GRADING POLICY
MTH 255

Grades:
Your grade consists of two parts, an exam grade and a recitation grade.
Midterm, Final, Final
Thus, if you do better on the final than the midterm, then the midterm doesn't count. Note that the final counts twice, so that a poor final still counts (at least) once.
If your recitation grade is satisfactory, that's it. If your recitation grade is unsatisfactory, your course grade is lowered one step, from A- to B+ to B to B-, etc. (The one exception is that a solid A will not be lowered.)
Recitations:
There will be a group activity each week during recitation. Most activities will involve some sort of presentation at the end of class, as well as a written summary due the following day.
A grade of satisfactory requires participation in all but two of the group activities.
Participation in turn requires attendance, including on-time arrival, not leaving early, and turning in required written work on time. If you miss a recitation, you are strongly encouraged to complete the activity on your own and discuss it with us afterwards, but you will not be given credit for participating in that activity.
Homework:
Except during exam weeks, several homework problems will be assigned at the beginning of each week. You should bring your written solutions to the recitation period. Usually, only one of these problems will actually be corrected.
A satisfactory homework grade requires all but two assignments to be turned in on time.
Your overall homework score counts as the equivalent of a single recitation, that is, failure to obtain a satisfactory homework grade reduces the number of allowed absences from recitation from two to one.
Exams:
There will be a single midterm and a final. All exams will be closed book; calculators will not be permitted. The use of (both sides of) a 3×5 index card of notes is permitted. The final is comprehensive, and will be roughly 35-40% on old material and roughly 60-65% on new material.
(The index cards are cumulative: you may bring all previous cards to all subsequent exams.)
Absences:
Absences for whatever reason are normally covered by the ability to drop the lowest exam grade and to miss up to 2 recitations. If you are absent from more than the allowed number of exams, you will normally receive a grade of I (incomplete), which would be made up by taking the appropriate exam(s) the next time the course is offered. If you miss more than the allowed number of recitations, this will reduce your course grade as noted above.
Please note that missing the final automatically results in a grade of I.
(If you are not doing passing work otherwise, missing the final results in a grade of F.)
Makeups:
Makeup exams will only be given in truly exceptional cases. There will be no makeups of the group activities, although it is usually possible to arrange to participate in another section the same day.
Cheating:
My policy on cheating can be found here.