Grading example

If your section grade or one of your midterm grades is below your final exam grade, it will be boosted up to the final exam grade. The course grade will be curved.

Here is an example.

Suppose that your raw grades are as follows:
Section: 70
Midterm 1: 90
Midterm 2: 50
Final: 80

Your adjusted grades are then:
Section: 80
Midterm 1: 90
Midterm 2: 80
Final: 80

and your final numerical grade is

(0.2)80+(0.2)90+(0.2)80+(0.4)80 = 82.
Your letter grade would be calculated from this number, using a curve yet to be determined.

The point of this grading scheme is that the homeworks are your chances to make mistakes, while you are just learning the concepts. Even if your scores on these are far from perfect, you can still do well in the course provided that you learn from your mistakes; it is your final understanding of the material that I consider important. On the other hand, if you are the sort of person whose exam performance often does not measure up with your understanding, because of nervousness or whatever, the homework can serve as a partial safety net.

If you feel that your work on homework or exams has been misgraded, you are welcome to ask for a regrade; this could result in your score increasing, staying the same, or decreasing.

WARNING: It is virtually impossible to learn the material without working through problems. So even if you plan on acing the final (I should say, especially if you want to ace the final), do the homework!