Grading
| Percent of Total | Category |
|---|---|
| 80 | 5 Unit Tests |
| 10 | Lab Participation |
| 10 | Rotating Front Row |
5 Unit Tests (80%)
- There will be five unit tests, each consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions. To study, use the “check your understanding” questions at the end of each class and lab page in this workbook.
- Each test will be administered online through Canvas using Browser Lockdown. You must keep your eyes on the screen throughout the test. If Canvas flags an attempt for suspicious behavior, that attempt will receive a zero. You may take the test again if there is still time remaining in the testing window and if you have attempts left.
- Each unit test will be available for a one-week testing window (Monday morning through Sunday night), and you may choose when to take it during that week.
- You will have 75 minutes for each attempt.
- After completing an attempt, you must wait 24 hours before attempting the test again. You can take each quiz up to 3 times, and only your highest score will count.
- To protect the security of the test questions during the one-week window, you will not be able to review individual questions or see which answers were correct or incorrect after an attempt. Instead, you will receive feedback showing your performance by topic. For example: Math Review: 70%, The Market: 80%, Budget Constraint: 90%, Total: 80%. Use this feedback to identify the topics you should review before your next attempt.
- Because the five unit tests together make up 80% of your final grade and each unit test is weighted equally, each test counts for 16% of your final grade.
Labs (10%)
- You must attend the lab section for which you are registered.
- At the beginning of each lab, you will be randomly assigned to a group of three. Depending on enrollment and attendance, you may sometimes find yourself in a group of two students.
- Your group will work together standing at a whiteboard.
- During the first five minutes of class, your lab instructor will verbally present the Problem of the Day.
- Each group will receive one marker. The person with the idea should not be the person writing it on the board. You should regularly switch who holds the marker so that everyone participates.
- Your lab instructor will circulate around the room, but their role is not to answer questions or tell you how to solve the problem. If your group gets stuck, talk through your ideas, look at what other groups are trying, or ask another group to discuss their approach with you.
- If your group finishes the Problem of the Day, your lab instructor may give you an extension problem or additional challenge.
- Attendance is part of your lab grade. If you arrive late or leave early, you may be marked absent. Because labs make up 10% of your final grade, repeated absences will lower your course grade.
- In addition to attendance, your lab instructor will evaluate your group several times during the term. These evaluations will focus on:
- Engagement: Are you actively participating in the work throughout the lab? Unless you have a medical reason or approved accommodation, you should be standing with your group at the whiteboard rather than sitting. Phones, laptops, tablets, and other technology must be put away during lab. Your attention should be on your group, the problem, and the work happening around the room.
- Collaboration: Are you sharing the marker, listening to one another, considering everyone’s ideas, and making sure everyone is included?
- Perseverance: Do you continue trying when you get stuck? Do you look around the room for useful ideas, revise your approach, and start productive conversations with other groups? These evaluations, together with your attendance, will determine your lab score.
- During the final few minutes of class, your lab instructor will bring the class together to discuss the different approaches groups used and highlight important ideas or details. This may include a gallery walk of several groups’ work, so make sure to leave all of your work on the whiteboard until class is over.
Class Participation (10%)
We’ll have a rotating front row during lecture. On your assigned days, you’ll sit in the front row and share a desk whiteboard with a partner. I’ll introduce a problem to the class, and then I’ll let everyone work on it for ten minutes. I’ll look over your shoulder as you work on it with your partner.
You don’t need to arrive at a solution; the problem is new to everyone. What I’m looking for is that you make an honest effort, you don’t give up, and you stay engaged. I’ll invite the pair who I think got the furthest on the problem to the doc-cam to explain their reasoning.
Front row students who aren’t called to the board should help the pair at the board, push back when something doesn’t look right, and ask good questions. If you’re in the front row and you engaged, you get full credit for the day, whether or not you were called up. I’ll note who was there and who was participating during class.
Each front row day is worth 5% of your grade. You have two.
| Last name starts with… | Rotating Front Row is… |
|---|---|
| A, B | Class 2: 9/30 and Class 11: 11/2 |
| C | Class 3: 10/5 and Class 12: 11/4 |
| D, E, F, G | Class 4: 10/7 and Class 13: 11/9 |
| H, I, J, K | Class 5: 10/12 and Class 14: 11/16 |
| L | Class 6: 10/14 and Class 15: 11/18 |
| M, N | Class 7: 10/19 and Class 16: 11/23 |
| O, P, Q, R | Class 8: 10/21 and Class 17: 11/25 |
| S, T, U | Class 9: 10/26 and Class 18: 11/30 |
| V, W, X, Y, Z | Class 10: 10/28 and Class 19: 12/2 |
If you miss your front row day because of an emergency, please email me with documentation and we’ll reschedule you.
If you know ahead of time that you will need to be absent during your front row day, please consider the front row days to be trade-able: find a classmate willing to trade with you and email me (copying the other student) to let me know you have traded days.
Final Grades
At the end of the course, I’ll take your final grade on Canvas and round it to the nearest integer, and then apply this grading scale:
- A+: 97 or above
- A: 94-96
- A-: 90-93
- B+: 87-89
- B: 84-86
- B-: 80-83
- C+: 77-79
- C: 74-76
- C-: 70-73
- D+: 67-69
- D: 64-66
- D-: 60-63
- F: 59 or under
For example: if you end the class with a 93.49, that rounds to a 93, which gives you an A-. If you end the class with a 93.50, that rounds to a 94, which gives you an A.