Class policies

Homework will be of two kinds, graded and ungraded. Homework to be graded will be taken up on days prescribed in advance. Quizzes will be given frequently. They will be very similar to problems (often just one problem) from homework, either graded or ungraded; or from problems worked in class. They are generally announced in advance, but there may also be one or two "pop quizzes" during the semester.

Quizzes and homework will also be used in counting absences, so if you are present, hand something in, even if it is a sheet of paper that is blank except for your name. To get full credit for homework, you must hand it in at or before the beginning of the class for which it is due. If you are late for class, put the homework on the table in front of the room right after you come in. If you are absent for that class, you must either arrange to have the homework handed in by someone else for you, or you must hand it in yourself (for example, by putting it in my mailbox) prior to the time it is due.

Partial credit will be given for any homework handed in late, but not later than the time the homework is returned to the rest of the class after it is graded. Once graded homework has been returned to the class, later homework will not be accepted.

Years of experience have taught me that there is no perfect way to handle absences for tests and quizzes and homework. The following system seems to be as good as any. Please do not ask for exceptions from it! If I were to grant them, I would merely be moving to another imperfect system, usually inferior to the one described below.

I will not "drop the lowest test grade", nor give make-up tests. If you are absent for a test, please give one of us a note explaining why, and for you the questions on the final exam that correspond to the material covered by the test you missed will be used to compute your grade for that test. (Thus these questions are counted twice, but with different point values: if the questions on the final exam that serve for your test grade have a total value of 50 points as far as the final exam is concerned, they will each count double for the test grade.)

I will drop the lowest quiz grade, but no more. The only exception is for people who will frequently be absent for legitimate reasons (varsity sport, etc.). In that case I will ignore zeroes due to absences for these reasons. If you fall into this category, let me know at the beginning of the semester. I will tell you far enough in advance of your scheduled absence what homework is due while you are gone, so that you will be able to have it handed in for you in time.

To allow for other kinds of absences, etc., extra credit problems will be listed from time to time, and the grading scale for the combined homework-quiz grade will be at least this lenient:
85 and up A
78 - 84 B+
70 - 77 B
63 - 69 C+
55 - 62 C
48 - 54 D+
40 - 47 D

Grading scales on the tests will be somewhat closer to the usual "90 - 100 A, etc." scale, but will vary according to the difficulty of the tests.

I am generous with partial credit, so show all your work on homework and quizzes and tests. It is all right for you to help each other with the regular homework, but I expect the homework you hand in to be your own work and not simply copied from someone else's homework. On the other hand, I am the only person to ask for help on extra credit problems. Penalties will be assessed in case of clear violations.

Since the grading scales on tests, exam, and weighted homework-quiz scores vary, letter grades for the overall course will be determined by comparing each student's total points with the totals at the cutoff for each letter grade.
The example illustrated here, which includes scores similar to those obtained by two students in an earlier course, illustrates the grading method.