PHY 2048 - Physics 1 with Calculus - Summer 2016
GRADING POLICY
Final Score Determination
Your final score (100 points max) is the sum of the following:
- four exams: up to 75 points combined
- 11 weekly HW assignments : up to 5 points combined
- 11 weekly discussion session quizzes: up to 20 points combined
- lecture video bonus points: up to 3 points for viewing and up to 2 points for catching errors, up to 5 combined BONUS points
Exams
During the semester, there will be three mid-terms and one final exams that, when combined, will be worth 75% of your grade. Each exam will have 15 multiple choice problems (1 points per problem; no penalty for wrong answers).
[Total Exam Score] = [ Sum of 4 Exams
Scores ] / [ 60 ] x 75.
Should you have to miss any of the three exams for a legitimate and documented reason, one and only one make-up is possible. Serious illness or a University sanctioned excused absence qualify, poor performance on an exam does not.
To qualify for taking the make-up you must make an arrangement with the instructors
no later than within one week after the missed
exam (unless there are very special circumstances).
The make-up will be offered at the end of the semester; it will be a cumulative exam based on the entire course material.
Homework
The homework assignments are administered via the WileyPlus online system. You must purchase your personal WileyPlus access code and register at the WileyPlus website.
- The schedule of 11 weekly homework assignments is given at Course Schedule.
- You must click the Submit Answer button for the system to
record your response. The HW system will provide you with instant
feedback on whether or not your answer is correct, and you will be
permitted five tries (until the due date/time) to get the
answer right, and receive credit. To be accepted, your answer
should be within ±2% from the correct one. Do not
round off numbers in the intermediate calculations to avoid the loss
of the precision. Enter your final answer with at least three
significant digits.
- The due date and time are on Sundays at 9:00 pm. You will
not be able to submit your homework past the deadline, regardless of
the reason (participation in various events, sickness, computer
system freeze, loss of internet connection,
etc.). No make-ups for the missed homework
assignments are possible.
To provide some (10%) forgiveness for illnesses and other challenges that life may throw at you, this total score will be divided by 0.9 at the end of the semester. (If the score exceeds 5, it will be truncated at 5.)
[Final HW Score] = [ Sum of 11 HW Scores ] / ( 0.9 x [Max possible HW points] ) x 5.
Discussion section quizzes
During the discussion sections, you will be given 15-min quizzes with a problem very similar to one of those from the preceding HW assignments. Each quiz is graded on the 10-point scale, with a one-point step.
- The schedule of quizzes is given at Course
Schedule.
- Make-ups for the missed quizzes are possible
only if you have a legitimate and documented
excuse. The decision on whether the excuse is acceptable or
not will be taken by one of the lecturers. Make-ups must be arranged
with your TA no later than within one week after the missed
quiz and the make-up quiz should be taken no later than
within three weeks (unless there are very special
circumstances). No make-ups will be allowed after that. No make-ups
will be allowed during the last week of the
course. Students can make up no more than 2
quizzes.
- The first quiz for grading starts with quiz 1 during the week of May 16th.
- We will make an accommodation at the end of the term to normalize
the average quiz score from each discussion section.
- To provide some (10%) forgiveness for illnesses and other challenges that life may throw at you,
this total score will be divided by 0.9 at the end of the semester.
(If the score exceeds 20, it will be truncated at 20.)
[Final Quiz Score] = [ Sum of 11 Quiz Scores ] / ( 0.9 x (11x10) ) x 20.
Video lecture bonus points points
In lieu of bonus points through H-ITT clicker questions, bonus points will be given to students who watch the lecture videos posted on the course schedule. The lecture videos are companions to the lecture. You may choose to watch them before a lecture to be more prepared for class and/or use them as a resource while working on your homework assignments. Bonus points will only be awarded if the lecture videos are watched by the Sunday that the homework assignment they correspond with is due. If HW 1 is due on Sunday May 15th, then the lecture videos must be watched by 11:59 pm on that Sunday. Watching the lecture videos will allow you to earn up to 3 bonus points.
To view a lecture video, you may select its link on the course schedule. This will bring you to Mediasite and prompt you for your username and password. Your username is your Gatorklink ID. Your password is your Gatorlink password. By logging in with your Gatorlink username, it will be documented that you watched the video. The length of the video you watch is also documented. To recieve credit for watching the video, you must watch the entire video.
We require that you only need to watch half of the listed videos to recieve full bonus credit for watching videos (3 points). Your 'watching lecture videos' bonus score will be calculated as follows:
If the score exceeds 3, it will be truncated at 3. We will start counting video lecture points on May 15 after the first hw is due.
Additionally, we encourage students to view the online lecture videos. If you discover a significant mistake or error in one of the lectures, please communicate the details to Instructor Donelan. If you happen to be the first to report that mistake, you will be awarded extra credit to be added to your final course grade (depends on the severity of the error, with the overall scale still to be determined). However, the maximum number of points that can be awarded for catching errors on the lecture videos will be limited to 2 points. This means
Letter Grade
Total minimal scores (out of 100 points) ensuring a particular letter-grade are shown below. None of the scores will be rounded. The scale is absolute and will not be adjusted to a curve; hence, there is no competition between students.
| Grade | Required score (out of 100) |
| A | ≥ 85 |
| A- | ≥ 80 |
| B+ | ≥ 75 |
| B | ≥ 70 |
| B- | ≥ 65 |
| C+ | ≥ 60 |
| C | ≥ 55 |
| C- | ≥ 50 |
| D+ | ≥ 45 |
| D | ≥ 40 |
| D- | ≥ 35 |
Information on current UF grading policies for assigning grade points can be found at https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx.