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Math 53 Partial Credit Policy:
Unlike most of the math courses you have probably taken, this course will
concentrate on ideas and abstraction rather than formulas and computation.
So a numerical answer is rarely the most important part of a question.
Instead, the process that leads to the answer will play an critical role in
all the materials you turn in for homework and exams. A correct answer
with an incorrect method or explanation will receive little credit, while a
correct method with minor errors leading to an incorrect answer will
receive more credit. Your ability to explain what you are doing will be
taken into account in awarding partial credit; if I have to guess about
whether you understood what you did, you will receive less credit. If you
do not include an explanation of what you have done, you will lose points
as well.
Many students feel that it is better to say something, even if you
know it is wrong, in hopes of getting some partial credit; however, this
really makes you look like you don't know what you are doing, and you
should avoid this. It is far better to admit that you don't know how to do
a problem and get extra help from me, either from explanations that I write
on your homework, or from coming to see me during office hours. If you
can't do a problem, I will give you partial credit for saying "I don't know
how to do this problem" provided you give a brief explanation of what you
think it is that you don't understand; the better your explanation, the
more credit you will get.
In high-school, the grading practice frequently is to start with full
credit and take off points for things that you do wrong. This is not the
way I grade. In general, I will award points when you say something that
is correct and take off points when you say something incorrect, and
provide a final score that reflects the level of understanding exhibited in
your write up of the problem. If you don't understand the problem, it may
be better for you to say nothing at all than to try to bluff your way
through it. Also, if you say some good things and some bad things, you may
end up right back where you started. It is to your benefit to think
carefully about what you say.
I will try to write lots of comments on your work before I turn it
back. You should remember that this is to try to help you understand where
you have made errors, so if there is a lot of red ink on your paper, try
not to take this to mean that you are a terrible math student or a bad
person. It is my job to make these kinds of comments, and it is the only
way to learn where you need to work harder. Because of this, I spend most
of my time writing about what you did wrong, so you may not see as
many "good jobs" as you would like to see, and it may seem that I'm picking
on you. Remember that I am trying to help you understand where your work
is the weakest.
My marks have the following meanings:
- When you say something that I was looking for, I'll put a checkmark
next to it to indicate this. Lots of checkmarks is a good thing. Some
students have told me that in their high schools a check meant a mistake;
here it means that something is correct, so don't be confused.
- If you say something particularly well, or say something perceptive or
beyond the material that I expected you to include, I'll say "good job" or
"nice observation" or some such thing. I do not say this simply because
you got a problem right, but because you did something beyond what I
expected.
- If I say "OK" rather than giving a checkmark, this means that I'm
accepting what you say only grudgingly. Usually it means that what you
said is true but that you have not fully explained it, or that there are
subtleties that you have not seemed to grasp. It may also mean that there
is a better way of saying this, or a better reason to use. It may also
mean that what you say isn't quite true, but is wrong for technical or
subtle reasons, though I'll let it pass. You may want to ask me more about
why what you did isn't quite right.
- If I put a red circle around the problem number on your paper, that
means I have included a copy of your solution in the
notebook outside my office as an example of a
good solution for the other students to review. I will not include your
name, but if you still don't want me to include your work in the notebook,
please let me know, and I'll remove it.
As always, if you don't understand something that I've written on your
paper, or if you can't read my writing, please come see me about it and
I'll try to explain it.
Next: Collaboration Policy
Up: Course Policies
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Comments to:
dpvc@union.edu
Created: Mar 25 1999 ---
Last modified: Mar 26, 1999 12:04:03 PM