All writing points are now up, for everybody

OK, gang, all the regular points for writing assignments are now on the books and posted in Webcourses. I expect to finish semester grades in an hour or so. Something new at UCF: I will be posting them electronically with the registrar, today, and hopefully they will show up much more rapidly than when I send grades in on paper forms.

I will now go wrangle all the bonus points.

Senior regular points are now IN.

You seniors, take a look at the Exams, writing regular points line in your My Grades page, and see where your grade status is. Remember, I have not put in any bonus points in that line, other than the Intro bonus from the writing assignment, which a few of you snagged.

For you non-seniors, it is tough frijoles for the next 24 hours, since being a senior has its privileges. But keep your eyes open, because you all will be the next ones to get updated.

Semester grades shaping up

I am getting semester grades sorted out this morning for seniors. Therefore, there is a new line in your My Grades page: Exams, writing regular points.

This line is the subtotal of regular points on exams and writing assignments, but no bonus points. I usually leave bonus points for last. But the Exams, writing regular points line can give you seniors an idea of where your grade is right now. But don't bother looking until I get all the writing assignments points in for you... it is my big task for today.

For everybody, look at the middle column below, Points, to figure out the letter grade levels. I go by points, not by percentage, for semester grades. I do not grade "on the curve."

      Points          Percentage
A     225 or more     90% or higher
B     188             75%
C     150             60%
D     125             50%
F     fewer than 125  below 50%

So when I add in bonus points after all other grading is done, your letter grade might inch up a bit.

glitch

Surveys had a glitch for a few students who took one but not BOTH "consent quizzes" but that is now fixed.

AIM

I will be on AIM, s/n brainwave777x, for an hour or two starting at noon, in case you want to double check with me.

Final exam, GO for launch

Final examination is now ready. Complete before 11:59 PM.

Students participating in surveys: take the surveys first, then your final exam will light up and activate.

Other study tools are now off the air.

Midterm 2 attempt is viewable now.

If you want to review your performance on midterm 2, you can now do so. For each question on the test, the attempt will show the basic concept or similar exercise from the textbook. Look in Assessments.

Mini-quizzes are now re-activated

All the mini-quizzes are now open for business for study this week. They will go off the air at 11:59 PM on Friday night, and the final exam starts at noon Saturday.

I also have uploaded chapter 23 bonus point, if you earned it. YAY.

All first drafts are graded.

Read my comments on your paper by clicking the red apple icon for gradeMark. Then revise your paper accordingly.

Final draft is due Thursday evening.

Final draft due Thursday but don't submit without revision

I expect to crank out the last grades on Younger Dryas papers today, so I have pushed everybody's due date back to Thursday evening, which is a 72-hour period I wanted to give you had I been able to get all done on Friday (due Monday night).

So time pressure is off.

Da Vinci writers, you can submit anytime now, but Younger Dryas writers must wait until they see my comments in GradeMark and incorporate them into the final draft by Thursday evening.

Almost done... hang on

Everybody hang on! Maximum hang time!

First drafts are almost done. Slowly, slowly.....

Do not stress the writing assignment....

ANTI-STRESS MEASURES, LAST WEEK OF CLASSES

1. Do not stress out on the writing assignment. Obviously I am behind on grading, but you will find the paper very easy to finalize and resubmit... if you follow my comments in GradeMark. So the 18 points on final draft will be low stress. About the toughest will maybe be cleaning up your bibliography a bit.
   
   
2. The spec sheet: I am going to cancel that and give everybody the 3 points. But I will still read whatever you have right now and let you know what I think.
   
   
3. Your papers will be graded and ready by Friday afternoon, so you can do a bit of work tightening them up on them over the weekend. Plan to resubmit final draft on Monday before 11:59 PM.
   
   
4. I wil re-release ALL mini-quizzes Tuesday morning, so you can re-study and re-check for the final on Saturday. I will take the mini-quizzes off the air on Saturday morning, first thing, so get your studying in before that.
   
   
5. To be ultra-paranoid about the final: go to your computer, where you plan to take the final exam, and re-take the "Battlefield version prep test," (linked on home page now) and make ultra-sure that your computer and web browser do not flake out during the final. Remember: I cannot do anything for you if your computer flakes out - you are on your own.

Mini-quiz for Ch. 23 is UP

Sorry for the delay but the chapter 23 mini-quiz is now UP. I made it due by next Monday, last day of classes. It will be the last chapter of study for this semester.

Before you tackle the mini-quiz, or while you tackle it, take a look at the blurb sheet on calculations with Planck's constant and the speed of light. It is item 4.2 in the Quantum World module. Be careful with scientific notation!

You should also review the Quicktime movie file, hydrogen_1b, if you haven't already done so. It is item 4.1 in the Quantum World module.

By the way, chapter 23 is as far as my lecture section will study this semester, so even though this online section has had some delays etc., we are still roughly synchronized with lecture. So all is well.

I apologize again for the delayed schedule.

Now... I head back to the grading of first drafts...so much fun. :)

Writing assignment = slow

I will postpone the due date for your guys' final draft until sometime next week. But as soon as you see your paper graded in TurnItIn, you can swiftly get your final draft ready, based on my comments.

Meanwhile, study the movie of hydrogen's spectrum, and read chapter 23.

Chapter 23 concept guide is up

Your new concept guide, for chapter 23, is now up. Look in the Quantum World learning module. There is a digital video about hydrogen, which we made a few weeks ago with UCF students. It is linked in the concept guide and the learning module itself.

There will be a second mini-concept guide next week for chapter 24, so do not get caught snoozin'.

Both chapters will have questions in the first part of the final exam.

Writing project = progressing slowly but no worries

I am still grading some of the da Vinci and Younger Dryas first draft. Hang in there.

The good news is that you should find it fairly simple to grab 18/18 in final draft, so do not worry.

Exam 2 scores UP

There were two or three typos on exam questions, like a question that offered "B or C" as an option but listed each option by numbers! Another one asked a question that the picture answered right in front of your nose and made no sense... etc. So each of those bloopers are now fixed and everyone gets those items for free. I.e., every option is marked correct, and is scored +1.

All scores are fixed now, thanks to de-blooperization. :)

P.S. the class average = 32/50, which according to my grade scale (linked on home page) would be a C if I were to give the exam a letter grade.

Exam 2, available at noon

Exam 2 is ready to go, starting at 12:01 PM and you'll have 65 minutes for the fifty questions.... a bit more time than midterm 1.

Mini-quizzes go off the air at noon.

Another Enigma machine, for chapter 15 waves concepts

There is a new Enigma machine for waves concepts so try out your concepts and calculations here, to get ready for the midterm exam.

Mini-quizzes re-activated

I have posted bonus points for early takers of each chapter mini-quiz: 7, 8, 15, 20 and 21. I also re-activated the mini-quizzes for study. You cannot earn bonus points, but you CAN study with them!