Every week after the first week of class there will be a
short, 15 minute quiz at the end of class on Friday (a mix
of multiple choice and short answer). That makes for 11
quizzes in the term. Life happens. People get sick, have to
travel, have games they must go play in, oversleep, or just
have a bad day. To account for this, the best 9 quiz scores
you have will go into your grade. Everyone gets two "get of
out jail free cards", so don't go asking for more. In
total, these quizzes will account for 75% of your grade.
Thus, the majority of your grade is made up by these
quizzes. On the final Friday, instead of a short quiz,
there will be a cumulative exam covering the material from
the whole course. This will count for the remaining 25% of
your grade.
Extra
Credit
As with other introductory courses in the department, extra
credit will be available to students who choose to
participate in experiments within the department. These
experiments are designed to teach you something about
experimental research. After completing five (5, V, 0101,
cinco, cinq, fünf) credits (usually five experiments) and
after allocating these five credits to this
course, you will be entitled to a one-third
grade increase in your overall grade (e.g., C- to C, B+ to
A-, etc).
Extra credit can also be obtained by writing a 4-5 page
paper. Students wishing to choose this option should select
either an article from the assigned reading or an article
that has been discussed in class or in the text. Students
choosing this option should then write a 4-5 page reaction
paper (1” margins, 12-point Arial, Palatino or Times
Roman, double-spaced). Details on this are covered here.