[Spr 20] 4BL Grading Policy

Grading Policy (Tentative)

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 assignments include:

(Individual) Two surveys (pre- and post-class)
(Individual) Pre-lab exercises
(Group) Completion of in-lab activities: checkpoints and short project progress reports
(Group) Three intermediate written reports
(Group) One final oral project report that uses PowerPoint or Google Slides
(Individual) One final written project report

The grade is calculated using 60% weighting for lab reports and 40% for all other lab activities:

40% Lab activity:
- Grading on these activities is to reflect 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. Class attendance will also be taken into account.
- Participation is graded from all in-class activities (including 2 surveys, pre-lab exercises, and in-lab checkpoints, and the project proposal)
60% Lab reports:
- 5% for first intermediate written report
- 10% for second intermediate written report
- 10% for third intermediate written report
- 10% for final group oral presentation
- 25% for final written project report
- All of these reports are graded out of 50 points, with each section of the report being allotted a specific distribution. Small mistakes will not affect the grading of the report, however larger mistakes regarding organization or logical errors will result in loss of points.

The grade scale incorporates the principle that the minimum percentage for a B grade corresponds to receiving full credit for lab activities, and “acceptable” scores (3’s) on all reports. The grade ranges are:
   A+ 95-100.0%   A 90-94.99%        A- 85-89.99%
   B+   80-84.99%   B 75-79.99%       B- 70-74.99%
   C+   65-69.99%   C 60-64.99%       C- 55-59.99%
   D+   50-54.99%   D 45-49.99%       F 0-44.99%
Up to two missing class sessions can be made up during open lab time on Friday, however, this is highly discouraged since it hampers group progress, and open lab time is very limited.