Grading formula and assigned work for CS 173

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-, 50 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.

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

Readings and lectures

You are expected to prepare for each lecture (Tuesday through Friday) by doing the posted readings. We will prioritize covering important material in lecture, but some topics may be skipped for the sake of time. You are expected to know all material in the posted readings for examlets. We will post notes and video recordings following each lecture.

Examlets

There will be weekly examlets with consist of a mix of written problems and multiple choice. These account for most of your final course average. We plan 7 weekly examlets, each is 50 minutes long. The lowest of the first six examlet scores will be dropped, since that content will be re-tested on the final examlet.

Before the first examlet, familiarize yourself with the basic CS 173 exam instructions. Only the most critical parts will be explicitly included on the individual exams.

Questions on examlets are sometimes exact copies of homework or study problems, or problems used in past terms. They might be entirely new. Or they might look similar to past problems but differ in critical details. We make no promises about whether you will or won't be doing a problem that you've seen before. When studying for an examlet, concentrate on mastering general skills rather than memorizing specific solutions.

High-level rubrics for the manually-graded examlet questions will be released a day or two before each examlet.

Final Exam

The final exam wil be similar in content to examlets but rather than just being on the most recent material will will be comprehensive and 1 hour and 50 minutes. It will be about twice the length of a standard examlet.

Post-Unit Homework

Each week will have one Homework assignment due the next Monday. These are autograded on PrairieLearn, and you can submit them as many times as needed to get full credit.

To handle incidental issues that can come up, your lowest score will be dropped when computing your final average.

Weekly Written Problems

In the second half of each class (Tuesday through Friday), you will be given a set of problems on the material that was covered in lecture that day, and you will be asked to work on them. You may work on your own or in a group. If you work in a group, each of you must write up your own answer.

Your answers should be typed into PrairieLearn, because this helps you prepare for the examlets. At the end of each week (on Friday), one problem will be selected to be graded. You will have some time to prepare your solution between the release of this information and the time it is due. You will be graded based on making a good faith attempt at the problem, but you will also be given feedback as to how your answer would have been graded on an examlet. We aim to give you feedback on these problems by the day after they are due.

To handle incidental issues that can come up, your lowest score will be dropped when computing your final average.