Policies for calculus courses

Michael Hutchings, August 2011

Homework is assigned for most lectures. Homework assigned for a Tuesday lecture is due at the beginning of discussion section on Friday, three days later; homework assigned for a Thursday lecture is due at the beginning of discusion section on the following Monday. Each assignment will be given a pass/fail grade based on completeness. You may check your answers to odd-numbered problems in the back of the book, but you need to turn in solutions, not just answers. You may discuss the homework problems with your classmates, but you must write your solutions on your own. I am aware that it is not hard to find solutions manuals on the internet. While these might be a useful tool for studying for the exams, copying said solutions on a homework assignment will result in a negative grade for that assignment. The homework may be heavy at times, but it is essential for learning the material.

Quizzes will be given each Wednesday in discussion section, except for the first week and the weeks of the midterms. There will be no makeup quizzes, but the lowest two quiz scores will be dropped. One purpose of the quizzes is to help make sure that you keep up with the material. Later parts of the course depend heavily on the earlier parts, so it can be hard to catch up if you fall behind.

Exams: There will be two midterms and a final. There will be no makeup exams. However you can miss one midterm without penalty, as explained in the grading policy below. On the other hand, missing both midterms or missing the final will seriously harm your grade. Please check the dates now to make sure that you have no unavoidable conflicts!

Calculators and notes will NOT be allowed for the exams. If you learn the material properly, then you should not have to memorize a lot of rules or formulas. And exam questions will be designed to be solvable without excessive calculation.

To obtain full credit for an exam question, you must obtain the correct answer, put a box around it, and give a correct and readable derivation or justification of the answer. Unjustified correct answers will be regarded very suspiciously and will receive little or no credit. The graders are looking for demonstration that you understand the material. To maximize credit, cross out incorrect work.

There is no regrading, unless there is an egregious error such as adding up points incorrectly. If you don't understand why you lost points on a question, please ask; but the number of points deducted cannot be changed, because we grade all the exams together according to the same standards, so regrading individual exams would be unfair to everyone else.

Grades are calculated as follows:

More precisely, each of the above four grades will be curved into a number between 0 and 4.5. These numbers correspond to letter grades as follows: anything above 4+1/6 is an A+, anything between 3+5/6 and 4+1/6 is an A, anything between 3+1/2 and 3+5/6 is an A-, and so on. Section grades will be adjusted to account for differences between GSI's in quiz difficulty and grading standards. To compute the course grade, first write down the following five numbers (each of which is now between 0 and 4.5):

Section, Midterm1, Midterm2, Final, Final

Second, cross out whichever of the middle three numbers is lowest. Third, average the remaining four numbers, to obtain a number between 0 and 4.5. Finally, convert this number back into a letter grade: that is your final course grade.

Students with disabilities requiring accomodations for exams must submit a "letter of accomodation" from the Disabled Students Program and contact me at least two weeks in advance so that we can make the necessary arrangements.

Incomplete grades, according to university policy, can be given only if unantipicated events beyond your control (e.g. a medical emergency) make it impossible for you to complete the course, and if you are otherwise passing (with a C or above).

Cheating is unacceptable. Any student caught cheating will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and Student Community Standards, and if found responsible for academic misconduct may receive sanctions ranging up to suspension or dismissal from the university.