Grades in this class are broken down in terms of percentage contribution to your overall grade. We do not use a point system so that we can vary the points for various exercises to match the granularity we need in grading that assignment. Below is the grade breakdown for this course.

+ Full credit for the lecture Canvas assignments is considered 150 total points. This is determined by the number of questions we typically ask students to answer on their phones during the live lectures. Once you get 150 total points from the lecture assignments, you have full credit but you still need to do the rest of the lecture assignments for the knowledge they provide. Canvas's gradebook cannot capture this type of flexible grading and so your grade is likely higher than what Canvas reports.

* Full credit is given for achieving over 85% in each of the pre and post-lecture categories. Late work will lose 5% per day until it reaches a cap of 15% credit lost. Meaning if you answered all questions 3 days late, but correctly, you would receive 85%. This means you always have an incentive to do work late, even many many days after the due date. Because 85% = full credit, there is effectively no penalty for late pre/post homework, but there is a bonus if you get it done on time. Canvas's gradebook cannot capture this type of flexible grading and so your grade is likely higher than what Canvas reports.

** Late challenge homework assignments are accepted on Gradescope. There will be no penalty for a late challenge homework assignment or two. If you turn in many late assignments over the term, you may receive a late penalty on them.

***You must also complete all labs to passing quality to receive a grade in this course.

****If your final exam score is higher than one of your midterms, up to one of your midterm scores will be replaced by your final exam score.

The above calculation will be done in tandem with a separate one based only on exams - you will receive the higher of the two grades. This is to accommodate students who have already mastered, or feel they can master, the material without formal practice and assessment. I do not suggest anyone attempt this approach as I have statistics on how poorly it typically works out.

This class is designed so that passing is very achievable. Most students express that doing all the work is the best way to ensure success. This class has also been known for being difficult to receive an A. Statistically though, we are no different than other STEM courses, in fact we have a higher GPA than most. Historically around 15% of students receive A's, and around 10% fail the course. Below is the grading scale we base grades on. The curriculum is designed for a wide range of student preparation, ability, and interest. All are welcome and all can succeed and that means different things for different students. Do not judge yourself by others!

Please see Academic Regulations AR 17 and AR 18 for more details on assignment of course grades.

You can calculate your grade in the following way: multiply the percentage earned for a given part by the percentage of the final grade that part is worth. Add these up and the result is your percentage in the class.          

Example  |  Say you receive the following scores for each graded part of the course. Prelecture homework 75% (of the 85% full credit line), Postlecture homework 80% (of the 85% full credit line), lecture 90% (of the 150 total full credit points), challenge homework 70%, lab 95%, midterm 1 50%, midterm 2 55%, final exam 50%. You would do the following calculation to determine your grade:

(% pre/post received)(% pre/post of total) + (% lecture received)(% lecture of total) + (% chwk received)(% chwk of total) + …..          

So, (0.75)(0.05) + (0.8)(0.1) + (0.9)(0.05) + (0.7)(0.1) + (0.95)(0.25) + (0.5)(0.1) + (0.55)(0.1) + (0.5)(0.25) = 0.7 or a 70% and a C grade overall.

If you would like to calculate what you need on the final then put in a % overall you wish to obtain and algebraically solve backwards for what the score on the final would have to be to achieve that overall percentage.

If you would like to calculate your course grade, here is a grade calculator we created in Excel.

==== >  Excel Grade Calculator  <====

How to use the Grade Calculator

https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/1_92mt119j

Canvas will show in realtime what prelecture, lecture, and postlecture work you have done. It will not however be able to incoperate our flexible grading policies and you likely have a higher grade than what it shows. If you've done all your pre/post lecture homework to 85%, you know you have full credit on those. If you've acquired 150 total lecture assignment points, you know you have full credit there.

Labs are graded on Canvas within a week (or sometimes two) of being submitted.

Challenge Homework and exams are hand written, turned into Gradescope, and graded within a week (or sometimes two) of being submitted. These grades don't automatically transfer from Gradescope to Canvas. They have to be manually pushed, and that only happens occasionally. If you don't see the grade on Canvas, check to see if it's on Gradescope!

Estimating your grade  |  If you know your midterm scores, and have an educated guess of on your other work, you can work backward to find out what you need on the final. The margin of error in this calculation will be small, especially compared to the uncertainty on the final exam. It is because of the uncertainty on the final exam that we are hesitant to tell someone their grade before the class is over.  We do believe you know enough to gauge how much you have to study, relative to your other classes. 

A professor once told student KC when he was in a panic about the gradebook (not available online back then… cough, cough), “There are no emergencies in academia”. Remember we can fix any incorrect grades at anytime, even after the end of the term.