3  Assignments, Points, and Grading

3.1 Assignments and Points (766 points)1

Lecture Questions (50 points, 7% of your grade)

Every required lecture will have live polls (through Poll Everywhere) that contain at least one question which is used for attendance and participation purposes, i.e. you don’t need to answer the question correctly to get full points. However, the questions will also serve as review. Lecture questions are answered through Poll Everywhere or by paper (in case your phone is not working correctly) in lecture. There are 31 lectures throughout the semester and you will get full credit for attending 25 of them. Attending additional lectures beyond the 25 required will count as extra credit points. There is no make- up work for lecture questions! (25 lectures X 2 points = 50 points).

Pre-Discussion Quiz (30 points, 4% of your grade)

Some weeks, you will be required to complete a weekly pre-discussion quiz on Canvas. The quiz will cover material from the lecture and lecture companion materials on Canvas. The pre-discussion quiz will ensure you are prepped for small group and active learning activities in discussion. Pre-discussion quizzes are worth 5 points each and are due on Wednesdays by 11:59PM. All materials will be posted 1 week in advance and you are free to complete the quizzes any time before the due dates. (6 quizzes x 5 points = 30 points).

Weekly Summary Quiz (300 points, 39% of your grade)

The weekly summary quiz will cover material from lecture, lecture companion materials, lab, and discussion. Each weekly summary quiz is worth 15 points and is due on Fridays by 11:59PM. All materials will be posted 1 week in advance and you are free to complete the quizzes any time before the due days. (15 quizzes x 20 points = 300 points).

Discussion Team Exercises (84 points, 12% of your grade)

During our Thursday discussion sessions, you will be collaborating in small groups (3-4 students) to complete a team exercise that is closely related to the weekly quiz and lecture topics for the week. You will get points for correctly completing a collaborative assignment as a group. (14 discussions x 6 points = 84 points).

Lab Assignment and Quizzes (78 points, 12% of your grade)

Each weekly lab will require students to complete a laboratory exercise sheet and lab quiz. The quiz will be taken after the lab TA has checked the lab assignment sheet. The lab assignment sheet is worth 3 points and the quiz is worth 3 points. Make sure to sign in and out of lab. (13 labs X 6 points = 78 points).

Soil Property and Land Use Report (200 points, 26% of your grade)

One of the main goals in this course is for you to walk away knowing how to obtain, use, understand and interpret information from soil surveys. This is an important skill that will set you apart in the workforce from people who don’t know how to do this. To support this course objective, you will produce a (4 p.) report that requires you to apply lecture material to real-world land uses in an area of your choosing. This assignment will be submitted in 4 parts throughout the semester, each portion worth 50 points. (4 parts X 50 points = 200 points)

3.2 Grading

3.2.1 Evaluation

Final course grades use the +/- system of grading. Course grades will be assigned using the following scale, which is based on the UMN Grading and Transcripts Policy:

Letter Grade Percent
A > 93
A- 90 to < 93
B+ 87 to < 90
B 83 to < 87
B- 80 to < 83
C+ 77 to <80
C 73 to < 77
C- 70 to < 73
D+ 67 to < 70
D 60 to < 67
F < 60
Note

A grade of C- is required to pass this class if you elected to take this course under the Pass/Fail grading system.

3.2.2 Grade Assignments

Grades will be assigned by earned point values as described on this page. No curve will be applied. I do not oblige requests for grade “bump-ups” for extra credit at the end off the semester as these requests are not fair to your fellow students and against University policy. However, I do calculate everybody’s final grade with a 0.5% grace. So, in other words, if you are within 0.5% of the next grade category you will receive the higher grade. Be proud of the grade you earned!

3.2.3 Grading Challenges

Any challenges to graded assignments you wish to be considered should be emailed to the TA within one week of the posting date of the graded item.

3.2.4 Student Workload Statement

This course conforms to the UMN expected time per course credit policy. Per that policy:

  • For all academic sessions, courses, and modalities, hours of instructional time for a course must equal at least the number of credits for the course times 15 weeks in an academic term. 4 credits x 1 hour in class per credit (average) x 15 weeks = 60 hours of instructional time

  • One credit equals 3 hours of work per week (both in and out of class). So, a 4 credit class equals 4 credits x 3 hours/credit = 12 hours per week. 4 credits x 3 hours per week x 15 weeks = 180 hours total

Here is how the course conforms:

Activity Number Hours
Lectures* 31 31 x 1 = 31 hours
Discussions* 14 14 x 1 = 14 hours
Labs* 13 13 x 1 = 13 hours
Pre-Disc. Quiz. 6 6 x 1 = 6 hours
Week. Summ. Quiz 15 15 x 2 = 30 hours
SPLUR 4 4 x 20 = 80 hours
IN CLASS* 58 hours
TOTAL* 174 hours

  1. see makeup policies↩︎