Making the Grade

[JKratzer]

So I'm taking a biology class this semester and my teacher has the oddest grading system I've seen. Because I'm not a "math guy" I thought I'd post his grading system here and see if anyone could help me out.

Quizzes 25%
Midterm I 25%
Midterm II 20%
Final 35-80%
If final is better than both midterms - 80%
If final is better than midterm I but not II - 55%
If final is better than midterm II but not I - 50%
If final is not better than either midterm - 35%

Would there be any reason to do less than my best for the midterms to guarentee my final determines my grade (which I assume I can do well on)? I'm not talking about bombing my midterms, just slightly underperforming.

Any input would be valuable,

JKratzer

[Phishy McFish]

Obviously if one % has a range....the others cannot ALL be constant.

[JKratzer]

Yeah, I don't really get how the quizzes and midterm %s change, I just copied it from the syllabus.

[dkernler]

They don't change percentages. If you do better on the final than on Midterm I, the 25% for that midterm is gone. Midterm I no longer factors into your grade.

Peforming lower than you're capable of on a midterm is a horrible idea. Final exams tend to be commulative, and often grades are lower on finals than on midterms. Hence your professors willingness to replace those grades with the final - it rarely happens.

Work hard all semester. Your grade will follow.

[JoshuaD]

It looks like the final's score will eclipse any midterm's score if the final's score is better.

If that's the case, your best bet it to try as hard as you can on all 3 tests.

[RitmoEnElCaos]

I had a similar system for two semesters of physics in college. I don't remember the exact percentages, but it was something like this...

25% lab work
25% midterm 1
25% midterm 2
25% final, but your overall grade could be no lower than your score on the final.

I skipped all of the labs, skipped the midterms, skipped all of the classes, and crammed for both finals. I got A's both times. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you are as good at cramming for biology as I was for physics, and all you care about is the grade, go for it. One word of caution, though... I now know 0 college physics. Maybe if I'd actually attended class instead of cramming for a test, I'd still know some of what I was supposed to learn.

[Buccaneer]

Your instructor has given you two sleep in days. Take them. Keep up in class and do well on quizzes, sleep in on midterm days but go to class for the exam review so you know what he looks for. Take your final and ask instructor how .25 + .80 = 1.0 I hope this is not a probability and sadistics class.

[pzhon]

My experience was from the other side. I told my college calculus students their grade could be no lower than their performance on their final exams. Then it was very difficult to convince any of the failing students (who had been told incorrectly that they knew calculus in high school) to drop the class, since they thought they would make up for it on the final. Then they bombed the final and I gave them Fs and Ds. Many lost their scholarships and/or changed majors.

At every level, a few students will pass due to innate brilliance and inuition rather than properly paying attention to the material. It worked for me for a long time. The problem with relying on this is that a large fraction of those who succeeded in every previous level this way are going to find that it no longer works. A past ability to get by without effort is not a helpful indicator. Staying ahead of the class is a much healthier habit than trying to cram.

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]
Your instructor has given you two sleep in days. Take them. Keep up in class and do well on quizzes, sleep in on midterm days but go to class for the exam review so you know what he looks for. Take your final and ask instructor how .25 + .80 = 1.0 I hope this is not a probability and sadistics class.

[/ QUOTE ]


you will also notice that if he does worse on the final he can still get 1.05 = .25 + .25 + .20 +.35