Second-chance grading policy
In this class we will adopt a "second-chance" grading policy.
In essence this policy states that if you do poorly on one of the
first three tests (relative to the rest of the class)
and do better on the final exam, relative to the rest of the class,
your grade on the one of the first three tests will be replaced
by a grade based on your performance on the final.
Details of the policy
Applying the policy consists of two steps.
- Compute an alternate score for each of the first three tests.
Here we describe the computation of the alternative score for Test 1.
- First, we will fit a Gaussian curve (bell curve) to the scores for Test 1
and the final exam.
- Next, we will determine where your final exam score lies on the bell curve
for the final exam.
- Your alternate Test 1 score is the score at the corresponding
location on the bell curve for Test 1.
The computations for Tests 2 and Test 3 will be similar.
- Replace your actual score on one of the three tests with your
alternate score for that test.
- We will replace the actual score by the alternate score
on at most one of the three tests.
- We will chose the test that benefits you the most
- If no alternate score is higher than the corresponding actual score,
we will not change anything.
A final note
The final scale will be based on the actual test scores,
before applying this policy.
This means that applying this policy will not lower the grade
of anyone in the class.
Last modified: February 27, 2024