PHY2054
-
Summer, 2008
Estimating your
grade and/or
pass-fail chances
We get inquiries every term
from students
who want us to tell them the grade they are likely to make in our
classes.
This is
impossible.
Why? Because
we are not clairvoyant: we can't predict or foresee the scores you'll make on exams and quizzes not yet taken!!!!
And some of you are asking
questions like:
"To pass the
course, what score
do I need on the final exam?"
Or "To make a grade of ___,
what.....?" We
can't answer those either, for the same obvious reasons!
However:
If you want to make your own
estimate of
your final score and 'guesstimate' your approximate grade or pass-fail
chances,
here is a way to proceed. It's
what I would do if you came in and insisted
that I make an estimate. BUT........
Warning!
The following is for your estimating purposes only.
This involves guesses
that may be wrong........No guarantees!
1. First,
review the "Exams and Grading" section of the course syllabus to remind
yourself of the weighting of each
component. Note that test/exam
scores have to be normalized for the 120-point (max) grading scale that
we are
using. Here's how to do it:
2. Add your Exams 1 & 2 scores (20 points,
max, each) and multiply the result by 1.25. This
normalizes the total to the 120-point
grading basis.
3. Make
a guess as
to your final exam score (15 points, max). Avoid
over-optimism:
less than 50% of a typical class improves their average on the
final
exam.
4. Multiply
your
final exam-score-guess by 1.67 to normalize it to the 120-point basis.
5. Add the results you got in Steps 2 and 4,
above, giving you a number <
75.
6. To
this number
add your estimated discussion score (maximum 25 points)
7. Add
to this
your estimated WebAssign score (maximum 15 points).
8. Add
your h-itt
score (maximum 5 points).
9. The
result
should be a number less than 120.
This is your estimated final
score.
The above included three
guesses, so
judge its reliability accordingly!
10. Now, please refer to the
letter-grade "curve" given in the
syllabus [below the point-weightings] which should give you a rough idea of what letter-grade to
expect. The plus-grade-score ranges
are 'fine-tuned' after the totals are averaged and aren't given here;
they are
usually ± 3 or 4 points in the regions
between the
letter grades. The C-D cutoff is
rarely below 60 points on the current scale (50%).
On the optimistic side, the
fraction of
previous classes earning grades less than C is
usually less than 20%. Again, no promises,
but that's the track record.
Our Advice: Study hard and
plan to do
your very best on the final exam.
Most of you
are going
to pass and many of you will make good grades!