No grade will be assigned for attendance directly, but the quizzes, exams and exercises do a pretty good job of weeding out people who aren't interested enough to come to class. My philosophy on exam questions is that if it is important enough to put on an exam, it's important enough to cover in class. The book is likely to be much less focused and material in the book that isn't covered in class won't be on exams. Exams follow very much what is covered in class, and much of the material is either not treated in the book, or has a different approach. It is very difficult to get a passing grade in this course if you skip classes. There is no make-up tutoring for people who can't make it to class. If you miss a class, get notes from someone who takes good notes.
Computer Exercises:
My vision for this course is to evolve it into a hands-on learning experience rather than a lecture-exam format. To achieve this, everyone must do their own assignments. Drop Dead dates for the assignments allow extra time for the myriad difficulties inherent in technological pursuits (i.e. %$#@! computers), illness, and other delays. Plan to finish and turn in assignments before these "drop-dead" dates to avoid getting zeroes for late and missing assignments. Late assignments won't be accepted or will be discounted unless there is prior permission. Unless stated email submissions will not be accepted.
Working together on and assignments:
Learning from others in the course will be encouraged through the group
quizzes and submitted exam questions. But learning from each other doesn't
work very well unless you actually do the exercises yourself and understand
what's going on. Consult with others, but generate your own data and submit
only your own work. Exercises are designed to be personalized to some
degree to encourage this.Cheating will result in a grade of F in the
course and possible formal University disciplinary action including
expulsion.
Extra credit is sometimes awarded for doing something novel on one
of the regular assignments. Extra credit isn't awarded to people who don't
complete the basic assignments.
Quizzes:
Open quizzes usually have 5 multiple choice or short response questions
related to what we are doing in class on a particular day. Part of
the dynamic is the sharing of information and learning from each other
so quizzes must be turned in by the end of class to get credit. There are
no email or later submissions, and no makeups.
Exams
cover books, lectures, supplemental readings, handouts and exercises.
Exams are closed book but allow one sheet of notes. No make-up exams or
switching sections without prior permission. A grade of zero will be assigned
for exams missed without prior consent. You are expected to know definitions
and terms. Study groups are beneficial.
Exams and computer exercises are designed and analyzed to detect copying
and other cheating. Cheating on exams or assignments is not tolerated,
will result in course grades of F for all participants and could result
in formal disciplinary action.
Reporting final grades:
Grade breaks are at 90, 80, 70, and 60, with few pluses and minuses
as I believe they penalize good students. Instead, I use the application
reports to decide borderline cases. Exams and exercises aren't graded or
returned unless you are registered in the course. Final grades are reported
on time and accessible within a day or two in the University TRAIN phone
system, 516-7000. Please do not call me about your final grade. After exams
I usually have to catch up on other things and will probably not be very
accessible by phone in between sessions. If you want, or need, more detail,
E-mail me so I can send you a copy and paste from my grade sheet. Email
skills are a part of the computer course that is a prerequisite to this
course.
Grades are not adjusted after the end of the semester by turning in
missing, revised or "extra credit" assignments.
Excused grades
are available until the last drop day. After that, the grade assigned reflects performance. Excused grades are not available to students caught cheating.
Delayed Grades
On rare occasions, a delayed grade is assigned because an extraordinary circumstance prevents a student who is doing well from completing some requirement by the time grades are due. Example- someone delivers a baby on the day of the last exam and makes a reasonable judgement call to do it at the hospital instead of while taking the exam. Delayed grades are not an open opportunity to procrastinate on assignments, get more time to study for exams, or try again for free when things aren't going well.
Course Evaluation:
This course is important to me, and I want to make it better. I learn a lot by teaching this course and from student suggestions. Written comments are much more useful than the summary statistics I get from filled in bubbles. The comments you write on the course evaluations don't get to me until months after grades are in and are anonymous, so you should feel comfortable to write what you think. I routinely share all these comments with my area coordinator ("boss") Dr. Robert Nauss. If you would rather make a comment to him directly, his E-mail address is robert_nauss@umsl.edu