Assignments

Assignments introduce or reinforce material via exercises, readings, questions, and/or videos.

Many questions on the assignments in this course are out of 4 points. When you receive your feedback on these assignments, these scores translate as follows:

• 4 is reserved for exceptional answers that demonstrate a full understanding of the material in a manner that exceeds the course’s expectations, which may sometimes involve external research. Please note that this does not necessarily mean a long answer; indeed, an overly long answer that introduces irrelevant information is not likely to receive a 4. Rather, a 4 is awarded to a thorough and well thought-out and prepared answer that focuses on the subject of the question being presented. Only a few 4s at most will be awarded per question. A score of 4 should be interpreted as having received, in a manner of speaking, a “bonus point.”
• 3 is awarded for a strong answer that demonstrates understanding of the material in a manner consistent with the course’s expectations. A score of 3 should be considered your benchmark for success. and should not, per the above, be interpreted as having “lost a point.”
• 2 is awarded for a good answer that suggests likely understanding of the material, but is lacking in a minor way that does not fully demonstrate that understanding.
• 1 is awarded for a poor to fair answer that either demonstrates partial understanding of the material or otherwise contains an error that suggests a misunderstanding of a key detail.
• 0 is given to answers that are incorrect, exceedingly brief, or blank.

Grades in this course should not be converted to percentages and assumed to be accurate, because they will not be. A 3 out of 4 on a question, as indicated above, is a “benchmark for success,” and not a 75% (C). The course does not have pre-determined cutoffs for final grades. Beyond what is stated here, the course does not provide further detail about grade conversions.