Discussion Grading Criteria
Discussion sessions D1-D5 in this course are 100% device-free. You should bring with you to the discussion handwritten notes made with pen/pencil and paper. You can refer to these during the discussion. The reading itself, whether in paper or electronic form, will not be available during the discussion.
The instructor will briefly glance over your handwritten notes before the session begins to get a rough assessment of whether the notes are substantive. The level of detail is up to you, but a suggested guideline is to aim for a page of notes for a 75-minute discussion.
Discussion classes D1-D5 will take place in Tome 228.
Specific criteria for grading preparation and participation
Discussion preparation and participation will be graded on a star scale, from zero stars to six stars. Six stars are reserved for truly outstanding, unusually insightful contributions during the discussion. A good level of preparation and participation will result in five stars.
To achieve five stars, the following two requirements should be met:
- Substantial handwritten notes are prepared.
- One or more contributions made during the discussion demonstrate a genuine attempt to understand the assigned reading.
- Contributions should be of an appropriate length, and the instructor will provide real-time guidance on this.
- Long comments are not valuable to the discussion because they prevent others from contributing.
- Very short comments are not useful because they do not demonstrate your understanding of and insight into the reading.
Missed Discussion Sessions
It is possible to make up the grade for a missed discussion session, but the grading of make-up discussions will be a little tougher:
- The make-up discussion must take place in person with the instructor during scheduled office hours within ten days of the missed session. Please notify the instructor if this causes a genuine hardship.
- The instructor may grant an excused absence if notified of an absence in advance. The grade for an excused absence must be earned in a make-up session as described above.
- An unexcused absence can be made up in the same way, but an additional penalty of two stars is applied.
Conversion to numerical grades
| stars | indicative letter grade range | numerical score (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | A+ | 100 |
| 5 | A- to A | 93 |
| 4 | B- to B+ | 85 |
| 3 | C- to C+ | 75 |
| 2 | D- to D+ | 65 |
| 1 | F | 50 |
| 0 | 0 |