There will be two non-comprehensive exams to assess concept comprehension. The exam dates are provided on the course schedule and the course syllabus. This guide will discuss how the exams affect the course grade and how exams themselves are graded.
Course Grade
The grade specification requires that students must pass at least one exam category to earn a C or higher letter grade. Students must have a 74% or higher average in the category to meet this requirement, which includes the original exam score and highest retake score.
Students must earn a passing grade in only one of the two exams, not both, to pass the class. Students that do not pass at least one exam category will earn a maximum D letter grade.
To earn an A+ or B+ letter grade, students must either pass both exam categories or excel in one exam category. To excel, students must have an 87% or higher average in the category.
Exam Grade
Each exam category includes the following assignments:
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Original Exam: This is the original exam attempt, which is completed synchronously during lecture. See the exam logistics guide for details.
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Retake Exam: This is the retake attempt(s), which is completed asynchronously before the deadline. Students may attempt the retake multiple times; the highest score earned on any attempt completed before the deadline will be used. See the retake logistics guide for details.
The category grade is the average of the above assignments. The instructor usually does not curve the exam grades beyond offering the retake opportunities.
For example, suppose a student earned a 68% on the original exam attempt. The student retook the exam three times, earning a 72%, 93%, and 89% on each retake attempt. The exam category score will be the average of the 68% from the first attempt and the highest 93% retake attempt, which works out to a passing score of 80.5%. That score meets the exam pass requirement.
Cheating
There is a no tolerance cheating policy for exams. Any instance of cheating on an exam, regardless of whether the “Regret Clause” is invoked, will result in the following consequences:
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The instructor will file a report with the Academic Integrity Committee of the incident.
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The student may not use that exam category to meet the course requirements.
To help combat cheating, the exams use randomized variants of most questions. The instructor also inspects the Canvas session log of the exam to detect coordination between students.
Therefore, when it comes to cheating, students should consider:
- You don’t need to cheat; you have multiple opportunities to pass an exam category.
- You don’t want to cheat; the consequences of cheating are worse than failing the exam.
- You will get caught; the instructor will be looking for it.
- It is hard to cheat and you do not have the time for it.
Cheating is fundamentally unfair to you, your classmates, me, and anyone that places value in your degree.