Grading

Grading
Overview
Papers
Drafts and Peer-Editing
Quizzes

Overview

English 112 is an ABC>N course. That means students must receive at least a C to pass. Participation is very important. Students can do passing work and still receive an N if they do not participate. Students who receive an N must take the class over, so it imperative that you do all the work and participate every week.

Class grades are based on several major papers and various short assignments. Discussion Board participation is mandatory and failure to participate can lead to a failing grade, even if students completes all the assignments.

All grades are available in Blackboard. The grades are weighted in Blackboard but may not be an accurate reflection of your class grade since Blackboard can not correctly calculate rewrite grades for papers you have rewritten and resubmitted. Any time you want to know your current class grade, just ask.

Assignment Values

Major Papers = 50%
* Paper 2 = Argumentation
* Paper 3 = Final Research Paper (with revised Works Cited and Annotated Bibliography)
* Shows in Blackboard gradebook as "Essays"

Discussion Board (DB) = 30%
* 2 or 3 discussions each week
* Students can earn up 3 points per discussion
* Students who earn less than 50 points all semester will automatically fail the class.
* Refer to DB Policy for details
* Shows in Blackboard gradebook as "Discussion Participation"

Short Papers 10%
* Paper 1: Critical Thinking Presentation
* Paper 3 Components: Topic and Tentative Thesis, Draft Annotated Bibliography, Detailed Outline, and Writing Center Visit
* Paper 4: Research Paper Presentation
* Shows in Blackboard gradebook as "Homework"

Quizzes and Peer-editing = 10%
* Rough drafts for peer-editing
* Peer-editing others’ papers
* Quizzes
* Shows in Blackboard gradebook as "Quizzes"

NOTE: There is no final exam for this class. Consider the research paper the final exam. Unlike most final exams:

You'll have most of the semester to work on it (instead of just a couple of hours)

You'll also get feedback on most of it (Topic and Tentative Thesis, Draft Annotated Bibliography, Prospectus, Peer-Edited Rough Draft, and Writing Center visit) before the actual paper is due. Because of these things, I expect the Research Paper to be perfect, down to the punctuation in the citations! Refer to the Paper 3 assignment sheet for details.

Grading Scale

Because the University standard for this class is ABC>N, a class grade < 74 = N (Fail). Here is my grading scale:

98-100 = A+ Excellent
94-97 = A
91-93 = A- Good
88-90 = B+
84-87 = B Average
81-83 = B-
78-80 = C+ Poor
74-77 = C
< 74 = N (no grade = fail)

NOTE on Grade Calculations: I calculate your grades in an Excel sheet which rounds off at one decimal place. It rounds down, not up. Since one decimal place almost never changes someone's class grade, I do not double-check to see if any class grades need to be rounded up. If you calculate your grade and come up with an answer that does not match mine, make an appointment to see me.

Papers

Each time you turn in a paper for me to grade, expect it to be about two weeks before you get your graded paper back. Why? I teach four writing classes each semester, each with 24 students. That means for every paper you turn in, I have 96 papers to grade. (That's also why the File Naming Policy is so important.) I know two weeks is a long time to wait, but please be patient.

When I grade your papers I will use MS Word's Track Changes tool to insert comments in the margin. I will also put detailed comments and the grade checklist* from the assignment sheet at the end of the paper. I will tell you what's good about your paper and what you need to work on. I won't mark every spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistake but will include these in the "what you need to work on" section of the comments. I will expect you to look up how to correct these errors in The Brief Wadsworth Handbook so you can avoid them in the future.

* The checklist is not an exact formula for calculating your letter grade for the assignment. Instead, it's an indication of how well you did on each component of the assignment. For example, you can have good ideas, perfect spelling, grammar, punctuation, sources, and documentation, but if you do not have a thesis, your paper has a serious problem that will prevent you from earning a passing grade.

Your graded papers will be available in My Grades/Assignment Manager. I will post an announcement as soon as they are available.

Drafts and Peer-Editing

This is covered in the Paper Policies.

Quizzes

Quizzes are scored automatically by Blackboard and the grade appears in My Grades. Contact me if you think Blackboard made a mistake (such as not giving you partial credit), or if you have questions about why a particular answer is right or wrong.

NOTE on Scoring of Multiple-Answer Questions: when a question has more than one correct answer, Blackboard gives you +1 point for each correct answer and -1 point for each incorrect answer, so choose your answers carefully!

Quizzes must be completed by the deadline.

No make-up quizzes are allowed.

Quizzes should be a source of easy points: use your books, notes, etc. when taking the quizzes. You can even print them out, look up the answers, then go back and take the quiz (as long as you do all this before the deadline). This is probably the only time you will be allowed to use your books, notes, etc., so take advantage of this opportunity to get good grades on your quizzes!

There will be a stated deadline for each quiz; after that date, the quiz will no longer be available. A 74% or better is a passing grade. You can only take a quiz once (except for Quiz 1, which you can retake until you are satisfied with your score). I recommend not waiting until the last minute to take a quiz. Do it a day or two before the deadline. That way, if you have technical problems, there will still be time to take the quiz.

IMPORTANT TIPS:

Speaking of technical problems, here's a tip for taking quizzes. Open a second window in your web browser and keep it open to a site which is updated every few minutes (like CNN.com). This keeps your connection active while you are taking the quiz in another window and makes it less likely your connection to the server will freeze or kick you out.
Open the quiz, print it, look up the answers, then go back to the quiz and enter the answers.
If you get locked out of a quiz e-mail me. I can reset it so you can start over. I can only do this before the deadline, so don't wait until the last minute!