HST195 - Midterm Exams Are Over

Hello Students,

MIDTERM EXAMS

Midterm exams are over. Throughout my teaching career, I have always adjusted exam grades. (I do not curve them.) The adjustments are always upward, and never penalize students. If I throw a bad question out, and you had gotten it right, you still get the point. For all students, I remove one of the points possible, which helps everyone.

I've taken a look at Midterm Exam scores, run an item analysis to look for mistakes and bad questions, and considered test difficulty rating and class average. After careful consideration, I have made a 5% upward adjustment to your midterm exam scores. This is a hefty increase, considering 10% is a full letter grade.

Your current class grade is now reflected in the Moodle gradebook. Contact me individually if you have any questions about your scores or if you'd like to go over your exam.

THE GRADEBOOK AND GRADE PROJECTIONS

Students often ask me what the highest grade they can earn in the class would be if they performed well on the assignments/forums for the remaining 4 weeks of the term and the final exam. If you'd like see what the highest grade you could earn in the class, by hypothetically scoring 100% A+ for everything for the rest of the term, the formula would look like this:

Your current percentage in the Moodle grade book _____ + 100 = ____ Total 
Now divide that total by 2 = ____ to see what your final grade (percentage) would be.

Change the "100" in the formula above to any other realistic grade you believe you can earn on all assignments, forums, and final exams for the rest of the term.

YOUR FINAL EXAM

Your final exam will NOT be cumulative and will focus on material covered from week 6 onward. Of course, you will still have to know the basics from the first half of class, such as who Ho Chi Minh and LBJ are, where Hanoi and Saigon are located, the communism "thing", etc.

FORUM 3 IS OPEN

Your third forum is now open for your posts and replies. I've included a Forum Expectations list in week 6 so that all students can see how they can earn a 100% in the remaining class forums. The original How forums are graded guidelines are still in effect, but I just thought this bullet list would be helpful.

EXTRA CREDIT

In Moodle you will now find a link to the extra credit opportunity, due at the end of week 8.


That is all for now. Good luck with your studies for the remaining 4 weeks of the term.