unfinished work.

Your homework grade = 5 * (total homework points / max points / 0.9). The 0.9 is a "forgiveness factor" to account for bad days, etc. The maxium grade cannot exceed 5.00.

Homework and academic honesty: While we encourage students to discuss homework problems with one another, we regard it as a breach of academic honesty to get homework solutions or algorithms external sources, including websites or companies that give away or sell such solutions or algorithms (this is stated explicitly in our course Academic Honesty policy).

Exam grade

There are a total of three exams, with the third exam at the end of semester serving as a cumulative final. The dates, times and chapter coverage are given on the schedule page and exams page. What material you are allowed to bring to the exam is described on the exams page.

Exam questions will be taken from a number of sources, including, but not limited to, the textbook, lectures and assigned problems. Exam format is multiple choice using ScanTron sheets. The answer which you bubble in on the ScanTron is the one we grade. If you make an error bubbling in an answer and miss a question, then you do not receive credit for the question. On the other hand, if you guess a question and get it correct even though you did not know how to do the problem, then you get credit for the problem. Each exam has 20 questions.

A student who will miss an assembly exam due to an exam conflict or any other foreseeable reason that is approved under UF attendance policies should request in advance to take the conflict exam instead of the regular exam. A student who has an unforeseeable absence from an exam should contact the instructor as soon as possible, normally within 24 hours after the missed exam. If the unforeseeable absence is excused by the instructor, the student will be expected to take the conflict exam unless s/he has another exam conflict or reason that is approved under UF attendance policies. The conflict exam will cover the same essential subject matter as the regular exam and in a similar format, although the exams will not be identical.

Students who need special accomodations due to a disability must receive a letter from the Disability Resource Center and present it to one of the instructors at least four days prior to the exam.

H-ITT extra credit grade

Answering questions during lectures is optional using the H-ITT response system, but can earn up to a maximum of 5 extra credit points on your grade. Normally a remote "clicker" device is used to register your answers, although there is now a web-based "SoftClick" system so that you can use any web-enabled smart device.

For each H-ITT question in class, you will receive 2 points for a correct answer and 1 point for just responding. When you respond to a question, your remote identification number will appear on the screen to show you that your remote is working. At the end of the semester we will divide your total score by 0.8 to allow for absences, broken remotes, late answers, etc. The ratio of your score to the maximum possible points determines your HITT grade. Thus achieving 80% of the maximum possible points gives 5.0 HITT points to be added to your other scores from exams, quizzes and homework.

You can expect some technical problems during the semester such as having a dead battery in your remote (or no network service if using "SoftClick"). You are responsible for maintaining the functioning of your remote. No credit will be given for questions in class if you forget your remote or it is not working or you do not respond to the question in the allotted time. You may not bring anyone else's transmitter to class if that person is also taking this course. Doing so violates our academic honesty policy, and the incident will be filed with the Dean of Student's Office.

We will post your scores for the student response questions on the Canvas gradebook approximately once a week, assuming that you do the required registration of your remote. To receive credit for your responses, your remote number must be registered on the H-ITT registration page.

Letter Grade

Total minimal scores (after adding HITT points and truncating to 100) ensuring a particular letter-grade are shown below (grades are not rounded). Note that this scale is absolute and will not be adjusted to a curve. This ensures that there is no competition between students.

  Grade
Minimum points
  A
85.00
  A-
80.00
  B+
75.00
  B
70.00
  B-
65.00
  C+
60.00
  C
55.00
  C-
50.00
  D+
45.00
  D
40.00
  D-
35.00
 

Keeping track of your grade

You will be given your scores for each component of the course in a timely manner, and it is your responsibility to keep a record of them to know how you are doing in the course.

  1. You will be e-mailed your H-ITT scores approximately once a week.
  2. Your homework scores are available from e-Learning and WebAssign.
  3. Your quiz scores are on the graded quizzes, which are handed back to you in discussion section. They are also available on the E-Learning system for this course. You should keep your quizzes as a reference and also in case there is a discrepancy between the score you see on E-Learning and the one on your graded paper.
  4. Your exam scores will also be posted to E-Learning.