grading.txt 2.7 Project grades: Concept demo preview 5 % Informal Prototype and Requirements presentation 0 % Req/Design/Plan presentation 15 % Full preview 5 % Full Project demo 25 % [Project difficulty factored in here too] Project Booklet 10 % Printed copy required for EACH member Note: some points may be assigned for discussion notes or maintenance demo, depending on course progress Individual Project assessment 20 % [see below] ------ Takehome Midterm 5 % In-Class Exam(s) 15 % -------------------------------------------------------------- Additionally, attendance at (required) project group meetings is required to earn project points. Each time you are present for a required project group meeting day, you will be eligible for another 50 points (5%) from the project point totals at the final assessment. It is not possible to make up for a missed in-class group meeting. That is, if, in the end, there were six required meetings, and you made all of them, this would allow you 300 points toward your project. For example, assuming a final score of 500 (out of 600) points for the project grades for your group, 200 would be accessible to anyone, 0 more would be accessible to a person who made none of the meetings, and 300 more would be accessible to a person who made all of the meetings. The first class session, when groups are assigned, and the initial demo is discussed, is always required. It is required that you demonstrate physical ownership of one printed copy of the group's project booklet by being together with it, in class. Midterm [5%] In-class Final [15%] The midterm and in-class final will have relatively standard grading, and will be the only portion of the class grade not directly, or indirectly, drawn from your work with the project group. Full Project Demo [25%] The full project demo will be graded similarly to the other demos, but will have an additional "difficulty of project" factor. More challenging projects will receive somewhat more credit, up to a point. However, please note that this is not a big factor. Simple, but quality, running projects will allow you to pass the course, and will receive most of the credit. Inferior, but running, projects, well presented, will allow you to pass the course and will receive ample credit. Overly-ambitious projects which do not quite run will cause the group to fail the course. Individual Project Assessment [20%] What did you do to help your project group succeed? What case does your time log make for you? What do your group members have to say about your contribution to the group's success? There will likely be some essay-style questions, but the bulk of the points comes from the case you make, and your peers make, about your contribution to the project. Typical scores might be 150/200 points for someone who did an excellent job on the essay questions, and made an average contribution to the group project; 90/200 points for someone who did and excellent job on the questions, but did not contribute much to the project; 190 points for the main contributor to the project who did an excellent job on the questions. Additionally, at the individual assessment, the portion of the group points for which you are eligible will be determined (see above) in cases where you did not attend all required meetings. I reserve the right to occasionally raise the grade of a student who stands out as the acknowledged major contributor to a project. Examples: [Note: grade point assignments vary from quarter to quarter] Judy Green is a member of the HotShots group. The HotShots scored 525 points out of 600 for the demonstrations, and project booklet. They did not have a very sophisticated project, but it ran fine, and they presented it well toward the end. The group demo scores: concept/technology 50/50 prototype 40/50 design/plan 80/100 Full preview 50/50 Full Project 225/250 Project Booklet 80/100 -------------------------------- Total 525/600 The full preview demonstration went flawlessly, as did the full project presentation. Their project was less ambitious than several others in their class, and average compared to others over the years so they received 225 of 250 points for the full demo. Judy was in class, with her project booklet in her hand, so she received the full 80 points earned by the group for their work on it. Judy was consistently ranked as fourth out of six contributors by her peers, and did very good job with her final exam. Additionally, her time log well documented her contributions and made the case that she should be considered about fourth out of six contributors in her group. There was a gap in contribution level between the first three contributors, and the rest. Consequently she received 135 of 200 points for her individual contribution to the project. Judy missed one class session, out of five when the group met, because she had the flu. Judy made four of the group meetings. She is eligible for 475 of the 525 points the group earned together. (275 points is available to all, 250 points [5 * 50 points] is available to members who attended the in-class group meetings. Thus Judy, who made four class meetings received 275 + 200 = 475 points) Judy also did very well on the midterm, earning 190/200 points. Judy's score for the class then, is Project grade 475 Individual project grade 135 Midterm 190 ------------------------------------ Total 800 / 1000 or B-. Samantha Jones was also in the HotShots group. She attended all five class sessions when the group met so she was eligible for 525 of the 525 points the group earned together. She was rated by her peers as the second major contributor to the project, and was very close to the top-rated member. Her time-reporting log was excellent and well documented her many contributions. She did well on the exam questions. Together this earned her 190/200 points on the individual project assessment. She did very well on the midterm, at 190/200 points. She was in class with her printed project booklet. Samantha's score for the class then, is Project grade 525 Individual project grade 190 Midterm 190 ------------------------------------ Total 905 / 1000 or A- Note that Samantha did very well, even though the HotShot project was not stellar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sample requests for clarification from previous quarters: (Note, non-gender-specific pronouns used, alternating genders.) Student A did extremely well with her work as manager for her group. She was well liked by her group mates, and well-liked by the professor. She solved some hard personnel problems for the group, and wrote some of the code for the project. She was rated highly by her groupmates and did decently on the midterm (but not stellar). She had a good final individual assessment, well thought out. She wondered why she got an A- in the class. My clarification: Student A had the flu one week and stayed home from a required class, missing the group meeting, thus lowering her grade. [Note: Student A later asked for a recommendation, and I gave her a very strong one, via email, based on her work in class.] Sorry, the rules apply to everyone equally, including the best students in class. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Student B attended all required group meetings. He felt that he did a good job in his group. He was smart. He was used to getting good grades. He knew that his group members liked him. Student B argued bitterly that the "B-" he received was not fair. My clarification: Student B apparently inflated his hours working on the project. Literally every other group member commented on this. B's own case for the hours he spent (which I always give great weight) was not strong, in his written supporting document. He was not able to clarify the discrpancy orally. B was well-liked by his groupmates (a "really fun and knowledgable guy"), but they rated his work quite low, citing specific examples. To wit: although, techinically, he attended all group meetings, he showed up late for virtually every one of them, and spent much of the time talking on his cell phone. The work that he produced was several times re-done by others. Consquently B did not fare well in the individual assessment phase of the project grades. Additionally his midterm grade was not strong. He knew his groupmates liked him, knew he was smart, knew he was knowledgable, and was puzzled that his groupmates did not cover for him. He was very surprised that he was rated last in contribution value by his peers, significantly behind several much less colorful members. (Note: very few students have complained about grading for this class. Nor has there ever been a grade challenge.)