Grading

Your grade is based on three factors:

  • Mastery of basic computer science skills and concepts
  • Ability to apply those skill and concepts to new problems
  • Engagement in the course

Introduction to Computer Science

You will earn a grade on each class day beginning on the second class day. That grade will be based on the work you completed the lesson before, including any homework.

Your grade will be one of the following:

  • 4 Points - Exemplary (E)
  • 3 Points - Meets Expectations (M)
  • 2 Points - Progressing (R)
  • 1 Point - Inconsistent (N)

Your grade in this course will be calculated as follows:

  • IF the number of Ms + Es >20, you will earn a base grade of 95.
  • ELSE IF the number of Ms + Es >19, you will earn a base grade of 85.
  • ELSE IF the number of Ms + Es >17, you will earn a base grade of 75.
  • ELSE your base grade will be a 65.

After your base grade is calculated, you will earn one more grade point for each E you earned - up to a maximum of 99.

Students who have earned a 99 and have completed all perfect work for the entire semester will earn an additional point to give a grade of 100.

Advanced Courses

Each advanced course will consist of six (6) units of study. The basic skills you will learn in each unit are given in a list of Learning Targets. You can find the list on the details page for your course (links below). Each unit of study will include ONE (1) grade for engagement, ONE (1) quiz grade, and ONE (1) challenge. The quiz and challenge for each unit will assess one or more of the Learning Targets for that unit. The engagement grade will be based on your participation in course work, including contributions to classroom and online discussions and completion of non-assessment assignmnets (problem sets, labs, lecture videos, and similar).

Quizzes

Quizzes are graded either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory and will be worth up to TWO (2) points. You may re-take quizzes as often as you’d like with some restrictions. See Revision Process for information on re-taking quizzes that are marked Unsatisfactory.

Challenges

Your ability to extend the basics to solve problems is measured by programming problems or similar work. Each Challenge Problem is graded using the EMRN rubric that classifies the work with marks of E (“Excellent” or “Exemplary”), M (“Meets Expectations”), R (“Needs Revision”), or N (“Not assessable”). The visual below shows how these are assigned:

EMRN Rubric

Here are three things to know about these:

  1. Challenges have a firm deadline. Sometimes, they will be done in one class period, other times they will be assigned for you to do over several days. If you do not submit an honest attempt at a complete and correct solution before the deadline OR you submit a programming problem with a style50 score of less than 0.95, you will receive an N for that challlenge.
  2. If you’d like to improve your work, you can revise any submission of a Challenge Problem if it was originally submitted on time AND received a grade of R or better. Your submissions will be given written and/or verbal feedback to draw your attention to issues that can be corrected or improved. See Revision Process for details.
  3. Once you’ve earned an M on a challenge, the feedback you receive will be limited. Earning an E requires exemplary work and there is only so much your teacher can say about improving your work to that level.
  4. Any submission with a style50 score of less than 0.95 will be considered Not Assessable. Just fix it before you submit it.

Engagement

You will have the opportunity to earn a grade of ZERO (0) - SEVEN (7) points for engagement during each unit. This grade will be based on the following:

Almost Daily Checks

From time to time you will be asked to fill out a daily check either on paper or verbally or using an online form. Failure to particpate in these in a timely manner (during the first five minutes of class) will result in points being deducted from your engagement score for the current unit.

Practice Problems, Labs, Videos, and PSETs

To earn credit toward your engagement grade, practice problems, labs, and PSETs must meet the following criteria:

  1. The assignment must be submitted before the deadline.
  2. The submission must demonstrate a good-faith effort to find the correct solution. Answers like “I don’t know” and answers similar in tone will automatically earn you an Unsatisfactory grade.

NOTE that correctness is not factored into the grade.

Other

You may also earn engagement credits by contributing to the class in a way that goes above and beyond course requirements.

Tokens

Tokens are a “currency” in the course that you can use to purchase exceptions to the course rules, especially the rules for revisions. Each student begins the course with TWO (2) tokens, and tokens can purchase any of the following:

  • FOUR (4) token will allow you to sit for a replacement challenge if you did not earn a grade of R or better on a previous challenge.
  • TWO (2) tokens will bump any one of your engagement grades by ONE (1) point.

Opportunities to earn more tokens may be made available during the semester.

Final Exam

Students enrolled in an advanced course will sit for a final exam OR complete a final project.

Details for Advanced Courses

Details for your course can be found using the links below: