Grading
Overall grade
Exam 1=30%
Exam 2=30%
Homework=10% (Anticipate 5-8 homeworks, each worth 1-2% of total grade)
In-class assignments=10% (these will mostly be participation points. Most in-class assignments will get full points if they are filled out. They are meant to give you better understanding of a lecture topic). Anticipate 10-12 in class assignments during the semester. Some will be provide data that will be basis of a homework assignment.
Final=20%
No extra credit
Exams
Exams will be multiple choice and cover material from the lectures. You will need to attend lectures to obtain this material. I will write key topics and subjects you should know for exams (a review list) on the chalkboard at the beginning of each lecture topic to help you focus your studying. These hints will not be in the class notes or available online. You will have to attend class to obtain the hints. I do not provide this material to students who miss class without a pre-arranged absence.
There will be no review list or pre-test review sheet given in lecture. The key topics put on the chalkboard are your review list (incentive to attend class!).
On exam days, exams will be at the beginning (first half) of lecture.
You will be asked to show your ID to take the exam or when handing in your exam. Lecture will follow the exam in the 2nd half of exam-day classes.
During exams you will not be allowed to leave the room for any reason. When turning in the exams you may not leave the room to reenter through another door. No talking during the exam, as that will be construed as cheating. After you have handed in your exam you will have to leave the exam room and then return for the lecture part of class following the exam.
The first exam will cover material from the beginning of class to the week before the first exam. The second exam will cover material from the 2nd half of class on the day of the first exam to the class before the second exam. The final is partly cumulative, but mostly concerns material from the third part of the semester. This will be explained toward the end of the semester.
Exams will include multiple-choice, true-false, fill-in-the-blank, and matching. Answers will be filled out on a blue scantron form.
Tentatively, the grade scale will be 100-90%=A, 89-80%=B, 79-70%=C, 69-56%=D, 55 and lower is failing. If the class average is below 80% for any exam, a curve will be used and the mean grade will be the B/C border. The grade scale (curved or uncurved) will be shown and explained when the exams are handed back.
Getting your Exam Grade
A week after the exam days, exam scores will be handed back. We will go over the exam in class. If you do not attend class the week after the exam, and do not have a prearranged absence, you must see your TA for the exam score.
I do not give out grades by phone or email, so if you miss class and want your grade on a homework or exam, make an appointment with me or the TA.
Dr. Greb’s email: greb@uky.edu
Dr. Greb’s phone: 323-0542
Midterm grade
The University now requires that a midterm grade be submitted for all students. At the semester midterm Dr. Greb will submit the grade based on the material completed to that date. Exams to that point will be worth 80%, homeworks to that point are the other 20%. Dr. Greb will remind students of the grades used to calculate the midterm grade when they are submitted.
Final Exam
The final exam will be Monday night on Dec 15, 2014. The final has two parts. The first part is like a third exam, covering material from the class after the second exam to the final. The second part is comprehensive, covering material from the entire course, although weighted more to the most important topics or topics that have been repeated throughout the class, including the third part of the class. I will go over what to expect on the final on the last day of class so that you know what to expect.
Written assignments
Homework assignments will be take-home assignments due the next week or in-class assignments that will be turned in during class. There is no schedule for when homework will be handed out. It may be handed out in the beginning or middle of class. This is an incentive to attend class. There will be between 5 and 8 written assignments during the year. Each will vary between 2 and 4% of your grade. The value of each assignment will be given when the assignment is announced. Homework assignments will be handed back within 2 weeks of their due date. Some homework may be handed out in class as an in-class assignment that will be turned in at the end of that class. If you do not have an excused absence for that class and you miss the assignment, you will not be able to make up that assignment. See homework style part of the website
Hand in Homeworks!
Every year there are students who do not hand in homework and then are surprised when their final grade is a letter grade or two letter grades less than their test average. 20% of your grade, when using a grading scale of ~A=100-90, B=89-80, C=79-70, D=69-55% means that each letter grade is 10%. It is important to attend class, get the assignment, complete your homework, and complete it on time.
Academic Activity, Cheating, and Plagiarism
This class follows the UK policy on cheating and plagiarism as discussed in the Student rights and responsibilities handbook (see the Ombudsman’s comments on plagiarism and paraphrasing http://www.uky.edu/Ombud/Plagiarism.pdf). Cheating and plagiarism will be dealt with severely and will result in a failing grade for the exam or homework. Be aware, it is cheating to copy or duplicate another person’s homework and submit it as your own. The homework assignments are supposed to be your own work, not others. It will be considered cheating if you work on a project together and each student submits the same work with different names on each paper. Working together on certain homework assignments may be permitted (depending on the assignment if specifically instructed in class), but each student must submit their own homework, written in their own words.
It is illegal (and cheating) to cut and paste information from a previous paper, another student’s paper, or the internet and submit it as your own. Do not cut and paste. If you use internet resources, rewrite what you read and remember to cite the reference from which you obtained the information. Anything that is a direct quote must be placed in quotations, and a reference cited. That means the name and publication date (or website) from which the quote is copied follows the quote in parentheses, and then the complete reference is listed on a references cited page..You are expected to cite all references when writing homework assignments.
See the Homework format section for examples of homework and reference styles.
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