TOM TOM (Grading Philosophy Statement)....recalculating

1. Homework will count for 15% of students’ final grade. Each night the students will be assigned a homework set. In order to check for understanding it is important to receive the student’s feedback.
2. Labs will count for 30% of students’ final  grade. Labs are where most visual learners will start to understand the material. The students need to be present or make up the lab if they missed it.
3. Lab reports/worksheets/questions will count for 5% of students’ final grade. Lab reports are a check for understanding of what the student knows from the lab experiment.
4. Exams will count for 50% of students’ final grade. All exams will cover the material from the specific units and will be imperative form of assessment.
5. Rubrics will be given for each lab report in assigned to the class. In order to help the student succeed the rubric will be given.
6. If the student has any uncompleted work the student will not pass the class at the end of the semester. This is because all assignments need to be completed, to stress the importance of gaining a full understanding of the material.
7. Exams can be redone in class if the student receives lower than an 80%. If the student received higher than 80% the student understands the material and made minor mistakes (the student should be held responsible for making such mistakes and needs to learn to check their work). If the student received lower than an 80% the student has not mastered the material.
8. No extra credit will be given in class. If the student does not receive credit for any missing assignments, the student needs to turn in the assignment. If the student wants to make up their test score (below 80%) they can do so to improve their grade.
9. Students will be given a review session and study guide for their exams. Stating which chapters and sections will be covered on the exam.
10. Attendance will be imperative, however not part of the final grade. If a student is sick I do not believe their lack of attendance should be counted against their final grade. However their final grade will reflect their attendance.  Attendance is imperative to understanding the topics covered in class. Each day the students will absorb an enormous amount of information.