Grading Policies

Overall Percentages

    Work in G380 will contribute to final course grades approximately as follows:

Attendance and Participation in Class Discussions (including Group Report Project): 20%      

Outside Reading Journal: 15%*

Homework Assignments (5) & Quizzes (3): 15%

Midterm: 15%*

Final Exam: 20%*

Final Paper: 15%*

                      *must be completed to achieve a passing grade.

Exam Grading

This course does not use a fixed point scale for major exams. Percentage scores on exams will be curved. Grades for all other assignments will not be curved.

Make-up Policy

The only valid reason to miss a scheduled quiz is illness.  Medical excuses require a doctor's note.  No make-up quizzes will be given except for medical excuses or absences covered by applicable campus policies.

Written Assignment Deadlines

Assignments handed in after class will be penalized one "half" letter grade (a plus/minus grade) and papers submitted after the due date will be lowered an additional half-grade for each subsequent day that they are late.   Medical excuses require a doctor's note.

Information on Grading Written Assignments

The initial homework assignment will be marked with a check, check-plus, or check-minus.   All other assignments will receive a letter grade.  For journals and final papers, formal features such as writing errors will detract from the grade; see Guide for Written Work.

Information on Grading Quizzes and Tests

Quizzes will be graded on a numerical scale with corresponding letter grades; quiz grades will not be curved.  The take-home midterm exam will be graded on a B-/C+ curve, but that curve may be raised if overall class performance is strong.  The exam will include both brief, "objective" questions, and "essay" questions ranging from paragraph to mini-essay length. A preparation guide for the midterm exam will be posted on the G380 web page at least a week in advance.

Policy on Academic Dishonesty

All written compositions in this course must be your own work and your own words, unless you are using explicit quotations. Please follow the following rules precisely, and in all your written work:  If you use the words of another person, always use quotation marks and indicate the source of the quote, and if you closely paraphrase another person, always indicate that you are doing so and whose ideas you are citing.   Failure to follow these rules is considered plagiarism, which is serious academic misconduct that faculty are required by policy to report, and which is subject to severe penalties under university regulations. Please make sure never to submit work with plagiarized material; always acknowledge your sources.