Grade scales for homework and exams

MAA 4211 — Advanced Calculus I
Section 3045, Fall 2015

The scale for each assignment or exam below is created after the assignment
or exam is graded. These are the cutoffs that will inserted into the announced
grading formulas to determine the “raw score” cutoffs for final grades.

The cutoffs given below are the bottom for the “flat” grade, not the minus-grade.
(For example, if the cutoff listed for a B is 50 points, then 50 is a B; 49 is a B-.)
The A- cutoff is 1/3 of the way down from the A cutoff to the B cutoff, the B+ cutoff
is 1/3 of the way up from the B cutoff to the A cutoff, the B- cutoff is 1/3 of the way
down from the B cutoff to the C cutoff, etc. (except that I do not give D-‘s; anything
lower than the D cutoff is an E).

A cutoff like “17.5” in a grade-scale does not mean that any half-points were given
to any student on the corresponding assignment or exam; it simply means that I
thought 18 was too high for the cutoff and 17 was too low.

Each average and median below was computed from the scores of only those students
who turned in that assignment or took that exam.

Homework

Scores (and cutoffs) for the different assignments are simply added together at the end
of the semester. Example: if there are only two homework assignments, worth 60 points
and 80 points respectively, and the “A” cutoffs are 50 and 70 respectively, then the “A”
cutoff for the homework component of the final grade is 120 out of a possible 140. A
student earning 55 points on each of the two homeworks would have the same homework
grade as a student earning 30 points on the first assignment and 80 points on the second.

 

A B C D class average
Assignment 1 (48 points) 36.5
(76%)		 28.5
(59%)		 19
(40%)		 11
(25%)		 19.4
(40%)
Assignment 2 (44 points) 32.5
(74%)		 26.5
(60%)		 19.5
(44%)		 14
(32%)		 17.7
(40%)
Assignment 3 (28 points) 21.5
(77%)		 16.5
(59%)		 11.5
(41%)		 6.5
(23%)		 11.3
(40%)
Assignment 4 (35 points) 29
(83%)		 23
(66%)		 14.5
(41%)		 9.5
(27%)		 13.3
(38%)
Assignment 5 (28 points) 19.5
(70%)		 15.5
(55%)		 11.5
(41%)		 8
(29%)		 18.0
(64%)
Assignment 6 (12 points) 10
(83%)		 7.5
(63%)		 5
(42%)		 3
(25%)		 18.0
(60%)
Homework totals (195 points) 149
(76%)		 117.5
(60%)		 81
(42%)		 53
(27%)
83.8
(43%)
Note: the “Homework totals class average” averages-in the 0’s for assignments that one or more still-enrolled students never handed in, but does not average-in the scores of students who have dropped the class. These factors cause “Homework totals class average” to differ from the weighted average of the average scores reported above for each assignment. (In order to make the reported average for each assignment a more meaningful statistic, any student who did not hand in a particular assignment was not counted in the computing the average for that assignment. The score of any student who has dropped the class is still counted in each individual-assignment for which the student handed in that assignment.) Also, three low-scoring students dropped before Assignment 5 was graded, which makes less meaningful a comparison between the averages for Assignments 5 and 6 with the averages for Assignments 1–4.

 

Midterm Exams

A B C D class median class average
Exam 1 (148 points) 120
(81%)		 98
(66%)		 65
(44%)		 43
(29%)		       66
      (45%)		       66.5
      (45%)		 list of scores
Exam 2 (142 points) 117
(82%)		 95
(67%)		 66.5
(47%)		 46.5
(33%)		       82.5
      (58%)		       82.7
      (58%)		 list of scores

Final Exam (157 points)

A B C D class median class average
131 (83%) 106 (68%) 71 (45%) 44 (27%)       86 (55%)       81 (52%) list of scores

Distribution of final grades for course

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D E
Number of students receiving grade 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0

If you have a question about your grade or would like to look at your graded exam, please stop by my office in January. I will not discuss grades by email. (And I will not be answering email, in general, over winter break.)

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