Grading
I determine final grades using a rough curve. There are usually some A
students in the class, so when the top grades on an exam are low that
probably means the exam was difficult. The bottom grade is not always
an F, or even a C (which for a graduate student is nearly equivalent
to failing).
There is no prescribed fraction of grades of any particular
type. Nothing would please me more than for every student to earn an
A. When I must distinguish, I generally try to draw grade boundaries
at "natural gaps" in the final list of raw total scores.
That said, here are approximate the weights I plan to use
- 40% homework
- 14% midterm
- 40% final
- 5% class participation