Grading and Course Policies

Reading:

Reading the sections of the lecture notes and suggested textbooks corresponding to the assigned homework exercises is considered part of the homework assignment. It will be expected that you read the assigned material in advance of each lecture. Furthermore, you are responsible for material in the assigned reading whether it is discussed in the lecture or not.

Lecture Homework: 

Homework will be assigned on the course homework page and should be completed by the indicated due date. Homework will be collected weekly. The homework assignment you turn in must be your own: A plagiarized assignment will be considered evidence of academic dishonesty. Three homework problems will be selected to be graded. If the student has done all homework problems, the credit equivalent of an extra problem will be added to the student score. Completing the assigned homework is vital to your understanding of the subject material. You should make every effort to complete the homework assignments and seek help with problems you have not been able to solve.

Exams: 

There will be two exams; see the homework page page for the dates of the exams.  You will be allowed fifty (50) minutes to complete each exam.  Each exam will have around five problems. You are allowed to bring one cheat-notes page to the exams, letter size, handwritten on both sides. No other notes, or books, or calculators will be allowed in the exams. There will be no early or makeup exams.

Final Exam:  Monday, December 14, 12:45 - 2:45 pm, in 305 Ernst Bessey Hall.

One cheat-notes page allowed, letter size, handwritten on both sides. No other notes, or books, or calculators will be allowed.  Bring your personal photo ID to the exam. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination; you should not enroll in this class if you cannot take the final examination at its scheduled time.

Grading:

Your course grade will be based on the maximum of the following two decompositions: 20% Homeworks (best 13 of 14) 25% Exam 1 25% Exam 2 30% Final Exam 20% Homeworks (best 13 of 14) 25% Best of the two Exams 55% Final Exam In addition, you must pass the final examination in order to pass the course.  Note:  Since there are no makeup exams, if you miss an exam for any reason, your course grade will be based on the weighted average that counts the final examination 55%. Final grades will be assigned based on the following scale.  We may curve the scale to be more lenient, depending on the final grade distribution, though this is at the sole discretion of the professor. 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.0 [100, 90] (90, 85] (85, 80] (80, 75] (75, 70] (70, 65] (65, 60] Below 60

Academic Dishonesty: 

Academic dishonesty is considered a serious offense at MSU. Students caught cheating may face failure in the course and an administrative sanction which may include suspension or expulsion from the university. For more information se here.