MAA 4211, Section 3045 — Fall 2015

How homework will be graded

Most problems will be graded on a scale of 0 to 5, using the
following guidelines. For problems that are not purely proofs
(e.g. figuring out a formula and justifying it), the exposition
is not graded as strictly as it would be otherwise.

• The grade 5 is reserved for complete solutions that are both
  correct mathematically and (essentially) perfect stylistically.

• The grade 4 is given for solutions that are mathematically
  correct and have only minor flaws in the exposition.

• The grade 3 is given for solutions that contain all the correct
  steps,but contain a minor mathematical mistake or are poorly
  written.

• The grade 2 is usually given for solutions that contain some
  significant correct steps but also present one (but no more than
  one) serious mathematical mistake. If no significant progress
  is made towards a correct solution of the correctly interpreted
  problem, or if the writing is so poor that it is impossible to judge
  correctness without an extraordinary effort on the part of the reader,
  a grade lower than 2 may be given.

• A maximum grade of 1 is given for solutions that are understandable
  without an extraordinary effort on the part of the reader, and contain
  some significant correct ideas, but introduce a significant extra
  hypothesis, present more than one serious mathematical mistake, or
  represent a serious misunderstanding of the problem posed.

• The grade 0 is given in all of the following circumstances, as well
  as in all other cases not covered above or below.
  • The problem is so drastically misinterpreted as to make all work
    on it meaningless for the problem that was actually assigned.

  • No (or too few) significant true facts are stated; the only true facts
    are stated are not facts that could lead to a correct solution of the
    problem.

  • The solution presented contains numerous serious mathematical
    errors. Usually, “numerous” means more than two or three, unless a
    correct solution requires only a very small number of steps.

  • The writing is incomprehensible without an extraordinary effort
    on the part of the reader.

  In some circumstances, extra-credit points may be earned by going beyond
  the problem asked.

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