Grading Policy

Students are expected to fully participate in the class and complete all the assignments including reports acceptably. If they do this, they should receive at least a B grade. The grade is calculated using 90% weighting for lab reports and 10% for all other lab activities:

• 10% Lab activity: 
  • Grading on assignments in this category (ie everything that isn't a lab report) is for effort. Full credit is given if the work is completed, even if there are minor flaws, and deductions are made only when the work was not done or was done partially.
  • All assignments that fall under lab activities are worth 10 points.
  • Class attendance (which is mandatory to arrive on time) and TA checkpoints are also part of lab activity. (These count as 10 points each as well)
• 90% Lab reports: 
  • 5% for Unit 1 written report
  • 10% for Unit 2 written report
  • 15% for Unit 3 written report
  • 10% for Unit 4 written report
  • 10% for Unit 5 written report
  • 15% for final group oral presentation
  • 25% for final written project report
  • All of these reports are graded out of 100 points, with a minimum effort report that provides all needed requirements typically receiving an 80.

Grades are initially calculated on the straight point scale below, however to account for differences in TA report grading, final grades may be curved slightly to make sure no student is at a disadvantage with respect to the class overall if their TA's grading distribution is an outlier.  Additionally, because this is a group work focused class, grades may be shifted up or down depending on group participation or lack thereof.

​The grade ranges are:
    A+    97-100.0%    A 94-96.99%       A-  90-93.99%
    B+    87-89.99%    B 84-86.99%       B-  80-83.99%
    C+    77-79.99%    C 74-76.99%       C-  70-73.99%
    D+    67-69.99%    D 64-66.99%       D-  60-63.99%
    F     0-59.99%