PHYS 515 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Course Grading
Course grading will proceed in compliance with University policy as given in Article 3, Part 1 of the Student Code.
Any discrepancies found in your student gradebook should be brought to the attention of your section instructor immediately.
Grading
Your final grade for Physics 515 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 1000 points.
Everyone starts with 0 credit points (CPs). You gain CPs by doing homework, doing the paper review (midterm) and final exams and by participating in class or in piazza (asking or answering questions). There will be 12 homework sets and in total they will be worth 72% of your grade. You will submit a review on a research paper which counts as midterm and makes up 10% of your grade. There will be one final, take-home exam worth 18% of your grade. You can earn up to 56 bonus points (2 point per lecture) by answering gradescope questions during the lecture.
Homework sheets will become available online on Wednesdays before class. The completed homework is due one week later on Wednesdays at 11:55pm Central US, and they have to be submitted via my.physics. Unless a valid, verifiable excuse is given, homework sets which are submitted late will receive a 10% penalty per day (between Friday and Monday a 20% penalty applies). Homework sets which are turned in more than a week late will receive no credit.
Details about the paper review and final exam can be found here.
Bonus points can be earned by answering conceptual questions during the lecture via Gradescope, Entry code: K3X8X8.
| Course Component | Number of Assignments | Number Dropped per Semester | Maximum Points per Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework | 12 | 1 | 720 |
| Midterm: paper review | 1 | 0 | 100 |
| Final exam | 1 | 0 | 180 |
| Bonus points | 28 | 0 | 56 |
Final Grade
We use the following cutoff table to calculate final scores.
| Final Grade | Minimum Points |
|---|---|
| A+ | 970 |
| A | 930 |
| A- | 890 |
| B+ | 850 |
| B | 810 |
| B- | 770 |
| C+ | 730 |
| C | 690 |
| C- | 650 |
| D+ | 600 |
| D | 550 |
| D- | 500 |
| F | <500 |