MAE 124/ESYS 103: Grading Policy

MAE 124/ESYS 103: Grading and Course Policy
Spring 2011

Course Components


Papers		45%
Participation, attendance in discussion, submission of at least one posting or comment to the WebCT bulleting board		10%
Weekly assignments		15%
Mid-term		10%
Final		20%

Important points that you must remember:

Term paper assignments and announcements will be posted on the Web.

Supplementary notes and links will only be available on the Web.

You may discuss the term paper assignments with each other, but the work that you submit must be your own. Discussion is an important part of the learning process. Each of you must individually submit the assignment. It is very important that you actually do the work yourself. Any direct evidence of plagiarism in the homework will be grounds for receiving an F in the entire course. We will also report you to your college for administrative penalties. Furthermore, any evidence of cheating on either the final or the midterm will be grounds for receiving an F in the entire course. Exams will emphasize understanding and synthesis rather than regurgitation of material.

Term Paper Evaluation

Assigned papers:

Paper 1 will be assigned on April 1st, and the final version will be due on April 20th at 9:30 am (with a hard copy to be brought to class that day).
Paper 2 will be assigned on April 29th and will be due in final form on May 25th at 9:30 am (with a hard copy to be brought to class that day.)

Each paper will require you to research and write about some aspect of engineering, planning, design, and the environment.

Papers will be submitted through turnitin.com, which time-stamps the submissions and checks for plagiarism. See here for instructions.

No late homework without prior arrangements for an extension.

Papers must be typed and submitted electronically.

Brevity and clarity are critical attributes of good reports.

Participation

Participation will be evaluated in two ways:

Attendance in discussion section (monitored through sign-in sheet). One absence will be allowed without penalty.
General participation in class discussion both in discussion section and in lecture. (We will favor thoughtful contributions and discourage any one individual from dominating the discussion.)
Attendance of evening lectures or outside events may be offered as an opportunity to gain bonus participation points.
The discussion section is a scheduled part of the class and you will be responsible for material covered during discussion. Discussion sections will cover topics not addressed in lecture.
Guest lectures are an important part of course content, and ideas presented by guest lecturers may appear on exams. (Check previous years' exams if you have doubts.)

Examinations

Midterm: Friday, April 29 (10:00-10:50 pm).

Final: Monday June 6th 8:00-10:59.

Both the midterm and the final examination will be at least partially open note. You may not use the text book or any other bound books.

This course will adhere to the standard UCSD policy on academic integrity: ``Students are expected to do their own work, as outlined in the UCSD Policty on Integrity of Scholarship. Cheating will not be tolerated, and any student who engages in forbidden conduct will be subjected to the disciplinary process. Cheaters will receive a failing grade on the assignment or the exam and/or in the entire course. They may also be suspended from UCSD.'' See http://www-senate.ucsd.edu/manual/Appendices/app2.htm for details.

The midterm will discuss work covered up to, and including the previous Wednesday.

The final will cover the entire course.

Each exam will always cover materials discussed in class, or assigned in the weekly reading announcements on the Web.

There are absolutely no make-up exams. No excuses.

When you are asked to stop writing at the end of each exam, the only writing should be the addition of your name to the front page. Anyone caught cheating on either the midterm or final exam will be considered to have committed a sufficiently serious offence to fail the entire course.

The midterm will be a review of all the material you have already encountered.

The final will contain several long questions, and will offer you the opportunity to synthesize the material that we discuss in this course.

Grading

Grading is a crucial part of the course, of course!

Here is an approximate explanation of the guidelines used to determine grades:

We have no preconceived notions of the correct number of As, Bs and Cs that will be awarded. Good performance will obtain a good mark irrespective of the performance of the rest of the class.
We will be interested in:
- Clarity of argument;
- Quality of discussion;
- Evidence of research and reading;
- Synthesis of diverse sources;
- Independence of thought.
Marks will be lost for:
- Poor grammar;
- Poor spelling;
- Unnecessary length.
For each component of the course independently (homework/midterm/final), We will review the class performance as a whole, and determine how many marks correspond to a bare "A" (rather than "A-"), "B" and "C" performance.
We scale the marks in this way so that, when we mix the three components together, we can rationally arrive at a letter grade for every student, irrespective of varying performance on the different components of the assessment.
Doing well in only the midterm or only the final is not sufficient to warrant a "good" grade. Your final grade is the culmination of your quarter-long effort. The grading scale varies from year to year.
In 2011, final grades were adjusted to fit the following notional scale:
- A+ > 93.85;
- A 91-93.85;
- A- 89-91;
- B+ 84-89;
- B 78-84;
- B- 73-78;
- C+ 70-73;
- C 67-70;
- C- 63-67;
- D 60-63;
- F < 60;
In 2010, final grades were adjusted to fit the following notional scale:
- A+ > 96;
- A 90-96;
- A- 86-90;
- B+ 82-86;
- B 78-82;
- B- 75-78;
- C+ 72-75;
- C 68-72;
- C- 64-68;
- D 60-64;
- F < 60;
In 2009, final grades were adjusted to fit the following notional scale:
- A+ > 97;
- A 92-97;
- A- 89-92;
- B+ 86-89;
- B 83-86;
- B- 80-83;
- C+ 76-80;
- C 72-76;
- C- 67-72;
- D 60-67;
- F < 60;
In 2008, final grades were adjusted to fit the following notional scale:
- A+ > 97;
- A 90-97;
- A- 87.5-90;
- B+ 84-87.5;
- B 79-84;
- B- 76-79;
- C+ 74-76;
- C 70-74;
- C- 67.5-70;
- D 60-67.5;
- F < 60;