Link to Current (updated) notes

next previous Next: Homework Calendar and Weighting Up: Lecture_01_web Previous: 3.016 Laboratory

Grades

As stated above, all of the final grade will depend on the homeworks and the laboratory assignments. There is no fixed average grade for this course; the average will depend on the entire class performance. However, if your homework grades and your laboratory reports are consistently within the top quartile, then it is extremely likely that you will receive an A. Homeworks will be graded by ranking them in order from Best Homework to Least Best Homework. A decision will be made regarding how many points (out of a possible 100) the Least Best Homework deserves, and the homework scores will be interpolated between a score of 99 for the Best Homework and that of the Least Best.

Homeworks will be evaluated on the basis of:

Accuracy
The solution must be a reasonable and correct answer to the homework question.
Exposition
The solution must clearly show the reasoning that was utilized to find it and the method of solution should be clearly apparent. Exegetic solutions will be ranked higher.
Beauty
Good solutions will often require graphics and, with care, graphics can often beautifully explain the solution. The layout of the page, the quality of the supporting prose, the clarity of the graphics, and all that ``je ne sais quoi'' is fairly subjective but very important. The reader will include a judgment of your art in the ranking of homeworks.
Observation
Supplemental observations provide aids in understanding and demonstrate mastery of a topic. An example of a supplemental observation might be something like, ``Note that in the limit of long times, that the total concentration goes to zero. This is sensible because the boundary condition on mass flux is directed outward everywhere on the finite domain.''

Laboratories will be graded on their completeness, demonstrated mastery of MATHEMATICA$ ^{\text{\scriptsize {\textregistered }}}$ for that assignment, and exposition.

Note that there will be times when you have two homework sets pending--this is done so that you can arrange your time conveniently.



© W. Craig Carter 2003-, Massachusetts Institute of Technology