Grading Policy

Homework assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the assigned due date. They can either be turned into Linda's mailbox prior to class, or will be collected at the beginning of the class period. There will be a 10% grade reduction for each day that homework is late up to three days, after which the homework will not be graded. Final projects will not be accepted late, and the midterm must be taken at the scheduled date and time. As it is impossible to fairly assess special circumstances, there will not be exceptions without prior approval.

Factors and weighting for determination of the final course grades include the following:

15% Pre-class preparation . Students will be expected to do assigned pre-class preparation reading and writing assignments so they will be able to join in and make a contribution to class activities and discussions. Pre-class preparations will be periodically checked for completeness so they will need to be kept together and brought to class everyday. A record of preparations should be kept on 8.5” x 11” sized paper. Each preparation will be recorded on a new side of paper with the student’s name and assignment date on the top right-had corner of the page. Preparations will be assigned a grade of 0, 1, or 2, translating as: 2 = preparation was fully completed, 1 = completion of preparation was not sufficient and 0 = preparation was not completed.

20% Homework. There will be six homework assignments assigned on Wednesdays. Students will always have one week from the time of assignment to complete and turn in homework.

25% Midterm. Students will be tested both on material covered in class and in reading materials up until the time of the midterm. The midterm will be a 50 minute closed book and closed note exam.

40% Final project. Final project grade will be based on evaluation by instructors together with a peer assessment by group members. Projects will be completed by groups of 3-4 people. The groups will be assigned by the instructors. Groups will be working on different projects with the projects randomly assigned to the groups. There will be a final written report (~15-20 pages) due the last day of the quarter and a 10-15 minute group presentation during the time scheduled for the final exam. The written report will include the following components:

Definition of problem. Explain the problem including any additional inputs that you have.

Description of alternatives. Present multiple alternatives, describe each of them with a discussion of the pros and cons.

Design selection. Present your method and criteria for selecting a final design decision.

Design presentation. Describe the final design selection, explain the system, how it meets your criteria, how operation, maintenance, and monitoring will be handled, a description of residuals and their fate.