Grading
Policy
An
absolute grading system will be used, where 90% is required for an A, 80% for a
B, 70% for a C, 60% for a D, and anything below 60% is failing. Pluses and minuses will be given for grades
within 3 percentage points of the dividing marks. For example, a final total which is 80% or
more but less than 83% would correspond to a letter grade of B-, a total of 77%
or more but less than 80% would correspond to a C+, etc. The final grade will be based on the
following:
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 30%
Projects/Homework 30%
Presentations 25%
Late
work will be accepted without penalty only if some compelling reason is
provided (preferably in advance) justifying the lateness. Without such a justifiable excuse, late work
will be penalized 5% for each calendar day that it is late (with a
maximum penalty of 50%).
Plagiarism
(intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, or work of another
as one’s own) or any other form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students who are guilty of such dishonesty
will receive no credit for the given assignment or exam and will not be allowed
the opportunity to redo the work in question.
In addition, incidents of academic dishonesty may be reported to the
University and further disciplinary actions are possible.
The exams may be “take home” exams or “in class” exams. They may be open book or closed book, but, in any case, they must be individual efforts. Discussing the questions on the exam with an individual, other than the instructor, is not permitted.
Individual
assignments and projects will also be given (some projects may be group
projects). Discussion and collaboration
with other class members on individual assignments is permitted, and even
encouraged, to the extent that said collaboration is a fair and equitable
exchange of ideas. That is, one
individual should not be doing all the work and sharing it with others. It is permissible to ask other students for
help, but it is not permissible to copy the results of others. If several students collectively solve a
problem, each should write up the results in his or her own words.
Each student will be required to select a technical article on a subject relevant to the course, review and analyze the article, and present a summary and critical evaluation to the class.