PHYS 100 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Grading

View your grades in the gradebook

You can view your grades using the course gradebook ("Gradebook" on the course website)

During the term, you should regularly check that your grades are correctly entered in the gradebook. It is your responsibility to bring any problems with your assigned grades to the attention of your instructor as soon as possible.

Grading Scheme

Your final grade for Physics 100 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 1000 points.

The points for the course are split up into two categories.

50% of the course points are given for participating in the learning activities of the course. People who put in the effort to do the work in and out of class get almost all of these points.
The remaining 50% of the course points are for demonstrating what you've learned on quests and exams. This shows what you can do after completing in the learning activities.

In some categories, some number of the lowest scoring assignments are dropped.

Course Component	# of assignments	# of missed assignments automatically excused	Points
Course Learning Activities
Prelectures	14	1	50
CheckPoints	14	1	50
Lectures (respond to at least 75% of iClicker questions)	14	3	50
Homework	28	0	150
Discussion section participation	14	3	200
			500 points

Quests/Exams
Quests	5	0	200
Midterm exam	1	0	150
Final exam	1	0	150
			500 points

Exam Improvement Bonus Points

Learning is a process, and this class rewards you for improving over time. The course philosophy is that we're always improving. There are three opportunities to get bonus points for improving your performance on quests/exams throughout the course:

Midterm improvement points - The midterm covers the same topics as Quests 1 - 4. For every 1% that you perform better on the midterm than on your Quest 1 - 4 average, you will get one bonus point. (For example, if you have a 50% average on Quests 1 - 4 and 80% on the midterm, you will receive 30 bonus points.)

Optional Quest 6 - There is an optional quest at the end of the semester. It covers all the course topics (a good final exam review) and will replace a lower quest grade (if there is no lower quest grade, it will not replace it.)

Final improvement points - The final covers the same topics as the midterm and Quests 1 - 5. For every 1% that you perform better on the final than on your [Midterm + Quest 1 - 5] average, you will get two bonus points. (For example, if you have a 50% average on the midterm + Quests 1 - 5 and 80% on the final, you will receive 60 bonus points.)

Other Bonus Points

There are some bonus points available in lecture. Other bonus point opportunities will be announced throughout the semester.

EX, ABS, and blank scores

Excused (EX) scores: EX scores in the gradebook will become the average of the non-EX scores you have for that assignment type during the final grade calculation. For example, if there were 10 assignments, and you have two EX scores, 100% for seven of your homework scores and 0% for one of your homework scores, those two EXs will be assigned the average of the 8 non-EX assignments (which is 87.5%). So your final homework scores used in the final calculation should be:

0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 87.5% 87.5%

Although some number of assignments in each category may be dropped, EX scores are calculated before these lowest assignments are dropped.

Absence (ABS) scores: Absences are counted as a 0 during final grade calculations.

Blank scores: A blank means that your grade for this assignment has not been uploaded yet. If you have a blank at the end of the course, this will be counted as a 0 during final grade calculations.

Final Grade Scoring

The following table will be used to assign final grades.

Final Grade	Minimum Points
A+	960
A	930
A-	900
B+	860
B	830
B-	800
C+	760
C	730
C-	700
D+	650
D	600
D-	550
F	< 550