ASSIGNMENT CLARIFICATION
There have been some suggestions to clarify how the Net grading will be done.
WEBBOARD
--About 12 percent (100 points) will be on WebBoard. You will receive a
weekly grade (caluculated at the end of the semester). Of the
16 weeks, only your top 8 weeks will be counted (6 points each).
SO:
<> no weekly log-ins and no posts on webboard is obviously an F/zero.
<> A login or two a week and 2 or 3 posts are a C
<> A few SOLID substantive posts that answer others' questions,
continue a thread, provide good information, or start a
thread move people toward the A range. About 5 *solid*
posts a week would be moving toward the A range
NET ASSIGNMENTS
--200 points will be available through assignments. Actually, I'll
make way more than 200 points available in the various assignments
so if you don't like one grade, you can do another assignment to
replace that grade. The assignments will be of varying points
and varying difficulty. What this means is that if
you do 3 assignments worth 20 points each and bomb them and get
only 10 points each (totalling 30 of the 60 points), and do
four assignments worth up to 10 points and max out on them
for 40 points, you'd have 70 total points (30 + 40).
You'd obviously want to preserve the 4 A assignments, but you'd
likely want to try to improve the other 3. So, you could do
other assignments as "replacement" assigments. You can do as many
rf you don't like one grade, you can do another assignment to
replace that grade. The assignments will be of varying points
and varying difficulty. What this means is that if
you do 3 assignments worth 20 points each and bomb them and get
only 10 points each (totalling 30 of the 60 points), and do
four assignments worth up to 10 points and max out on them
for 40 points, you'd have 70 total points (30 + 40).
You'd obviously want to preserve the 4 A assignments, but you'd
likely want to try to improve the other 3. So, you could do
other assignments as "replacement" assigments. You can do as many
replacements as you wish.
The assignments will be found at:
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~jthomas/class/488/Assigs/netassigs.html
They will go up at least once a week, usually more often.
Some will be do within a few days, others at the end of the term.
If you don't like one grade, you can do another assignment to
replace that grade. The assignments will be of varying points
and varying difficulty. What this means is that if
you do 3 assignments worth 20 points each and bomb them and get
only 10 points each (totalling 30 of the 60 points), and do
four assignments worth up to 10 points and max out on them
for 40 points, you'd have 70 total points (30 + 40).
You'd obviously want to preserve the 4 A assignments, but you'd
likely want to try to improve the other 3. So, you could do
other assignments as "replacement" assigments. You can do as many
replacements as you wish.
I will put assignments up at:
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~jthomas/class/488/Assigs/netassigs.html
They will go up at least once a week, usually more often.
All will have due dates and various point totals.
MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS
This are assignments that I'll put up spontaneously on WebBoard,
will be derived from class projects (such as debates and games) and
otherwise come from non-specific tasks. These will be worth 100 points,
but I will offer at least twice that.
GRADING
To earn an A, the assignment must reflect competence of the subject.
Here is an example of an A assignment.
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