Grading Policy

Grading Overview

Learning scientific content requires some amount of time working alone to digest information (assessed by video response participation "quizzes" and closed-book exams), some amount of time putting concepts into practice in hands-on activities (assessed by assignments and presentations), and some amount of time engaging in dialogue with peers (assessed with Packback AI). To achieve all of this requires consistent engagement through the quarter.

Grade Weights

• Individual Assignments = 30%
• Student Response Participation made of of two activities:
  • Video response participation "quizzes" = 10%
  • Packback discussion participation = 10%
• Team-Based Experimental Design Presentations = 15%
• Exam 1 = 10%
• Exam 2 = 10%
• Final Exam= 15%

*There is no specific portion of your total grade allocated to in-class participation, but this is an important part of your overall performance and will be used to help assign grades in borderline situations based on the professor's professional judgment as an experienced educator.

Late Policy

Philosophical Considerations

During the early years of the pandemic I switched to a policy of maximum flexibility under those circumstances. While that provided the benefit of compassion towards stress, life tragedies, and overall workload, it had the negative consequence of failing to prepare students for their career realities. In a career, deadlines are rarely flexible, stress is high, anxiety can be ever present, and things just have to get done. If we don't practice meting deadlines now while you are a college student, then you won't be ready for the real world, and that will be a shock to you.

Also, during the pandemic, some students took advantage of the lax deadlines and inflated grading to simply pile up courses to graduate sooner at lower close, but with a much lower quality of education. The recomended course load is typically 12-15 units. Taking >15 units is highly risky and detrimental to learning. If you take that many units and then feel anxiety and stress, then it is not fair to blame a professor for having fixed deadlines, because they are not the cause of your problems; course overload is the problem.

Ideally, I wish it would be possible to just let you do things and turn them in at your own speed as long as everything is submitted by the end of the quarter, but that does not work in practice. First, you all have many other deadlines, so any task that does not provide a strict deadline with real consequences simply goes to the bottom of the priority list and never gets done- and then it's a disaster crisis at the end of the quarter when the final deadline arises. Second, that is not really optimal learning. Optimal learning comes from doing a similar, reasonable amount of work frequently, essentially daily. This is true of both physical and mental exercise to make progess. Third, if you don't work on the content associated with an assignment (i.e., video lecture and reading), then the assignment just won't make sense and you won't get the synergy of learning from all senses at the same time. Thus, it is necessary to set reasonably firm deadlines.

Another consideration is that the TA's for the class are workers who have rights and their own stresses, anxieties, workloads, and challenges. When students are randomly turning in work on an assignment over many weeks, it makes it extremely difficult for the TA's to grade the work timely and efficiently. It's important that we all have compassion for our TAs. 

Late Policy Specifics

• Deadlines are specified in canvas.
• Deadlines for exams and group presentations have no flexibility. These are fixed deadlines.
• Deadlines for submission of individual assignment reports are generally set for 2 classes after the activity is done in class as a group. Flexibility is provided as that you may turn one in up to 1 week beyond its deadline, but you will lose 2% of your grade per day late, up to 14% max at the final 7-day deadline.
• Deadlines for video response quizzes are generally set for 1 class after the activity is done in class as a group. Flexibility is provided as that you may submit a quiz up to 1 week beyond its deadline, but you will lose 2% per day late, up to 14% max at the final 7-day deadline.
• Exceptions to these deadlines is on an individual basis only, such as due to late addition of the course, medical circumstance with a doctor's note, or other significant crisis explained to the professor. Exceptions are at the professors discretion and are not guaranteed.

Bonus opportunities

Throughout the quarter you will be given opportunities to earn extra credit at your discretion. Extra credit points will be added to your total points in the Individual Assignments category, and there is no upper limit on extra credit possible. Among the individual assignments, you can earn extra credit by providing additional, useful content on your assignments at the discretion of the grader. In addition, there are 7 bonus assignments you can do. If you are close to the next grade and you ask to be elevated to the next grade, then your choice to do or not do bonus asignments will certainly be a factor.