Fall 2009                Grading Policies                BIOL 230

 

 

BIOL 230 is a 5 unit course.  The course is split into lecture and laboratory components.  The lecture grade will comprise 60% of the final grade while the lab grade will comprise 40% of the final grade.

 

 

A.        To calculate your final grade:

 

(Lecture grade (%) x 0.60) + (Lab grade (%) x 0.40) = FINAL GRADE (%)

 

For example, if a student earned a 78% grade in the lecture and an 85% grade in the lab, the final grade would be:

 

(78 x 0.60) + (85 x 0.40) = 47 + 34 = 81% FINAL GRADE

 

 

B.        To calculate your lecture grade:

 

The lab grade assignment will be handled by lab instructors.  The lecture grade assignment will be handled by lecture instructors.  For the lecture grade, here is how grades will be calculated:

 

Category                                            % grade                                 weighted grade

*Clickers (in class)                      (points earned/total points) x 100                %grade x 0.10

*Problem Sets (in and out of class) (points earned/total points) x 100                %grade x 0.10

 

EXAM I                                                (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.14

 

EXAM II                                   (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.17

 

EXAM III                                  (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.19

 

EXAM IV                                  (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.20

**FINAL EXAM (cumulative)       (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.10        

Add weighted grades together to yield your lecture grade                                  LECTURE GRADE

 

This LECTURE GRADE will then be used in the calculation of the final grade as in part A.

*For Clickers, Problem Sets and Biology in the News assignments, you will receive some credit (50%) for just trying and full credit (100%) for correct answers.  As all of the clicker questions and some of the problem sets will be carried out during class, it behooves you to attend class.  There will be in-class questions on most, if not all class days.  They will not be announced in advance.

 

OR

 

**EXAM IV and the FINAL EXAM are both given during the FINAL EXAM period.  If you scored an A- or better on EXAM I, II and III, you may elect NOT to take the FINAL EXAM (you will still have to take EXAM IV).  You must notify instructors of your intentions in advance of the EXAM period.  In this case only, your lecture grade will be determined as follows:

 

Category                                % of lecture grade                             weighted grades   

 

*Clickers (in class)                      (points earned/total points) x 100                %grade x 0.10

*Problem Sets (in and out of class) (points earned/total points) x 100                %grade x 0.10

 

EXAM I                                                (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.14

 

EXAM II                                   (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.17

 

EXAM III                                  (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.19

 

EXAM IV                                  (points earned/total points)            x100                 %grade x 0.20         

Add weighted grades together and divide by 0.90 to get lecture grade            LECTURE GRADE =

                                                                                             (sum of weighted grades above/0.90)

 

This LECTURE GRADE will then be used in the calculation of the final grade as in part A.

 

 

C.        To convert % grades into letter grades

 

%                     GRADE                        GRADE POINTS         

 

90-100                           A                                  4.0

87-89                            A-                                 3.7

83-86                            B+                                3.3

80-82                            B                                  3.0

77-79                            B-                                 2.7

73-76                            C+                                2.3

70-72                            C                                  2.0

67-69                            C-                                 1.7

63-66                            D+                                1.3

60-62                            D                                  1.0

57-59                            D-                                 0.7

0-56                              F                                  0

 

 

D.        Other grading policies

 

You may be excused from a maximum of 2 lectures for serious and compelling reasons (such as personal illness or an illness or death in the family). To request an excused absence, you need to email the TA on or before the day of class, explaining why you are unable to attend (you must also provide your student ID number). Emails received after the day of class will not be honored.

 

Sometimes exams overlap with religious holidays.  If you see that an exam falls on a date with a religious importance that you intend to observe, you must submit a written petition to the instructors by Friday, Sept 11th, to request an alternate (most likely earlier) date for your exam.

 

There will be NO MAKE-UP EXAMS.  In the event that you have a serious and compelling reason for missing an exam, the instructors will consider a petition for you to be able to make up the exam.  Petitions will be considered on a case by case basis.  There is no guarantee that you will be allowed to make up the missed work.  In order to be eligible for consideration, you MUST a) notify the instructors (by phone or E-mail) of the problem PRIOR to the exam and b) provide adequate documentation (doctorÕs note, copy of death certificate etc).  The date of the FINAL EXAM is set and is not changeable.  You must make your winter break travel plans accordingly.

 

In rare cases, when a particular lab section performs unusually well or poorly (as compared to other lab sections), the lab grades may be subject to normalization to account for differences in grading scales between the sections.