• The cutoffs are a shade higher this year than last, because we were a shade less ambitious in the deeper issues of the project.
  
  
• The total grade is 43% exam, 49% homework/project, and 8% discussion participation. I.e., 43*ExamTotal/100 + 49*HPTotal/100 + 8*discussion/15.
  
  
• After rescaling both exams to the same number of points, the exam grade is the higher of the final or 50% midterm 50% final. I.e., max(100*final/120, 50*midterm/80 + 50*final/120).
  
  
• The discussion points are based on my subjective evaluation of your contribution to the written online discussion in PHPBB. My rough principles are
  • 1-3 points for minimal participation,
  • 4-6 for good citizenship,
  • 7-9 for some questions with interesting course content,
  • 10-12 for some answers with interesting course content,
  • 13-15 for surprising insight.

I haven't written up the detailed grading plan yet, but it will be based on these principles:

1. Your grade will depend on
   
   
   1. homework assignments, most or all of them involving programming in Scheme;
      
      
   2. exams, probably one midterm and a final exam;
      
      
   3. possibly some in class quizzes;
      
      
   4. possibly some supervised, time-limited programming exercises in the lab;
      
      
   5. participation in the online discussion.
      
      
2. Here is the sort of thing you must do to achieve a given letter grade:
   
   

   F

   Neglect the class, or fail to achieve the work in all categories. Don't do this.

   D

   Do a bit of correct work in all categories, but not particularly well. Don't do this either. I will try to identify those in danger of Fs and Ds and encourage them to try another course.

   C

   Do the work in all categories competently, showing understanding of lots of the concepts with some confusion. I consider a C to be a respectable grade, if not very exciting to write home about, and will not get emotional about anyone's worries over a C.

   B

   Do the work in all categories well, showing clear understanding of all of the concepts.

   A

   Do everything required for a B, and show some real spark somewhere, beyond the strict requirements of the course. I don't award many As, and I don't consider anyone to be entitled to an A merely for the lack of specific flaws in her work.
   
   

3. I organized the homework assignments around an open project, in which I allow unlimited collaboration and help from any source (which must be acknowledged in your written submissions). I will find some way to evaluate your individual assimilation of the concepts and skills treated in the assignments---possibly supervised exercises in the lab.
   
   
4. In order to achieve a grade of B or better, you will have to perform well on all of the following: homework assignments, whatever we do to evaluate your individual programming, and the exams. Perfect exams without good performance in programming can only achieve the grade of C.
   
   
5. The online discussion will be a small part of the grade, say 5% to 10%. But it's hard to imagine an A student not participating very well. The levels of participation, in increasing order of delight, are:
   
   
   1. Something noticeably more than just posting the required introduction.
   2. Asking a few interesting questions about concepts, not just logistics.
   3. Answering some interesting questions.
   4. Introducing or advancing interesting conceptual topics related to, but not strictly derived from, the course material.

You may look at . But before you get too cheerful about the number of As, notice the . Last year's class was particularly strong, and a number of people who started the quarter moved to a regular class.