There will be weekly problem sets, each of which will consist of around 6 to 8 problems. The subject will have two midterms, and a final exam. The final exam will cover topics from the third part of the subject, and will also cover modeling from the first two thirds of the subject.
Each of the 10 assignments will be graded out of 100, and will count up to 3 points on the final grade. The lowest assignment grade of the semester will be dropped, thus accounting for the 27 points of homework allocated to the final grade. (This is not the 25% listed above, but you may view it as 25 points for homework, with the possibility of 2 additional points extra credit.)
The following is a conversion of assignment grades to points
| Homework Grade |
Points |
| 0 to 49 |
0 |
| 49 to 59 |
1 |
| 60 to 74 |
2 |
| 75 to 85 |
2.5 |
| 86 to 100 |
3 |
The homework grades are incorporated in a manner to achieve the following two goals:
- provide incentives for students to do a good job in homework exercises, and
- permit students to help each other with homework, but not provide an incentive for providing or receiving "too much help."
In particular, we do not want to penalize students who prefer to work independently. We permit one homework grades to be dropped to provide students flexibility and also reduce the impact for getting a 0 because of a low score or because the homework was handed in late (see policy on late homework below).
Students should take into account that getting less than 50% on a single assignment grade is similar in impact to losing 12 points on a midterm exam or on the final exam. Both the 0 points on the homework and the loss of 12 points on the midterm result in a loss of 3 points on the final grade (assuming that there were two other homework grades that were dropped.)
In general, the TA will grade all of the problems, and solutions will be provided for each of the problems.
Assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the day that they are assigned. They may be handed in at the classroom, or they may be submitted electronically to the TA. Late assignments will not be accepted. (See the exception on medical issues and family emergency below.) However, one assignment may be handed in up to 24 hours late during the semester, along with a very brief excuse why it is late.