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Grading Policy

Required Work and Extra Credit

There are 450 points of REQUIRED work over the semester (30 points per week, every week, for 15 weeks). In addition, there are various extra credit assignments, as indicated in each week's assignment list. Your final grade is determined by the total number of points you have at the end of the semester (that is, the total points of required work PLUS the total points of extra credit you have earned).

Your final grade is determined by your total points at the end of the semester. If you end up with 410 or more points at the end of the semester, you will receive an A. If you have 360-409 points, you will receive a B. If you have 320-359 points, you will receive a C. A minimum of 301 points is required to pass the class with a grade of D. If you have only 300 points or less, you will not pass the course.

As soon as you reach the required number of points for the grade you want to receive, you are finished with the class. By working ahead and/or completing the extra credit assignments, you can finish the class several weeks early.

Reasons to do Extra Credit Work

There are several reasons why I offer extra credit assignments:

So you can make up missing assignments. It's always possible that you will miss a required assignment either because you are busy, have other commitments, or just plain forget to do an assignment. The extra credit allows you to make the points for the assignment you missed. You don't have to ask for permission or explain why you missed the required assignment. Just do the extra credit to make up the points you missed, and you are back on track!

So you can "plan" to miss some assignments. If you know you are going to be out of town or have some major event during the semester, you can do extra credit in advance to allow you to miss some of the required assignments later in the semester. By doing a few points of extra credit every week, you can give yourself the cushion you need to miss some days of class.

So you can finish the class early. You will probably have finals and final projects in your other classes, and so the end of the semester may be a very busy time for you! If you do the extra credit every week for this class, in addition to doing the required work, you can finish the class several weeks early, allowing you to concentrate on your other classes in the last weeks of the semester.

As you can see, it's a good idea to do as much of the extra credit as you can. It will make it easier for you to manage the work for the course overall, and it may also allow you to finish up the course early.

Viewing your Total Points

When you log on to Desire2Learn, click on the Gradebook. That will show you your Total Points. You can ignore the "points out of" and you can ignore any weekly subtotals that might be displayed. Please just look at your TOTAL POINTS to determine your current grade in the course.

Predicting Your Final Grade

As you complete each week's assignments, you can predict your final grade by consulting this table. It shows you what kind of grade you can expect if you continue at your present level of participation. If you want to improve your final grade, you will have to improve your level of participation in the class! Early in the semester, it is easy to change the trend - but as you get nearer the end of the semester, you have less and less room to maneuver, and you will find it harder to change the grade you are headed for!