As teachers we assume that you are taking this course in order to
learn the material in it. Our job is to help you learn as much as you
can. In this effort, grading is only incidental. Sometimes it's a
distraction.
In order to help you learn, we will expect you to:
- Attend class regularly and notify us in advance if you need to
miss class
- Come to class prepared (read through the lecture notes ahead of
time, start the homework early, etc.)
- Participate in class
- Work with other students in class and, when assigned, outside of
class
- Contact us whenever you have any questions about the homework or
the class material. No question is too minor (if it's blocking
your understanding, then it's an important question!)
- Submit weekly homework on time. We expect all homework
assignments to be written clearly and carefully, with full sentences
where appropriate.
- Take exams (missing an exam is a serious event and will
dramatically affect your final grade)
- Write a term paper
We understand that grades may be important to you, so we will do our
best to keep you informed about where you stand as the semester
proceeds. But we will not put numerical or letter grades on each piece
of work you submit. Homework will be graded on a check-minus,
check, and check-plus system - in general, you should work to get a
check or a check-plus. At the end of the semester, your course
grade will reflect your work on the following: homework
assignments, 2 in-class exams, term paper, group presentation,
participation and attendance, and the final exam. Please ask us
at any time if you want to know an estimate of your grade.
Notes from Professor Bolker
When I began to teach mathematics in 1959 I believed I could use
mathematics to calculate my students' final grades. I carefully
assigned numerical scores to each homework and each exam question. At
the end of the semester I computed a weighted average and assigned
letter grades accordingly.
The more I did that the more uncomfortable I got, for two
reasons. First, I was never completely happy with what the numbers
told me - they often suggested a grade
lower than what I felt a student had earned. Second, I
found that focussing on the numbers made it seem to me and to the
students that the point of the class was to get a grade rather than to
learn the material.
In my ideal teaching world, each student is in the class in order to
learn as much as he or she possibly can, and I am there to help. There
would be no grades at all. If a student decided not to learn anything,
that would be his or her loss.
I would assign homeworks and give exams in order to teach the material
better.
Notes from Professor Mast
It's very tempting to try to quantify everything in this world,
including student knowledge. As Professor Bolker points out, it
doesn't really work well and sometimes it really gets in the way of
learning. By taking a different approach to grading, we are
putting a certain amount of trust in you. We expect you to view
the homework assignments as an opportunity to practice and to
learn. We don't want to penalize you for experimenting and making
mistakes and we do want to encourage you when you do a good job.
Our hope is that this system will be flexible enough to do just
that. As for the exams, you should view them as an opportunity to
show us how much you know.
This approach may be very different from what you've seen before,
especially in a math course. Again, we are giving you the
responsibilty to do the work and to take it seriously. This is
what you'll have to do in real life; since the material we cover in
class is often real life material, it is appropriate that your work and
our expectations should mirror that.