Students will receive a final grade that reflects their understanding of the standards for this course. Instead of focusing on accumulating points for completing assignments, their grade will be directly associated with the standards that they have mastered.
This class is based on a method of assessment called Standards-Based Grading. The goal of this method is to have your numerical grade at the end of a term represent your mastery of the subject. Rather than using a point system to record scores, you must demonstrate your level of mastery on various learning objectives. For example, instead of getting one grade for a quiz (such as an 83% or a 78%) that may cover many topics, you will be scored on individual learning objectives with an N (Not attempted), D (Developing), or M (Mastery).
Learning Objective Mastery: After a unit test is taken, I will indicate your progress on each objective covered on a test using a 0 – 2 number scale.
0: No attempt to master has been shown.
1: Developing mastery. This score could indicate that you are missing part of a conceptual understanding, and/or that you have made an error in reasoning or in your process.
2: Mastery has been shown.
Mastery over Time: Your standing on each standard can always go up or down as new data is collected. When it comes time to translate your mastery into a number grade, only the most recent measurement will count. You will always have a chance to try again with each skill (all the way up to the final exam—your final assessment of each semester). Because it is important to develop carefulness and good habits in your written work, “calculation errors” and similar mistakes will usually be measured as “1” instead of “2”. Don’t worry, though! If your conceptual understanding is solid, you will be able to update your standing quickly and easily on subsequent tests.
Mid Terms/Final Exam: You will take a comprehensive exam at the end of each semester. (This means you will be tested on all of the required objectives you have learned up to that point). The comprehensive exam is 20% of your semester grade.