Grades and Grading
Semester grades.
In general, this explains what your grades mean.
| 90+ |
Excellent |
Your performance in the class is consistently outstanding. This is uncommon. Very few students acheive a semester grade over 90. |
| 80s |
Good |
I consider any grade over 80 to be quite good. I don't expect anyone to be able to aceive a semester grade in the 80s without considerable effort, excellent attendance, and full attention to every assignment. |
| 70s |
OK |
Semester grades in the 70s are OK. All or almost all assignments are complete and attendance is good. Everything is done, but not necessarily done well. |
| 60s |
Acceptable |
Students who earn a grade in the 60s have made an effort in the class but have a problem with one of the following:
1.
language ability,
2.
attendance/participation,
3.
completing assignments,
4.
comprehension of class information.
|
| 50s |
Unacceptable |
Students whose semester grade is under 60 have a serious problem with one or more of the areas mentioned above. In most cases, this is because the student has not made the necessary effort, but since "effort" is not a grading criteria, it is still possible for a student who has worked hard to fail. |
Grading Papers
These are general guidelines. Some classes and assignments may have further criteria in addition to the following:
- Presentation: organization, conciseness, grammar, word choice, etc.
- Creativity: originality of ideas, words and thoughts unique to you.
- Understanding of material: Show you've read the text or know the information and have a good understanding of the ideas.
- Development: It is almost always better to make fewer points and develop them more deeply than you make many general points with few examples and little explanation.
- Fulfillment of the assignment: Be sure that what you do meets the requirements of each assignment.
- LATE PAPERS: Late on the same day -5, Next class -10, One week -20, Two weeks -30, etc.
| 90+ |
Excellent |
Truly insightful well-developed points, creative, very good organization, excellent grammar & punctuation, perfect format |
| 80s |
Good |
Clear and well made points, evidence of creative insights, good organization, good grammar and punctuation, good format, good introduction and conclusion. Full length. |
| 70s |
OK |
Some of the above, but not all |
| 60s |
Acceptable |
Evidence of good points. Understandable. Possibly under length |
| 50s |
Unacceptable |
Difficult to see any points. Grammar problems cause serious comprehension problems. Seriously under length. |
| P |
Plagiarism |
If there is any evidence of using other people’s words without attempting to cite, the paper is graded with a zero, but you will have the chance to rewrite for half credit. |
| Late |
-5 |
If the paper is handed in after class on the same day or any time before the day of the next class, then |
| |
-10 |
If the paper is handed in one week late. -20 for two weeks late, -30 for three weeks late, etc. |
Presentations (top)
Presentations follow basically the same guidelines as the written assignments with the following differences.
- Use of time. Make sure you use your time well, without going over the time limit.
- Preparation. Make sure you are well prepared so that your set-up time is under control and you are ready to begin at precisely the time that you should.
- Audience Your audience for presentations is your classmates, not just your teacher. Make sure you make your presentation meaningful to them. A good rule of thumb is to think about each bit of information you plan to present and think about why you are presenting it and how it is helpful. (It is often not necessary to use difficult words or proper names you have trouble pronouncing and that are impossible to remember.)
Grading Presentations
Presentation grades form a part of your participation grade. Generally, everyone who participates in making a presentation receives a high grade and usually everyone in the same group receives the same grade. I make exceptions when I notice special effort by certain individuals or neglect by others.
I seldom give direct feedback about presentations or presentations grades. There are two reasons (1) because I prefer to focus on the information you present and giving feedback on it for the class rather than on individual performance and (2) because I think of your presentations as for your classmates, not for me or a grade. This means that I want you to think of the reaction of your classmates and their understanding as more important than mine. For this reason, I sometimes ask classmates to evaluate presnetations rather than me.
Common problems and important points for writing papers
The follow list contains frequent problems with student papers. Take a look and avoid these in your own writing.
- Main ideas/thesis statements problems.
- There is no clear main point or thesis statement.
- There is a main idea, but it is not meaningful. It is something that is already pretty common knowledge. Always ask yourself, "Why is this point important to make?"
- Advice for writing papers. One idea is to write about a question and figure it out the answer to your question(s) as you write. Summarize your ideas in your conclusion and really figure out what your main point is. Then, use that main point as your thesis statement and put it close to the beginning of your paper. Then rewrite your paper making sure all your other points help to support your idea.
- Lack of specific examples. Often, students make very good points but don't use specific examples to illustrate the point. Good examples help your writing in many ways. Here are two ways.
- They develop your ideas, helping you to make deeper more meaningful points. Usually, the most interesting parts of an article are the specific examples that writers use.
- They make you sound credible. If you don't use specific examples, it often sounds like you are just saying something that you think you should say, but you don't really believe it or understand it yourself. Specific examples makes readers believe you and trust your points. 3)
- Careless grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Pay attention to detail. Spelling and grammar matter. They show that you care about what you are saying. You may need to proofread many times and exchange papers with a classmate to improve your grammar, spelling and punctuation.
- Overgeneralization. Don 't overgeneralize! Be very careful about statements with such terms as "We all know that..." or "everyone" or "always" etc. Make sure that you mean exactly what you say.
- Quoting sources without giving credit. Do NOT copy any words from any source without using quotation marks and citing appropriately. You should know MLA rules for citing so that you can do this easily. When in doubt, DON'T copy. In my classes, this usually results in a zero, plus I feel upset at wasting my time reading ideas that I don't know are yours.
- Improper citations. Learn and use MLA style, or at least make a very good attempt at trying to clearly cite your sources. When citing websites, you need more than just the address. Make sure you know how to do this. See advice above on this same page for help.
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