Grading formula and assigned work for CS 173

Changes due to the Canvas meltdown

Before reading the rest of this, go to Canvas and inspect the total at the bottom of your gradebook report. Write it down in case Canvas crashes again.

If your canvas total is 92% or higher, you have a guaranteed A and do not need to take the final exam. Stop reading, delete your CBTF reservation, and have a great summer.

Homework and Tutorial averages were not affected by the Canvas crash. They are still as described below and remain worth 5% each.

Your Examlet 1-12 average (lowest score dropped) also was not affected by the Canvas crash. Notice that examlet scores are averaged as percentages and the "lowest" score is the examlet with the lowest percentage grade.

We will compute your course average and letter grade in two ways, described below. Your final letter grade will be the better of the two possibilities. So you cannot make your grade worse by choosing to take the final exam.

If you decide not to take the final exam, please delete your CBTF reservation as soon as you are sure of your decision. This will help other students trying to finish their exams.

Method 1

Your Examlet 1-12 average (lowest score dropped) is worth 90% of your final course average. In other words, your final course average is the total shown on canvas right now.

In this case, we will apply a 1% curve to the letter grade boundaries. So the grade cutoffs will be

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D-
92 89 86 82 79 76 72 69 66 62 59

We do not round the course averages.

Method 2

If you take the final exam, we will also compute your course average using the original grading formula. That is, your Examlet 1-12 average (with one drop) is worth 70% and your final exam grade is worth 20%.

In this case, we will assign letter grades using the original course cutoffs. That is

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D-
93 90 87 83 80 77 73 70 67 63 60

We do not round the course averages.

The final exam contributes only 20% to your final course average. So each extra 1% on your final exam grade raises your course average by only 0.2%. That means that simply matching the 1% curve in Method 1 would require you to have a final exam grade 5 percentage points higher than your Examlet 1-12 average.

Historically, final exam grades for this course have averaged slightly below the average of previous examlets.

Original syllabus grading information

Your final average is a weighted combination of your averages on examlets and PrairieLearn assignments. Specifically

When we translate these averages into final letter grades, a score of 90 will be at least an A-, 80 at least a B-, 70 at least a C-, 60 at least a D-. If the raw scores are running excessively low, we may revise these cutoffs to be more generous. However, this has happened only very rarely in recent years. In recent terms, around three quarters of the grades have been A's and B's.

This course does not give A+ grades.

Monitoring grades

You are responsible for keeping an eye on your PrairieLearn grades and promptly reporting apparent errors. See the FAQ for how to report grading and/or grade entry problems. In particular, you are responsible for making sure your tutorial problems have received a non-zero grade before you leave tutorial.

If the scores you are receiving alarm you, seek help.

Drops and extensions

There is an automatic extension of the first two pre-lecture homeworks until Tuesday morning of Week 3, for the benefit of folks adding the course late.

We will drop

Missed work

You are expected to use these drops to cover most small problems that arise, e.g. illness, religious holidays, oversleeping tutorial, joining the course late.