ME 16 - Policies and Info

Overall grade in this course is based on

• Final exam (40%)

• Two midterms (20% each)

• Homework average (15%)

• Quiz average (5%)

Homework

Homework will be given almost weekly. HW will generally be due Fridays @ 4 PM in the ME 16 drop box (near the CAD lab). Due to the logistical difficulties involved in handling late HW in a class of this size, no late HW is accepted. Since there are sometimes legitimate reasons for not being able to hand in the occasional HW set, your HW average is computed by dropping the lowest HW grade of the quarter. Students can work together on HW problems (in fact, it is encouraged). However, the write up you turn in must be your own. Verbatim copying of other people’s HW sets (or portions thereof) are not acceptable, and is considered cheating.

Quizes

There will be almost weekly quizzes throughout the quarter. Since there are no makeup quizzes, your quiz average grade is computed by dropping the two lowest quiz grades of the entire quarter. The purpose of quizzes is to encourage regular attendance. Thus, quizzes are given without prior announcement and could be at the beginning, the end or during the lecture. They will be very short (about 5-10 min each). Quizzes will generally be administered with iClicker, though the occasional written quiz might be given.

Discussion Sessions

Each student is required to register for and is expected to attend at least one discussion session per week. These sessions are an integral part of the course. They generally involve practicing problem solving as well as covering material supplementary to the lectures. On HW and exams, you are responsible for material covered in the discussion sections. You may also attend additional discussion sections other than the one you are signed up for if you feel the need to do so.

Midterm exams

• Dates: 4/27, 5/25

• Midterm exams are in class and closed book and notes. You can bring a calculator and one sheet of notes (8.5x11 in), both sides. When you come to class for the exam, please seat yourself so as to leave at least one vacant seat between you and your left/right neighbors.

Final exam

• June 8, 4-7 pm.

• The final exam is comprehensive, based on all material covered during the quarter. The rules for midterms also apply, except that you can bring in two sheets of notes instead.

Grading guidelines

HW, quizzes and exams are graded mostly based on procedure and methodology rather than on the final answer. If you followed the correct methodology but made unimportant numerical or silly mistakes, you will receive most of the credit. However, for the graders to see that you are following the correct procedure, it is imperative that you explain fully what you are doing. This means explaining in words what your assumptions are, which equations you are solving for which variables, etc. If you simply write a sequence of equations with no explanation it will be difficult to get partial credit. Here are some more detailed guidelines which you should follow for HW, quizzes and exams problems:

• Do homework on clean sheets of paper (engineering paper or blank paper is best, binder paper is ok but do not use torn edged spiral notebook paper).

• Remember to include units (unless it makes the writing in a portion of the solution very messy, and in that case say explicitly that you are not including units), and use the correct units.

• Remember to answer with the appropriate number of significant figures (e.g. something like 15.178937392 ft/sec is generally uncalled for).

• Box in answers so graders can find them.

Generally, your solutions should resemble (in clarity and writing style), the solutions given out for the HW sets.