The purpose of this note is to share with you how I determine grades for my classes, and what I'm thinking about when I do this. I approach this note with some trepidation. I don't wish to contribute to what I perceive as an overemphasis on grades on the part of many of my students. In an "ideal" world, you should spend your time this semester engaging the concepts of the course, being sure to accommodate some of the annoyances (such as regular homework) which I intend as aids in this process, and leaving anxieties about your grade to me.

It would be nice if grades were a measure of your intellectual growth during the semester, and of your acquisition of the concepts and skills around which the course is built. BUT... grades are just a snapshot of your performance on specific events at particular moments in the history of the course; your evaluation is based on the "sound bites" supplied by writs, reviews, examinations. Thus it is based on performance as opposed to ability or knowledge. I hope that my system captures some of the "would be nice if" in spite of the "BUT".

My goal in teaching a mathematics or computer science course is to enhance the problem solving abilities of the students, and to engage students in new perspectives and domains of the subject. At the very least, I expect students to know the content and techniques of a course, i.e., to be "trained" in the subject matter. However, I also expect students to attain a level of "education" in the subject, to gain an appreciation of its content and an awareness of its limitations. In short, I want to be able to communicate the spirit, as well as the letter, of the subject.

As you take my course, I hope you will cultivate an openness and an eagerness to learn new ideas. You should consciously work at increasing your abilities as an effective problem solver. You should not take "time spent on task" to be the sole appropriate measure of effort. You should concentrate on doing as well as circumstances allow. Try not to fret over grades.

On my tests (writs, reviews, examinations) you will face problems of a wide range of difficulty (though the ones you'll remember are the challenging ones!). I don't use the "monkey see---monkey do" approach to learning. Thus, while some of the problems on tests will be just like some you have experienced on homework or in class, some other problems may be new experiences. (NOTE: I evaluate what you give me. It's no good for you to learn something if it's kept bottled up inside of you because you can't communicate it to me. I'm not very good at reading minds; if you intend to write something on a test, that is what you should write, not something else.)

Your evaluation (i.e., grade) in my course is based on a "weighted average" of letter grades earned on the various graded events of the course. (Usually the Final Examination carries more "weight" than a single Review, though not as much as two Reviews. "Weighting" is done by my internal sense of reckoning. Intangible contributions to the course can also influence this process.) The menu of letter grades used for individual events is adapted from the University of Edinburgh:

When I do my end-of-course reckoning, I am biased toward unadorned letters. I will occasionally enhance a grade with a "+" (plus), and less often with a "-" (minus). (Course grades at Davidson are reported as A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, or F.)

If, at any point, you are uncertain and/or anxious about your standing in my course, do not hesitate to contact me. One of the reasons you came to Davidson College is the openness of faculty offices; it would be a shame (or worse) if you did not take advantage of that.