How much does each part count?.

Your final grade in this course will be determined by five components.

What are the possible grades in the course?

In addition to the grades of A, B, C, D, and F, the following grades are possible.

Incomplete Grades (I) are given only in very rare circumstances.  Generally, to qualify for a grade of "I", a student must have completed at least 80% of the course, including all exams, homework, and assignments, have a passing grade, and have a personal tragedy occur within the final 20% of the course that prevents course completion.

In Progress Grades (IP) are also rarely given. In order to earn an "IP" grade the student must work diligently on the material during the entire semester, meet all requirements for participation during the entire semester, make progress in the material, and not be meeting the standards set to earn the grade of C or better in the course.  Students who are given an IP grade must register and pay tuition for the same course during the next semester. (If you have already had an IP grade, you may not be eligible for another. Ask your instructor.)

How can I predict what grade I'll make in the course?

To make it easy, I am providing an applet for you to predict your grade. http://www.schoolsupport.net/GradePredictor.aspx .

Start by putting in a grade of 75 for each of the first four tests, 80 for the final exam, and perfect grades of 10 each for your five paper homework assignments, perfect grades of 100 for your online quizzes and a perfect grades of 5 for each week of participation grades. Then click on the button at the bottom of the page "Calculate Predicted Average."

Notice that the grading scheme in the course is set up so that you can use the work you do at home to bring up test grades to some extent.

Now try it again with the grades you think you might earn.

Where can I look to see my test grades and paper homework grades?

Find these grades in Blackboard. See this page for instructions on how to get there.

What grades from the software affect my overall average?

The online quiz grades are the only online grades that affect your overall average.

• You must earn at least 80% on each online homework to progress to the next online homework. To start an online quiz, you must have earned at least 80% on the immediately-previous online homework.
• You are allowed a maximum of three attempts on each of the online quizzes. If you start a quiz, but don't complete it, that counts as an attempt.

How do I earn the participation grades?

There are two ways to earn your participation grade each week.

Main: Be caught up, having completed that week's assignments, by 5 p.m. on Friday.

Second method: If you have not finished all the material for that week by 5 p.m. on Friday, then you must email me with your answers to these questions. This email must be sent sometime between the end of the day Wednesday of that week and the end of Saturday of that week. Students who miss two or more of these may be withdrawn from the course.

1. What was the clearest topic you learned about in this class this week?
2. What was the most difficult topic you learned about in this class this week?
3. When do you plan to have the material for this week completed?

In general, as long as you are submitting plausible plans for catching up and are meeting those plans for catching up, you will earn full credit on this portion of the course. The main focus will be on continuing to communicate with me and mostly meeting the plans you submit.

Each week's participation grade is on a scale of 0-5. At the end of the semester, I add your participation grades and determine what percent it is of the total possible participation grade. That percent is your overall participation grade. We'll do this for 11 weeks, so the total possible grade is 55.

You will have 5 paper homework assignments, each spanning a number of sections and including a test review assignment. Each one is due on the same day you take the corresponding test. Only part of each assignment will be graded. The assignments can be viewed by visiting the paper homework page. Paper homework for a lesson must be done before you take the relevant test.

This should represent your best possible work. Papers that are poorly organized or difficult to read will be assigned a lower score or not graded. Papers where students show only the answers and not the supporting work will receive little or no credit. Paper assignments sent in after the deadline, without permission by email in advance, will not be accepted for a grade. The paper assignment deadline is the same as the test deadline. If you receive an extension of a test deadline, it automatically includes an extension of the corresponding paper assignment deadline. Guidelines for paper assignments are provided.

Each of the five paper assignments will be graded on a scale of 0-10. You must submit all the parts of each assignment in the same envelope. Incomplete assignments will be accepted, but graded accordingly. At the end of the semester, your paper assignment grade will be computed as a percentage of the total homework grade of 50.

To submit your paper homework, organize it in the same order as it is listed on the homework page, put your name on the top page, and seal it in an envelope, and be sure that both your name and return address are on the outside. Submit it by US mail or campus mail to me by the deadline. I don't have to receive it by the deadline -- you must submit it by the deadline, which is the day you take the relevant test.

How do I earn the test grades?

You will be required to take five (5) exams that are not on the computer. These will be paper and pencil tests administered at one of the ten ACC testing centers. More information about the tests is available on this website. When you fill out the Online Orientation Form, you will choose the testing center you will use for all of your tests. For each test, there will be a scheduled time in which you must go to a testing center and take the exam. (You are also required to keep working on new lessons in the material during that time.) This is not a self-paced course. If you are working ahead and want to test early, please contact me at least one week in advance to see if I can get the test to your testing center early.

If you miss a deadline for a test, fill out the form to request to take the test late. Questions about late tests are answered here. If you make a low grade on a test, in some circumstances, I will drop one test grade and use the final exam grade instead of that individual test grade, as well as having it count for the final exam. I will do that only for one test and only if EITHER you made at least a 60 on the test OR either the software or paper homework you turned in must show that you made a reasonable effort to learn the material. (And, of course, only if the final exam score is higher.)

Before you go to a Testing Center, read the rules at http://www.austincc.edu/testctr/ .

Be sure to pay careful attention to the hours of the Testing Center and the rules. Some of the testing centers are fairly crowded and so you may have to wait in line, especially if you go in the late afternoon or early evening. Do not wait until the last day to take the test and NEVER start a test if you don't have at least 1 1/2 hours available to take it before the Testing Center closes and you must leave. Allow more time if you are slow at working the problems in your homework.

Test grades, paper homework grades, and particpation grades will be posted in Blackboard. I will always send an email to you through your ACC email address when I post a test grade for you.

With prior notice, you may review your tests during office hours in person or by telephone. (Let me know in advance and I'll bring your paper with me to office hours. ) Individual appointments outside of office hours are also possible, and phone appointments may be scheduled at nights or on weekends. When reviewing the test, please have a copy the relevant Chapter Reviews handy. It is easy to do that by having the book with you. If you are using the e-book in the software, it would be a good idea to be at a computer and have that open while we are talking. I have found that trying to review tests by exchanging email messages is usually unsatisfactory if a student has missed more than about 10 or 15 points, because we can't really discuss mistakes. That's why we must do it in person or by telephone.

Students who make a poor grade on a particular test MUST talk with me and develop a plan to improve on the next test. Unless something is changed, it is unlikely that you will earn a grade in the course higher than the average of your first two test grades. In a Distance Learning class, I can't just come around and give you extra attention daily to help you learn the material better, as I might do in an in-class course. You must initiate most of those conversations. I want to help you. Please let me.

Final Exam: You are required to take the final exam on campus in the Testing Center. If you do not take the final exam you will receive an F for the course, regardless of your class average. The deadlines for the Final Exam and the last homework set are very strict because grades must be computed very soon after those deadlines.

I think that I don't need to do all of this work. What's the minimal work I can do to stay enrolled and pass?

In order to stay enrolled in the class, you must

1. do the assigned online homework and quizzes due each week
2. meet the participation requirements each week
3. take the tests on time, or late, with permission.

In order to pass the course, you must

1. stay enrolled in the class
2. earn a passing grade

Notice that not doing paper homework will not automatically get you withdrawn from the course. It will, however, affect your grade in the course. This is not because I think the paper homework is unimportant. I do think, however, that different students can learn the material well with different amounts of paper homework. Read the next paragraphs for a special deal!

I'm doing well in the course. Do I have to do all the paper homework?

No. A student who is doing very well in the course can choose to do as much or as little of the paper homework as it takes to learn the material and still earn a good homework grade for it.

If you, for one portion of the course (the material for one test) fit all of these conditions listed below, then the special grading rule at the end of this section will be in effect.

1. Make 100 on every online homework.
2. Have all quiz grades of 90 or above in that portion and an average quiz grade in that portion of at least 95.
3. Finish each week's online work in this portion by Friday at 5 p.m. in the week it is due.
4. Take the test in the first four days it is available, according to the calendar.

Special grading rule: The first time you do all of this, I will give you a paper homework grade proportional to your test grade on that material, no matter how little paper homework you have turned in. You will only be eligible to continue this in subsequent portions of the course as long as each of your test grades is at least 87. (Proportional means that if you make 90 on the test, your homework grade will be 9, since each homework grade is on a scale of 1-10.)