CHEM 102 

Grading Policy

Earning Your Grade

The Grade Breakdown

Your assignments are important to me, and I will make every effort to provide quality feedback on a weekly basis. The grading schemes are provided by the nearby tables. Note that you must earn at least a 70% in lab to receive a passing grade in CHEM 102. 

Plan to take all exams at their normally scheduled times. If you know you must be absent during an exam date, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss accommodations. 

Most lab sessions will be worth 20 points each, and the scoring will be provided on Canvas.

Extra Credit #1: There will be a number of opportunities available. Among this includes completing the your ALEKS Homework. A 70% completion is full credit, but if you earn:

Extra Credit #2: You may rarely notice a mistake on the assignments or solutions for problem sets and exams. Uncaught mistakes are uncommon, but the first student to bring a significant mistake (not typos or grammar) to my attention will receive 1 extra credit point per correction towards the next exam.

Letter Grades: The grading scheme to the right will always be your lowest guaranteed grade. After each in-class exam, "tentative" cutoffs will be applied on Canvas so you will be better informed of your letter grade.

Attendance and Assessments

Attendance and Workshop Participation

CHEM 102 is a fast-paced course, and attending all scheduled classes is vital to your success since almost every meeting contains a new topic. If you know you must miss a session, please contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss getting you caught up with the class. If you have two unexcused consecutive absences, you may be dropped from CHEM 102.

A handful of class meetings will contain activities, and your participation will also benefit your peers. To earn these you must be actively involved in class discussions and activities. If you find yourself needing to arrive late or leave early, please be mindful and enter or exit quietly so as to not distract your fellow classmates.


Homework

CHEM 102 will not contain any formal homework assignments outside of lab reports and the ALEKS homework. If you need help with any topic, please reach out to the CAS, a tutor, each other, or myself on any material that you find difficult.

Exams

CHEM 102 has four midterm exams and one final exam. All exam content will be similar to ALEKS homework, workshop activities, practice exams, and study materials. Although each midterm will focus on specific chapters, foundational concepts such as stoichiometry and dimensional analysis are cumulative by nature. You will always be provided with a periodic table, but you are responsible for bringing your own writing utensils. Scientific (non-graphing) calculators are allowed on all CHEM 102 exams.

Late Assignments and Make-Up Policy

Workshops: Plan to complete all workshop activities during scheduled class meetings. Sometimes, life happens, and that's okay! You will be allowed to make up a maximum two unexcused workshop activities during office hours this semester for 70% credit. If you know you must be absent, please contact me ahead of time and provide proper documentation. We can schedule a time to get you caught up with class.

ALEKS Homework: Completing homework in a timely manner is vital to your success The CHEM 102. There will always be hard deadlines (generally Sunday 11:59pm) for ALEKS homework. If you are unable to complete all assignments by their due dates, there will also be Open Pie Time (OPT), all modules unlocked several days before each exam. During OPT week, there will be opportunities to complete previous modules for credit.

Labs: Completing all lab assignments is important for your learning. If you have an excused absence for lab, please arrange to make up the lab with me as soon as possible, and you may complete the labs without penalty. Credit will not be granted for make-up labs with other instructors without prof. winn's permission. If you are unable to complete post-lab reports on time, late work will be accepted anytime for the next 7 days, with a 1 point deduction per 24-hours late.  Late post-lab reports will not be accepted after 7 days without written permission. 

Exams: To uphold academic integrity, exams cannot be completed for credit outside of their normally scheduled time. If you have an excused absence communicated at least one week in advance, you may take a similar exam within 7 days of the original exam date that you may view but not keep. An unexcused absence and an exam that is not made up will result in a  zero score. The lowest exam score (could also be 0) will be dropped. If you miss a midterm exam, you are still strongly encouraged to work on the exam material on your own since the Final Exam is cumulative. An unexcused final exam will result in a zero score for the final exam.

Religious Holidays

There are a variety of religious holidays during any given semester. If you foresee missing any scheduled class meetings, please notify me of these anticipated dates at least two weeks in advance so that I may properly accommodate you.