Assignments and grading
Your final course grade will be calculated as follows:
| Category | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Problem Sets | 10% |
| Quizzes | 15% |
| Midterm Exam 1 | 25% |
| Midterm Exam 2 | 25% |
| Final exam | 25% |
Your final letter grade will be determined based on the usual thresholds:
| Letter Grade | Final Course Grade |
|---|---|
| A+ | >= 97 |
| A | 93 - 96.99 |
| A- | 90 - 92.99 |
| B+ | 87 - 89.99 |
| B | 83 - 86.99 |
| B- | 80 - 82.99 |
| C+ | 77 - 79.99 |
| C | 73 - 76.99 |
| C- | 70 - 72.99 |
| D+ | 67 - 69.99 |
| D | 63 - 66.99 |
| D- | 60 - 62.99 |
| F | < 60 |
These thresholds will not change, and they will be applied exactly. This means that the final grades will not be curved, and a 92.99, for example, will not be rounded up to an A.
Problem Sets (10%)
Mathematics is like everything else in life; if you practice, you improve. As such, I encourage you to take the problem sets seriously. Truly understanding how to solve the problems on each problem set is great preparation for the exams. Copying AI-generated solutions without understanding them will not help you learn! You must hand-write your solutions, either on paper or on a tablet, and upload them to Gradescope by the due date as a single .pdf file.
Grading scheme: we will grade each problem set out of 10 points. 2 out of 10 points are awarded for completing every problem. The other 8 points are awarded for correctly solving one problem chosen by the teaching team. We will not disclose ahead of time which problem is graded, so you should solve them all.
| Component | Points |
|---|---|
| Coherent attempt on every required problem | 2 |
| Sampled problem: correct, justified, clearly written | 8 |
Your lowest problem set score will be dropped at the end of the semester.
Quizzes (15%)
We will have six ten-minute in-class quizzes, which will be announced ahead of time. The quizzes are there to encourage you to engage with the material and study continually, rather than only right before the exams. I know quizzes can be stressful, so the grading policy will be generous.
Your final quiz grade is computed from your raw quiz average (your average score in percentage points across the six quizzes) as follows: \[\text{Final quiz grade} = \min\left(100, \;\frac32\,\times\,\text{Raw quiz average}\right).\]
For example, if each quiz has three questions and you get two correct on each one, then your raw quiz average is 66.67% and your final quiz grade is 100%.
No make-up quizzes will be given. If you miss a quiz, you get a zero for it by default, unless your absence is recognized by a Dean’s Excuse, Notification of Varsity Athletic Participation, or Religious Observance Form; see the forms here.
After the appropriate scores have been included, your raw quiz average will be converted to your final quiz grade using the above formula.
Exams (25% each)
There will be three exams. The dates, times, and locations are firm, so mark your calendar now:
- Midterm 1: Tuesday October 6 during lecture;
- Midterm 2: Thursday November 19 during lecture;
- Final: Thursday December 10 from 2 PM - 5 PM in Gross Hall 103.
These will be old school, pencil-and-paper, in-class exams. Exams are closed-book and closed-notes. No online or electronic resources are permitted.
If you seek testing accommodations, make sure the Student Disability Access Office sends me a letter, and then please make your appointments in the Testing Center as soon as possible.
If you do better on the final exam than you did on one of the midterms, we will replace your lowest midterm exam score with your final exam score.
If you are absent from one of the midterms for whatever reason, there will not be a make-up. Pursuant to the above policy, we will simply replace the missed midterm score with the final exam score. If you miss the final exam, you get a zero unless you have a Dean’s Excuse.