CS/ECE 374 A (Spring 2024): Grading Policies

• Graded Work
• Regrade Requests
• Final Course Grades

If you have any questions or concerns, please ask in lecture, during office hours, or on Ed.

Graded Work

• Guided problem sets (GPS) are auto-graded on PrairieLearn.
• Written homeworks are graded by the entire course staff, directly within Gradescope. Each numbered problem is graded by several CAs, under the supervision of one TA, using a common detailed rubric developed within Gradescope. All numbered homework problems are worth the same amount. Under normal circumstances, all homework should be graded within two weeks of submission.
• Exams are graded by the instructors and graduate TAs. Graded exams will be available via gradescope. Under normal circumstances, all exams should graded within two weeks.

Regrade Requests

• Regrade period for homeworks/exams is one week after the grade is available. Homework and exam regrades are to be requested within Gradescope. Late regrade requests will be ignored.
• Please check that your grades are tabulated and recorded correctly. If you notice a mistake, please use gradescope to ask for a regrade.

• If you do not understand your grade on a homework or exam problem, you may discuss your grade with one of the TAs or instructors during office hours. After that discussion, if you still believe that your work has been graded incorrectly, please request a regrade.
• All regrade requests must include a brief written justification for the request. Good justifications include the following:
  • My answer agrees with the posted solution, but I still lost points.
  • I lost 4 points for an incorrect time analysis, but the rubric says that's only worth 2 points.
  • You took off points for missing the base case, but it's right here (right here!).
  • My answer is correct, even though it does not match the posted solution. (This happens more frequently if your answer is not even remotely similar to the "standard" solution.)
  • There is no explanation for my grade.
  • The official solution is incorrect; here's a counterexample.
  Regrade requests with poor or missing justifications will be denied.
• We can only grade what you actually submitted. You cannot get a higher grade by explaining what you meant, either in person or in writing; your original submission must stand on its own.
• If you submit a regrade request, we will regrade the submitted problem from scratch. Your grade may go down. Regrade requests will initially be handled by a TA; if disputes persist, they will eventually be handled by the instructors.
• We will readily admit, apologize for, and correct our mistakes if you have been graded unfairly. However, please remember that "unfairly" means your grade is inconsistent with the published grading rubric, or that you were graded more harshly than other students, not just that you think the rubric itself is too harsh. Please also keep in mind that each percentage point of a homework is worth approximately 0.01% of your final course grade. Don't fight for each point like your life depends on it!

Final Course Grades

1. We compute the raw total from your homework and exam scores. Course work is weighted as follows.
   • Homework is worth 28%:
     • There will be 33 homework problems (11 GPS assignments, and 11 written homework sets containing 22 written homework problems). For grading purposes, each guided problem set (GPS) on PrairieLearn has exactly the same weight as one homework problem.
     • When calculating the homeworks contribution to your final grade, we drop your 2 lowest GPS assignment scores and your 4 lowest written homework problem scores. (In other words, if you submit all 11 GPS assignments and 22 written homework problems, we keep your 9 highest GPS assignment scores and 18 written homework problem scores.)
   • Exams are worth 72%: There will be two midterm exams, each worth 21% of your raw total, and a cumulative final exam worth 30% of your raw total.
   • Exceptions:
     • Forgiven homeworks will be treated as if they did not exist; the other homeworks will have more weight in the final grade calculation.
     • Forgiven midterm exams will be treated as if they did not exist; the other exams will have more weight in the final grade calculation.
     • We will not drop zero scores that result from cheating offenses.

2. We reserve the right to give any student meeting at least one of the following conditions an automatic F:
   • Raw total below 33%
   • Raw exam average below 25%
   • Submitted less than half of the 33 homework problems (unless there is an overriding excuse).
   These are not the only ways to fail!

3. We determine your fixed letter grade from the raw total according to the following cutoffs:

   Min	Max	Grade
   95	100	A+
   90	95	A
   85	90	A-
   80	85	B+
   75	80	B
   70	75	B-
   65	70	C+
   60	65	C
   55	60	C-
   50	55	D+
   45	50	D
   40	45	D-
   0	40	F

4. Alternatively, we determine your curved letter grade from the raw total. The mean is a borderline B-/C+, and each standard deviation is worth one full letter grade. For example, the B+/B cutoff is 2/3 standard deviations above the mean, and the D/D- cutoff is 5/3 standard deviations below the mean. We may decide to exclude certain outliers from the cutoff computation, to avoid unfairly skewing the curve.

5. Your actual letter grade is either your fixed letter grade or your curved letter grade, whichever is higher.

6. We reserve the right to adjust grades upwards at the instructors' whim.