Your grade will be determined by your performance on several exams. There will be 4 major, scheduled exams. The three midterm exams cover (respectively) the material in Parts One, Two and Three. They will be given during the class period (50 min) and will count 80 points each. The final exam (which lasts 110 min) will count 160 points. 80 points will cover the material in Part Four, and the other 80 points will be comprehensive over the entire course material.

You will also be assigned a project using a few genomics resources on the web to explore the structure, function and conservation of a mammalian gene. This report is worth 100 points. The points for required work total 500.

For extra credit, of the order of 4 unannounced quizzes may be given in class at various times during the semester. These will be worth 5 points each. Points from these unannounced quizzes will be added to your point total for the course. Some additional web-based projects will be available for extra credit as well.

Points

Midterm Exam 1 80

Midterm Exam 2 80

Midterm Exam 3 80

Final Exam 160

Required Project Report 100

Total required 500

Extra credit (quizzes) 25

Additional projects 60

Final Total 585 maximum

Letter grades are assigned based on a "curve". For example, the class mean for many of my exams in the past has been roughly 65-70%. I use the mean to set the mid-point of the "B" range, and I assign other letter grade cutoffs based on that (this is a "B-centered curve").

I will use only the scores from the required work (maximum of 500 points) to define the cut-offs for the letter grades. Then I will assign your letter grade based on the combined points from the required work (exam plus required project) and the extra credit (quizzes plus additional projects). Thus your letter grade can only improve from the addition of these extra credit points.

No make-ups will be offered for the unannounced quizzes.

Make-up EXAMS can be scheduled for students who must miss the exam. You must clear the excuse with me before the exam; examples of acceptable excuses are illness or a death in the immediate family. The makeup exam will be essay and problem-solving, either written or oral.