Math 408: Interpretation of Online Scores Display

• The basics: Most of the notation is self-explanatory. "exam1" stands for "Exam 1", "hw1" for "homework assignment 1", etc. A notation such as "8/10" indicates a score of 8 out of 10.
• Score discrepancies: Discrepancies in the score display, or grading errors, must be reported within one week from the date the test/assignment is returned; you must show the assignment in question.
• Excused scores: A excused score is indicated by a single asterisk, e.g., "hw1:--*/10". If an assignment for which you I have promised you an excused score and you have provided documentation for the excuse, is not marked in this way, let me know right away. I try to take care of excused scores as soon as I have the documentation in hand, but it's possible that something has slipped my mind (or you may have forgotten to supply the necessary documentation ...); in that case, send me an email (ajh@uiuc.edu) with the specifics to refresh my memory.
• Missed assignments: A double dash indicates a missed assignment, e.g., "hw1:--/10". It counts as a score of 0 unless the assignment has been excused, or counted as a drop score (in which case it would be marked by a single or double asterisk).
• Drop scores: A drop score is indicated by a double asterisk, e.g., "hw1:6**/10", or "hw1:--**/10". There is exactly one drop score among the hw scores, and one drop score among the quiz scores, and you can check that the drop score is indeed the lowest score among the hw, resp. quiz, scores.
• Average: The average shown at the end of the score display is your current average, computed from the quiz, hw, and exam averages with appropriate weights: 15% for quizzes, 15% for hw, 40% for exams. (See the Course Information Sheet for further information on the grading policy.) You can verify the computation yourself using the formula

  avg = (0.15 q + 0.15 h + 0.40 e)/(0.15  + 0.15 + 0.40), 
  

  where q, h, e are your current quiz, homework, exam averages, ignoring dropped/excused scores. (After the final exam scores are in, an additional grade component, "f", will be added to the above formula, with a weight of 0.30.)
• Letter grades: The letter grade shown at the end of the course display is your current grade. If the semester were to suddenly end, and I had to assign grades now, this is the grade you would get. It is based on your average score, and on the overall distribution of averages, which I use to set a curve. At the end of the semester, I will choose a final curve, based on the score distributions at that point. It may vary a bit from the current curve, but probably not by much and at any rate it will be more generous than a standard curve with 90/80/70/60 cutoffs for A/B/C/D. In other words, there will be no downward curving, and almost everyone will get curved upwards relative to the standard curve. (Note that the curve is an overall curve; there is no additional curving on the grade components.)

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