Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Equivalent grades as of March 30th

I just computed March 30 equivalent grades for everybody, in points (out of 90) and in percentage. If we suddenly concluded the semester today, these would be your grade numbers.

Here are the three subcalculations:

  1. I added up your two exam scores.
  2. I added up your two writing assignment scores.
  3. I also added in the few bonus points you might have earned. Not many of you have earned any, though.

If you have more than 45 points, your grade, if I wrote it today, would be passing.

If you have 81 points or more, that'd be 90% of 90 points, so you'd get an A -- if I wrote grades today.

If your pointage is between 45 and 81 today, then take a look at the percentage values on the "Grades and points for spring 2009," page, (click the roving eye icon in Webcourses) and they will give you an idea of where your grade lies right now.

All of your numbers will change before the end of the semester, because

  1. we have one more midterm exam, April 16th
  2. a small writing assignment to be announced soon and
  3. the final exam, May 2, which is cumulative and mandatory for everybody.
This can drastically change your semester pointage up or down. So do not let me catch you napping.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Biographical blurb about the Bernoullis

I just set up a mini-module about the Bernouliis, who made so many contributions to science and mathematics. Daniel Bernoulli figured out the Bernoulli Effect mentioned in our chapter 12.

Look in the Leaning modules area for this biographical reading.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Week 12 learning module is up.


The learning module for this week is now up and ready to tackle. It is about heat energy, melting, freezing and other thermal properties and processes.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Writing assignment - under construction

We are going to have a writing assignment, due 7 days after it is posted in Webcourses. We are fine-tuning the resources in it, but here is one thing you can get moving on, if you are getting antsy -- it's about Leonardo da Vinci.
  1. Universal Leonardo

Friday, March 20, 2009

Writing assignment 2

We will be postponing Writing Assignment 2. This means that
  1. we will open it up next week, maybe on Tuesday,
  2. and then you'll have a week from that day to complete it and turn it in.
This is the only shedule change. Exam 3 and the final are still on the original, unchanged schedule.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Double module is up

You have a double trouble learning module this week, to make up for a week off during spring break:
  1. Ch. 11
  2. Ch. 12
Two mini-quizzes are ready now, along with the concept guide for each chapter.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Grades up to now

So far this semester, we have had two exams and two writing assignments:



Exam 140 points
Exam 230 points
Writing Assignment 110 points
Writing Assignment 1A10 points
So the current subtotal is 90 points. Look up "Semester points" in your My Grades page, and you can see how many of the 90 you have nabbed so far. Divide your semester points subtotal by 90, and you will be able to see your percentage as of today and assign yourself a letter grade for mid-March.

Eventually, we will have 240 points for the semester, because we have one midterm, one writing assignment and the final exam ahead.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Exam 2 will stay open later tonight.

You will have until 2:00 AM to get in there and finish the 30th item on your one-hour test tonight. Last call, 2 AM. Plenty of time to get your brain mojo on the go go.

Exam 2 delayed, will open at 2 PM.

There was a mixup with exams today, and the real Exam 2 is now ready.

Since its start was delayed about 2 hours, I will leave it open for business an extra two hours past midnight, until 2:00 AM, Friday, March 6.

For those of you who accidentally took the placeholder exam, you need to log back in and take the real exam, obviously.