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Evaluation and Grades in HIST 103 This page gives an explanation of how grades are determined. Grades are arrived at by consideration of exams and participation. The total points possible is 500. Letter grades are awarded on a 90-80-70-60 scale.
Be sure to follow the links and read how exams are structured and evaluated and what the expectations are for participation. You will notice, of course, that participation weighs heavily in the overall evaluation—40% of your grade. There are two reasons why I structure things this way. 1. It results in better performance overall and thus better success rates for students. In teaching a large lecture section of an introductory course, the biggest problem is disengagement. People don’t feel personally involved, and so they drift away, stop coming to class, don’t keep up with the work—and thus fail. I like to see more students succeed. This means I am a pain the butt about requiring people to come to class and, in various ways, to stay engaged with the proceedings of the course. To make this happen, I use the incentives of the point system. 2. My system promotes a show-up work ethic grounded in personal and community responsibility. It encourages habits that will serve well in work and life in future. |
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