CSE21 Fall '96 Grading Policy

The course will be graded on the basis of performance
on the homeworks, midterm exam, and final exam, in roughly
the following proportions:

Homework	40%
Midterm		30%
Final		30%

However there is no fixed formula for determining
your course grade.  I take into account "outliers"
(unusual scores for a particular student which might
get less weight), class performance, the difficulty of
the material and so on.  Rather than trying to game
the system, the way for students to perform well in
the class is to work lots of the textbook problems
(including those on the homeworks) and thereby
gain a real understanding of the material.

The late policy will generally be: lose ten percent
of the score on a homework problem for missing the
due date, and five percent for each class period
thereafter for which it is not turned in.  From the
point of view of getting good grades, this means
that it is well worth the effort to complete late
homeworks, but it is worth even more if the homework
arrives on time.

Questions about the homework grading can be handled
at TA office hours, with appeal to me if necessary.
However, it is important to know that a TA has
substantial discretion in choosing a partial credit
policy for each problem.  Beyond a certain point,
arguing with the TA is a poor substitute for working
more excercises to really learn the course material.

Homework 3 will be split up into a part due on the
original due date, and a part due later.  Other
adjustments to due dates and homework assignments
will be made as needed to keep the class from going
too fast or too slow.