PHY 2060 - Enriched Physics 1 - FALL 2008


METHOD

Grading will be based on an absolute point scale from 0 to 100. The letter grade assignment will be based on the students total point score. Points will be assigned for homework (max 20 points), quizzes (max 20 points), in class review (max 10 points) and exams (max 50 points). The conversion to letter grades will be done using the following conversion table after rounding the total number of points to zero decimal places.

Letter Grade Point Range
A
≥ 80 %
B+
75 – 79 %
B
65 – 74 %
C+
60 – 64 %
C
50 – 59 %
D+
45 – 49 %
D
35 – 44 %
F
≤34 %


HOMEWORK

Homework is assigned weekly through the online WebAssign system. Cooperation on homework is permitted and discussion of problems is encouraged. The faculty (instructor + teaching assistant) will not solve homework problems until after the due date for the homework assignment. Each homework set carries a maximum score of 20 points. The final homework score is calculated as an average of all homework scores, dropping the worst 10% of questions answered.

QUIZZES

On the Tuesday following every week in which there was material covered, a 15-min quiz will be administered in class. The material of the quiz will correspond to the material covered in the last week. The quiz complements the homework by assessing the individual comprehension of the material covered. Each quiz will carry a maximum score of 20 points. The final quiz score is calculated as an average of all quiz scores, dropping the 2 worst quizzes.

IN CLASS REVIEW

During class lecture, the instructor will ask questions. These form the basis for in class review. Students will be allowed time to discuss the question with their colleagues and write up the answer. The answers will be graded. The grade will be computed weekly based on all answers received from a student, and will carry a maximum score of 10 points. The final in class review score is calculated as an average of all in class review scores, dropping the 2 worst weeks.

EXAMS

In addition to the final exam, three other in-class exams will be administered. These will cover significant chunks of the class material. Each exam will carry a maximum score of 50 points. The final exam will also carry a maximum score of 50 points. The total score for exams will be computed based on the formula:

0.25 * [ E1 + E2 + E3 + 2*F - minimum(E1,E2,E3,F) ]


where E1,E2,E3 and F are the scores on the three exams and final, respectively. The minimum function returns the lowest value of E1,E2,E3, and F. In other words, in the computation of the exam contribution, the final has special weight (it is counted twice), but the worst of all four exams is dropped.