Link to today's programs for following along!
During the first week of class, the instructors kindly request that you turn off all electronic devices (including laptops) during lecture. In the second or third week of class, we'll be offering a trial program of a presentation and notetaking program called DyKnow that will let you effectively use your laptops during lecture.
Please see www.portmain.com/calendar.com for the complete syllabus including homework and reading assignments.
Weekly homework: Most weeks will have a homework assignment due at 7:50am on Tuesday morning. No late homework is accepted, so please submit whatever work you have done by the deadline. Some homeworks may require you to be present in class to receive full credit. If your lowest homework score is lower than your final homework score, then I will replace your lowest homework score with your final homework score. The homeworks count for 55% of the course grade
Four exams (one of which is the final exam): Makeup exams can be arranged only if you let Michael know at least 24 hours ahead of time or if an unavoidable problem causes you to miss class. Other missed exams will be recorded as a zero score. If your lowest exam score is lower than your final exam score, then I will replace your lowest exam score with your final exam score. The exams count for 45% of the course grade.
Course Grade: I will, of course, use a computer program to determine your course percentage as:
percentage = 0.55*h/H + 0.45*e/E
In the formula, h is your number of homework points, H is the maximum possible homework points, e is your number of exam points, and E is the maximum possible exam points (all recorded as double variables in a C++ program!). Your course grade is computed by your percentage:
A 93% or more
A- 90 to 92.99%
B+ 87 to 89.99%
B 83 to 86.99%
B- 80 to 82.99%
C+ 77 to 79.99%
C 73 to 76.99%
C- 70 to 72.99%
D+ 67 to 69.99%
D 63 to 66.66%
D- 60 to 62.99%
F below 60%
Percentages will not be rounded, so even one point can be important. Please do let us know if there are any grading errors as soon as possible.