| 1. There is no
such thing as a letter grade for anything other than the complete course.
Exams, assignments, presentations, etc. only have numerical grades by
definition. 2. At the end of the semester, your
letter grade is computed as follows:
- a. First, I compute your grade without a curve, using
94 = the minimum "A", 90 = the minimum "A minus", etc.
- b. Second, I compute your grade with a
curve. The class average (including exams, assignments, and
everything else) is set as the cutoff between the highest "C+" and
the lowest "B-". The lowest "A-" is set as the class average plus
the class's standard deviation. The lowest "C-" is set as the
class's average minus the class's standard deviation. Similarly, the
difference between every other plus or minus letter grade is set to
one third of the standard deviation.
- c. You get the better of the two letters grades
computed using (a) and (b) above.
3. If you are so addicted to letter grades that you
absolutely require one for any individual exam or other numerical score, you
can use the same rules listed in (2) above to estimate a letter grade for an
exam using the average and the standard deviation.
4. Example: Suppose the class average is 50, and the
standard deviation is 9. Then:
- The lowest A is: 62
- The lowest A- is: 59 = class
average + 1 standard deviation
- The lowest B+ is: 56
- The lowest B is: 53
- The lowest B- is: 50 = class
average
- The lowest C+ is: 47
- The lowest C is: 44
- The lowest C- is: 41 = class
average - 1 standard deviation
- The lowest D is: 32
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