Grading Policies
From my perspective, how much you learn is more important than how high your grade is, although I realize that some students are more concerned with the grade. The courses I teach provide basic knowledge and skills that you may use for the rest of your life, and/or provide a foundation upon which to build a career. I am confident if you focus on learning as much as you can in my class, your grade will be fine.
Having said that, you should still know how your grade is calculated. Your final grade will be based on a weighted average of your grade for the first nine weeks, a weighted average of your grade for the second nine weeks, and your grade on the final exam. The term weights for each quarter and the final exam are:
First Nine Weeks 45% Second Nine Weeks 45% Final Exam 10%
For each nine week grading period, your grade will be determined by a weighted average as indicated below (subject to changes as necessary). Please keep in mind that within each of these categories, some assignments may be weighted more than others (ex., a 100 question, cumulative test near the end of the nine weeks may count more than a 25 question test half way through the nine weeks).
Projects/Tests 40% Classwork 30% Quizzes 20% Worksheets/Other 10%
For certain assignments (not quizzes, tests, and exams), a grade of INCMPL (meaning "INCOMPLETE") averages in as a grade of FIVE (5). This means the student has FIVE days to FIX the assignment. The grade of FIVE indicates the assignment has one or more significant errors, or in some way is incomplete or incorrect. Students are required to identify and correct all errors. They must then properly resubmit the assignment and properly notify the teacher that the assignment is ready to be regraded.
This simulates the environment in much of the work world (i.e., when your boss gives you a task, you have to finish it, and it needs to be done right, you won't keep your job long by doing the easy 60-70% and ignoring the rest of the task).
If an assignment is completed (including all corrections) after the original due date, a late penalty of 40 points may be imposed. Also, any errors initially found by the teacher that should have been found by the student when testing or checking the assignment (e.g., syntax errors, non-working links, no page title, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors, missing major components, failing to follow naming conventions, missing comments, missing requirements, etc.) will result in penalty points being subtracted (15-50 points depending on the severity and/or frequency of the errors) from the assignment's final regrade.
Some class assignments and projects, both individual and group, may have a separate rubric which will be provided to students when needed.