Math 444 Course Administration
Tests and Exams
There will be three one hour tests and a three hour comprehensive final
exam. The tests will be given at those points in the course where a complete
set of topics has been covered, and each will be announced well in advance.
Each test will count 15% towards the final grade. The final exam will be
worth 30% of the grade.
Homework Assignments
Homework will be assigned on a weekly basis and will be due as indicated
on the weekly schedule. Each problem that is solidly attempted (correctly
or not) will receive a few marks credit. One or two problems will be graded
in detail and these will be worth more credit. The homework will be worth
25% of the final grade. I will make available on this website solutions
of all problems assigned.
Assignment of Grades:
Grades for the course will be assigned in the following way. First a cumulative
score for the course will be computed using the proportions: Test 1 - 15%,
Test 2 - 15%, Test 3 - 15%, Homework - 25%, Exam - 30%. This will place
everyone on a linear axis, and your position on this axis relative to others
in the course will be fixed. I will then move the axis up or down depending
on various factors and assign grades according to the grade scale shown
below. Things that might influence movement of the axis are:
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Were any of the tests or the exam to easy, too difficult, too short, too
long?
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If the final exam covers only very basic material and everyone does poorly,
then eveyone might get a C, but if the final is moderately challenging
and eveyone does well, then everyone might get an A.
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Did any students just have a "bad day" on a test? That is, is one test
score for a student unusually low compared to performance in other aspects
of the course?
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Has a student made a continual improvement in performance throughout the
course after a bad start?
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If the final exam is equal in difficulty to the tests, has a student done
better on the final (i.e. have they finally got it all together)?
Grade Scale:
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90-100 A (+:96.7 - 100, -:90 - 93.3)
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75-90 B (+:85 - 90, -:75 - 80)
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65-75 C
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55-65 D
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0-55 E
Contact Information
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E-mail: muncast@uiuc.edu
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Phone: (Math office) 31625 or (Merriam Lab) 40740 or (Home) 3443011
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Office Hours: by appointment. Just send me an e-mail and we will set something
up. If you feel that it would be useful for me to be in some regular office
hours, make your case and I will see what I can do.
Progress Table: