[ Home ] [ Recent Changes ] [ Syllabus ] [ Homework ] [ Projects ] [ Resources ] [ Grading ]

Current Grades
MidTerm1-Practice
MidTerm2-Practice

Activities and Grading

In this class, you will participate in several types of activities - surveys, homework, projects, in-class tests, and a final exam - in order to learn statistics as well as demonstrate what you have learned.  These weighting of each activity, in your overall grade, is given below. More descriptive details can be found farther down in this page.

Please Note: 

1. No late homework or projects will be accepted, due to the large class size and the logistical issues.
2. Questions about grades, particularly test and project grades, are welcome.   However, the question must be submitted in writing (preferably through email) prior to face-to-face discussion.

Class Participation Activities (10%)

In this class, you will frequently be asked to participate. You may be asked to complete a survey, to collect data that is added to a class dataset, to respond to a question at the beginning of class, or to work on a problem with a partner in the middle of class.  These activities will serve purposes - (a) to collect data for class activities, (b) to quickly assess the class status, and (c) to reinforce and underscore the importance of certain class concepts.  Some activities will be carried out via paper and pencil and completed during the class period.  Others will be carried out via the web.   These may be due at times before the start of class, in order to provide time for the class facilitators to synthesize the results. 

Grading: The grading of the class participation activities will be based solely on participation.   You will get credit as long as you attempt to complete the goals of the activity.

Homework (20% of grade, 9 assignments)

The homework assignments in the course will consist of problems from the book as well as supplemental problems.  These homework assignments will give you the opportunity to work with the concepts introduced in each of the chapters. In working through the homework problems, you are free to work with others.  However, you must submit your own solutions.  In submitting the homework, please write your name on all sheets of paper submitted.  Homework is due at the beginning of the class period. 

Grading: The grading will consist of two components.  Fifty percent of the grade will be based on your completion of the problems.  The remaining fifty percent of the grade will be based on the correctness of the solution to a randomly selected subset of the assigned problems (typically 3-5 problems).   

Projects (30% of grade, 3 assignments)

For each of the projects, you will work on problems involving larger data sets and more opportunity for engineering judgment.  Additionally, in the second and third project, you will have the opportunity to explore topics in which you are personally interested.   In working on the projects, we encourage you to work (and submit your work) in pairs, although working individually is permitted.  The format of each project will be specified in the project statement, and we request that you adhere tightly to the guidelines.  This will make the projects easier to grade. 

Grading: The grading of the projects will be based on several components, including the professionalness of the presentation, the presence of all required components, the accuracy of the results, and the quality of the interpretations.   More specific grading guidelines will be provide on a project by project basis.

Tests (30% of grade, 2 tests)

Two tests have been equally spaced across the term.  The purpose of the tests are three-fold: (a) to provide a basis for grading your learning in the class, (b) to provide another learning experience for you, and (c) to provide the course instructors with assessment feedback. Specifically, the tests will contain a variety of problem types including - multiple choice, short answer, and open solution. The tests will be closed book.  However, you will be able to bring a specified number of cheat sheets to the test. 

Exam (20% of grade, 1 exam)

A final comprehensive exam will be administered during the exam week.

Grading:  The grading will be based on the accuracy of the solutions, and will involve partial credit. Legibility of the solutions is requested and points may be taken off for poorly presented solutions.

Current Grades:

Your current grades will be periodically posted, based on the last four digits of your student number.  By looking at the listing of your current grades, you can (1) verify that we have your grades recorded correctly and (2) see how you are doing relative to other students. To review your current grades, click here.