UCSC Spring 2008
Grading and Rules
Course credit for your grade will be assigned in the following way:
May 2 Midterm 20%
May 21 Midterm 25%
June 10 Final Exam 35%
Quizzes in discussion section 5%
Homework and Class participation "clickers" 15%
You will be expected to earn at least 50% of the points on the exams, quizzes, and homework to pass the course.
Exam Policy: You must be present at each of the exams at the appointed times. A missed exam is treated as a zero in you class record. If you are extremely ill and cannot take a particular exam you must: i) contact the instructor before the exam takes place and ii) provide documentation from your allopathic (MD-degreed) physician. Arrangements for missed exams will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, but my general policy will be that there will no make-up exams. Further details regarding this and similar policies can be found in a UCSC document called the Navigator. I adhere to these rules because I am legally obligated to do so, but even more importantly because bending these rules to accommodate one student is unfair to everyone else. To be treated fairly, everyone must be treated equally.
Cheating on the examinations will not be tolerated, and although the exams will be closely proctored, it is your responsibility to honestly answer the questions and demonstrate your own understanding of the course material. You may only bring a calculator, scantron forms, and pencils or pens for the exams. and other materials including scratch paper and data and/or equations will be provided by the instructor. If you use a graphical calculator, you will be asked to verify that its memory is cleared. You will not be allowed to use phones (mobile or land line), PDAs, computers, iPods, or other electronic devices (wireless access or not) during the examination period regardless if you are in or out of the examination room. You may be asked to show picture identification before or after exams.
Discussion sections (referred to as "SECONDARY DISCUSS" in the Schedule of Classes) are an integral part of this course and attendance, in the section for which you are enrolled, is required. Passing Chem 1C requires that you miss no more than two section meetings. In my view, the only way to really learn science is to solve problems. Thus, each week there will a substantial homework assignment and a brief quiz in section. The quiz will usually be a randomly chosen problem from that week's homework. The homework problem sets are meant to be challenging, so you should be willing and prepared to spend at least six hours a week outside of class working on your assignments. You are required to do all of the homework in order to get any credit for doing any of it. Also, we cannot accept late homework assignments. So do all of your homework on time, or lose 10% of your grade. The reason for this inflexibility is to help prevent you from falling so far behind in the course that you fail.
Clickers will be used in lecture to assess class understanding of the lecture presentations and the homework problems. Use of clickers in class will account for at least 10 % of your grade, and as such it is important that you attend lecture and participate with the iclicker questions. Generally we encourage some discussion among students during clicker sessions, but we do not permit a student to use clickers that are registered to other students. If we notice a student using more than one clicker, all of that student's clickers will be confiscated until the extent of the fraudulent use is determined.