Grade Calculator

Midterm      worth % of the grade
Final      worth % of the grade
Homework/quizzes      worth % of the grade
Journal      worth % of the grade
Stargazing      worth % of the grade
Articles      worth % of the grade
General participation      worth % of the grade
Leadership/Attitude      worth GP units
GPA:
Comment:

***Note that grade calculator outputs a grade based on a 4.0 scale, even though the input for each component is on a 3.0 scale.

 

FAQ's
Rubric
Sample evals

 

FAQ's

Q: Why is each component scored on 3.0 scale when the final grade is on 4.0 scale?
A: A 3.0 scale was chosen to score each component because it's relatively simple to use. Most people can distinguish between excellent and poor. Excellent scores a 3 and poor scores a 1. When in doubt or if neither extreme is appropriate, choose 2. The grade calculator will then convert all these numbers into your final grade on 4.0 scale.

Q: The grade eval does not seem to be related to the course material, so it's hard for me to take it seriously. What's the penalty for not submitting a grade eval?
A: The grade eval is your opportunity to take responsibility for your successes and possible failures in the class. In that sense, it is very much related to the class. Not submitting the grade eval should be considered equivalent to not taking an exam.

Q: I'm very hard on myself and I know some people will definitely inflate their grades. Wouldn't that leave me at a relative disadvantage?
A: Deliberate grade inflation is a form of academic dishonesty and will not earn brownie points with the instructor. On the other hand, those who demonstrate an ability to be self-reflective will benefit by getting a high mark on this particular assignment.

Q: How do I know if I'm posting correctly and if my grade calculator numbers are similar to those of the instructor?
A: Although there is certainly at least a small subjective component in any evaluation scheme, those who follow the to-do list and rubric guidelines typically get full credit for their posts. Students who go above and beyond may also earn some extra credit. Things to avoid include excessive cut-and-paste, omission of a reference, obvious indifference to basic research, etc. In the end, I will look at the pattern of your submissions, compare these to those of the top students in the class, and apply the online grading rubric.

Q: How often do we need to submit the grade eval?
A: Everyone needs to submit two grade evals--one early in the course and another one at the end of the course. The purpose of the early grade eval is to give students a better understand the grading process and motivate them take responsibility for their own education. The final grade eval is essentially a portfolio of all your work.

Q: I have now finished module#1. What's my grade so far?
A: In this class, everything is graded on a rubric, not on a growing collection of points. If you would like to estimate your status in the class at any point in the class, you will need to work through the grading rubric, generate some reasonable numbers based on the rubric, and then plug them into the grade calculator to come up with an estimated grade in the class. I'm happy to give students feedback after they have gone through this exercise and demonstrated an understanding of the rubric. One important aspect of this grading system is that a few blemishes on your record do not drag down your grade, as long as the course-long patterns are healthy. So perfectionism is never required, which hopefully reduces potential stress and enhances the learning process.

Q: Does anyone else use this unusual grading system?
A: This grading system is similar in spirit to the narrative evaluation system used at Evergreen State College. 

Philosophy

As you probably know, assigning grades is a difficult process that no teacher looks forward to. And although grading is certainly not an exact science, we can still strive to be as fair and as consistent as possible. To help with the process and to make sure that you receive every possible consideration, you will need to submit (in Canvas) an analysis of the grade you think you deserve based on the criteria discussed in the syllabus. Please use this calculator to estimate your grade or range of possible grades. You may play around with the weights (i.e., percentages of total grade) to nudge your grade a bit, but your estimate should always be based on rational arguments rather than on wishful thinking. Keep in mind that to have some standard and help you with objectivity, you will need to compare yourself to the strongest students in the class. Your estimate can only help you, never hurt you, especially if it demonstrates an ability to be self-reflective and objective. A sample analysis is provided below.

Grade scale

The grade calculator above should give you a grade which corresponds roughly to the following GPA scale:

Excellent-good-poor

A reasonable estimate of your grade can be obtained using the excellent-good-poor scale for each component, with appropriate weighting factors. Excellent earns 3, good 2, poor 1. If you're not very good or very bad in a particular category, you're probably a 2. Since there is a subjective component in this approach, you'll need to use your judgment. The guidelines below should help you come up with reasonable numbers. In general, the subjective components that score higher are those that demonstrate a strong effort, positive attitude, and good self-reflection.

Different scenarios with calculator

Meg O'Hetz is a student who gets 100% on the exams and homework but usually doesn't participate in discussions, does not engage in stargazing activities, writes shallow journals, and contributes little to the learning community. This student will end up with a grade in the neighborhood of 2.6 or less. So exams are not the whole story.

Nysa Neezie is a student who gets about average on the exams, struggles on the homework, but writes in-dept and self-reflective journals, consistently asks questions in class and engages in discussions, exhibits an enthusiasm for learning. This student will earn a grade in the neighborhood of 3.0 or better, which is not too shabby for an average test taker.

How to estimate final grade

If you would like to estimate your status in the class at any point in the class, you will need to work through the grading rubric, generate some reasonable numbers based on the rubric, and then plug them into the grade calculator to come up with an estimated grade in the class. I'm happy to give students feedback after they have gone through this exercise and demonstrated an understanding of the rubric. This also happens to be a required exercise ('early progress report') due after the first week (see Calendar). In general, you get full credit for completing items in the weekly to-do list. Since most students who submit do a very good job (sometimes after some calibration), the only way to lose points on these items is not to submit and/or completely ignore feedback. This means that consistency and a good-faith effort, rather than perfection, are the keys to success in this class. The score you get for each component (e.g., articles) in the end will be roughly the average of all the weekly scores. For example, if you submitted articles and responses 80% of the time, your score for this component on the grade calculator will be 0.80*3+0.20*0=2.4 (out of 3). Make sure to submit a self-evaluation quiz at least once (early in this class) to get a feel for all the components.

 

How to score the components (Rubric)

Leadership/Attitude/Academic Maturity

General participation:

HW (Reading and Quizzes)

Exams

Stargazing:

Journals:

Presentation (does not apply to online classes)

 

Science articles

 

Sample grade evals

The key to a good self-evaluation is to be more critical of oneself than of others. Making excuses, rather than taking responsibility, tends to slow down the learning process. The following examples demonstrate excellent self-reflection and suggest that these students are ready to take the next step up.


Very poor eval

"I deserve an A because my attendance was good and I tried really hard."

This evaluation does not specifically address grading criteria. It is simply an emotional response, with little depth or evidence of self-reflection, by a student who probably did very little in class and was not aware of the problem. His/her grade was significantly lower than his/her estimate.

Poor eval

"I believe I should earn at least a 3.0 because I did all my assignments on time and took the time to read the chapter and learn the subject on hand.  I probably could have done better on the Discussion Board because some weeks I did not reply a lot and some I did.  Being that this was my first online class, I feel confident that I did well even though Astronomy was a really tough subject for me. Also, I just finished the final and I feel really good about it.  Overall, I enjoyed this course even though I struggled through some of it but I did manage to make it to the end and that's very important.  Thanks and take care teach..."

This student, though good-natured, did not specifically address the grading criteria. He received significantly less than his estimate.
 

Another poor eval

"I believe that I deserve a grade of the range of around 2.7. After completing all of my assignments, my percentage was about 80%. This shows that I understood most of what we learned. Also, for almost every assignment, my score was above the class average which shows that my scores were above a lot of the people in the class. Even though I didn't join in the discussions as much as I wanted to, I feel that my assignment scores should prove that I actually learned. This class taught me a lot of new interesting things about the universe that I had never known before."

Again, this student used his gut feeling and did not specifically follow the rubric. He appears to focus mostly on homework points, which (according to the rubric) are not a significant component of the grade. On the other hand, stargazing and articles, which collectively are more important, are missing from his analysis.

Good eval, but missing overall summary and plan for improvement

Grade calculator: 2.7

Motivation/Leadership/Attitude: I tend to be a really shy person when it comes to speaking up in class. Even though this class was online, I still had trouble initiating discussions. I feel that I did participate in class as much as I felt comfortable doing. I tried my best in answering my peers questions and I tried to think of things to discuss with my peers as well. I felt that I worked hard on my homework and other assignments. I did really enjoy learning about the universe and all that it involves which I think gave me a good attitude toward all the assignments. Overall, I think my participation in this class could have been better, but I think that with my shyness I did the best that I could. So for this section I thought that I'd give myself a 2.

Homework: In a lot of my homework assignments I ended up submitting them on the day that they were due. But this doesn't mean that I procrastinated. Taking the advice of others, I would print the questions, search for the answers and then submit my answers later. I would try and work on at least 20-30 questions a day depending on how many questions were on the homework. I think that I did extremely well on the homework considering how hard it seemed to be at times. On the homework I would get about 70-80%. This made me really happy. And usually I am the type of person to procrastinate (especially in online classes), but I really tried to not do that this quarter and I think that I did a really good job! So for the homework section I gave myself a 3.

Exams: Before the midterm I really made sure that I studied as much as I could. I was hoping that I would get at least a 70%, but instead I scored a 58%, which was the average for the class. I was a little bummed at first but then I realized that I studied as much as I could and there was nothing else I could've done to help me do better. Hopefully I will do a little better on the final. I'm going to set a goal for myself of getting in the average score of the class again. For both the final and midterm section, I gave myself a 2.

Stargazing: With the weather this quarter it was really hard to stargaze. Even though this was the case, I made the best of it and used programs like Starry Night and the Sky & Telescope Interactive Sky Chart. I always tried to find new constellations and things that I haven't seen or posted about before. I also always tried to give background information or the history of the constellation. At first stargazing was a little hard and I felt like I didn't know what I was looking at. But now I feel that I can look at the sky and actually see things and name them. Comparing myself to others in the class, I still feel that I don't know as much as much or understand as much as them. So because of this I gave myself a score of 2.5.

Journals: Starting this quarter I posted three journals each week. After that it was kind of hard for me to post three each week, so I started posting just two each week. I still felt that I was thorough and honest about my progress in the class and I felt that two posts a week was good to explain everything. I really liked posting journals because it was a way to express your thoughts and maybe even concerns. I gave myself a score of 3.

General Participation: I really enjoyed taking this class and I felt that I contributed as much as I could. I invested a lot of my time into studying and preparing for this class. Online classes can be hard to get motivated, but since this class was really interesting, I was able to spend more time on it. I think overall in this class I did a good job, but I think that i could have pushed myself to participate a little more. So because what I could've pushed myself to do, I gave myself a 2 in this section.

Science Articles: I really enjoyed posting articles on different subjects and reading about the articles that others posted. I think it was nice to be able to pick an article on any topic, even though a lot of people still tried to keep them science related. I thought that these articles were a really good way to learn about new technologies and new things in general. I think that for this section I earned a 3 because I always posted articles each week and I made sure to respond and ask questions about other student's articles as well.
 

Another good eval

This student demonstrates character and excellent self-reflection by being tough on herself, avoiding grade inflation, and not coming up with excuses. She was rewarded with a grade significantly higher than her calculation.

Grade calculator: 1.4

First, I think this has been the most challenging class I have ever taken, more so than math! The good thing about this class is as much work as it was, when I have a moment to sit down (now that the quarter is over) and really digest the information, more things will come to mind and I will look it up and continue to learn more about astronomy! Now to the grading:

Midterm: I did it on time and finished all of the questions. I put effort and time into it. I didn't do very well (I really thought I would have done better), so I gave myself a 1.

Final: This was HARD, I know I did not do well at all and the short answer questions were baffling. I did not cheat and look things up, I did what I could with what I knew at the time so I gave myself a 1.

Homework: I saw that I had two holes in my homework. I swear that I did them, but the computer does not lie, so I am missing two. I tried my hardest even though I did not keep up with the crowd. Because I put effort into it and tried, I gave myself a 1.

Journal: I did many journals, probably not as much as others, but I did put thought into what I was writing and trying to "check in" with you. I feel I did a pretty good job with the journals so I gave myself a 2.

Stargazing: I did a lot of stargazing and stayed away from "It's cloudy outside and there are no stars!!!" I put thought into what I was doing. Stargazing was difficult for a beginner to do because I was always second guessing myself, and it seemed almost embarrassing because most other people seemed to know more than me, so I gave myself a 2.

Articles: I feel that this is my strongest area because I did a lot of them and felt I did them right. These were also the most fun part of the class for me because just about anything goes! I feel that this can show off your personality, by what you choose. Some days I was going to post but did not find one that suited me. I think looking up articles will be one thing I keep doing to keep up on current events!! I gave myself a 3.

Participation: I did participate by answering some of the DQ's and responding to others in the forum. I also responded to others in the articles and stargazing areas as well. I did not do as much as I should have done because I felt like I was late when a bunch of people had already answered, but that is my problem :( But overall, I feel that I did okay, so I gave myself a 2.

Motovation/leadership: I'm not saying I am lazy, but I always felt like I didn't really have anything smart to post, like an insightful question. So I never really posted anything of my own in the general discussion--well, maybe a couple of times. I have been motivated, though, because I have been here and reading/responding to others and taking a bite out of some of the DQ's. So I only gave myself a 1.

The grade calculator came up with a 1.4. Although I got low scores, I have tried to do well throughout the quarter, I feel that somewhere in this range is fair for my final grade. What do you think?

Another good eval

This eval again demonstrates excellent self-reflection and understanding of the learning objectives. This student received a significantly higher grade than he calculated because of his honesty, good attitude, and an excellent effort on some of the course components (e.g., articles).

Grade calculator: 1.8

Midterm--1. I did not do as well on the mid term as I thought I should have. Although I studied the material, I do not feel that I put enough time in learning what I studied, and it reflected on my score.

Final--2. Although I have not taken the final yet (mostly because of technical errors) I know how much work I put into getting ready for it and feel I will do well!

Homework--2. On many of the homework assignments I gave it multiple attempts to get as high a score as I could. I know that much of what I read, I could comprehend and used it outside of class when the opportunity presented itself. I think towards the end of the quarter my research skills improved and my quiz scores did as well.

Journal--2. This score could have been better with a little more motivation on my part. Although writing about what I am doing or trying to do is a weakness of mine, this was an opportune time to strengthen that weakness and I didn't do that well enough.

Stargazing 2. I am not sure whether to put this score lower or higher. I tried many nights to find Andromeda and some of the other more difficult constellations and objects in the sky. I didn't, however, articulate that in the forum very well. I think when I did though, it inspired others to look for them also and started a dialogue on what we discovered.

Articles--3. I think this area was my strongest overall. I presented an article every week and I tried, I believe successfully, to find an article that corresponded with what we were studying during that week. Many of my articles received multiple replies from my classmates as well.

Group Presentations--2. Although we didn't give a group presentation, I had to put a number there in the rubix. I chose 2 because I feel I contributed to the class as a whole with interesting articles, responses to other articles, and thought provoking arguments at times.

Motivation/Leadership--2. I think my motivation should have been better in the stargazing forum. I think with a bit more effort in that genre, I could have contributed to others' learning as well as my own. I think at times my leadership in answering or trying to answer general discussion questions was adequate. I answered a few of them correctly and read others' answers and found out information which helped me as well.

Overall, I found this class to be demanding, but fair. I think the syllabus covered everything well enough to give the students a good understanding of what was expected and how to achieve the best grade possible. I really enjoyed taking this course and will take from it much more information and knowledge about our universe than I had before this journey. However, I must give myself a grade on the low end of the scale if I am to be honest in my evaluation. The grade calculator graded it to be 1.8. I concur with that assessment!

Another good eval

This student demonstrates academic maturity and a hard-work ethic and set an excellent example in the class. He/she received significantly higher than his/her calculated grade.

Wow, asking a student what grade they think they should get, different, but good. To be quite honest, I think my grade should be somewhere between a 2.6 and a 2.8, here is my reasoning:

1. Midterm - there is no denying that I did not do as well as most of the class, nor as well as I hoped to do, but I did my best and the only resource I used was my “noodle” (as my niece calls it). My total score was below the class average, but as you said in your post a score in the mid 20's to low 30's is a 2; therefore, I gave myself a 2.

2. Final - we have not taken it yet, but I had to put a grade, so I gave myself a 2. I figure, if I study hard, participate, and review past posts I should do fine.

3. Homework - My homework scores have consistently been above the class average and roughly, in the mid 70's to low/mid 80's (percentage); therefore, I gave myself a 3.

4. Journal - This is one of the hardest things for me to do, but I think I have done a good job thus far; therefore, I gave myself a 2.3.

5. Stargazing - I think I have been consistent with my stargazing. I have been out looking at the sky and if I am unable to view any stars I have researched stars and constellations for the benefit of the class; therefore, I gave myself a 2.5.

6. Articles - I have consistently provided well written and interesting science articles - most concerning astronomy and have provided feed back to others in the class and tried to engage in dialogue with others regarding their articles; therefore, I gave myself a 3.

7. General Participation - This is not an excuse, just the facts. Considering that, I work full time and my commute from Fife to Seattle takes me away from my capture for about 12 hours each day (M-F), I think I have participated pretty well. I know others have posted hundreds of posts over the course of the quarter thus far, and some of those posts were worthless rants about how they liked the chapter, or why your syllabus was 19 pages. I find these posts to be useless and frankly, a waste of time; therefore, I did not post such thoughts. I would think you would be more interested in quality not quantity. I feel my posts were well thought out and provided information to all who read them; therefore, I gave myself a 2.5. You will note that I only gave myself a 2.5 because there were some in the class who really participated and definitely deserve a 3, I did my best with the time I had and feel my best is worthy of a 2.5.

8. Motivation/Leadership - I didn't always lead and I didn't always follow but I think I did both and I think I did them pretty well. I was very motivated in this class. I read each chapter (sometimes 2-3 times) and I stargazed, pulled interactive star charts, researched stars and constellations for the benefit of the class, and provided weekly articles that were interesting and thought provoking, therefore, I gave myself a 1.5. I think the top grades in each category are reserved for the students who exhibited exemplary work and participation. I did my best and think I earned the two 3’s I gave myself and the other grades as well. When calculated using the grading calculator I get a 2.7. I think for this class that’s a pretty darn good grade, considering math and science have always been a challenge for me! Of course, this is just my view of how I think I did this quarter, and will respect whatever grade you ultimately give me, as I am sure you will give me the grade you think I have earned. Thank you.

Another good eval

Grade calculator: 3.2 GPA

Participation: I feel that I did a really good job here because I was always responding to things and asking questions. I think it is important and hard to show participation on an online class because you are not there to have the teacher listen to you. I tried really hard to demonstrate my knowledge in all the assignments and asked questions to better my self and gain knowledge. I am really interested in astronomy which is why I believe I participated so much.

Homework: Although it will appear that I turned in my assignments shortly before the deadline, I was prepared a great deal of time before I submitted them. Home work was one of the things that I really worked hard at because it was a lot of work. I saved my answers on the computer in days prior to the assignments being due so that I can go through and correct them without wasting my submissions. I tried a lot of the time not to use any other sources other than my book on the homework to challenge myself and I feel I learn better that way. Although I never got all the answers right on all the homework’s, but I know I still learned a great deal.

Exams: Prior to both the midterm and the final, I studied for weeks to prepare. I really wanted to do well on these assignments because I have always had a lot of pressure put on me in the past for them. I know I am not the best test taker because I really don’t like the pressure, I get all caught up and frustrated that I get off track from focuses. This quarter I thought I did exceptionally well and I think that had a lot to do with studying and preparing myself better. I wish I would have done better on my exams but overall I am happy with the knowledge I learned and the success I made. I know I did a lot better on my Final then the Mid-term. However, I do not feel that either reflects what I really know and have learned throughout the quarter.

Articles: This was a part of the class I really enjoyed. I really had a fun time reading articles that I chose and ones that others had picked. My favorite part overall I think was picking any topic I wanted. Although it was nice to read some involving astronomy, it was neat to take a little break and discuss some other things with the class. I thought this was a good way to participate in the class and I liked learning about my classmates.

Stargazing: This was definitely another part of the class I had a lot of fun doing. My only regret is taking this class in a quarter where the weather was going to be so bad. I love to look at the stars because I think it is so beautiful and amazing. I really enjoyed taking this class because I learned about those stars and other things in the sky. Now I have the most fun looking at the stars with friends and being able to tell them what those things are and show off my new knowledge. It was really a lot of fun!

Journals: I have never been one to write journals or reflect things down on paper, but it was really nice to do so. I like getting everything out and getting an understanding of the way I feel. I think it was a helpful tool and let us write down anything that we wanted to write down.

Motivation/Leadership: I think that my motivation could have been better than it was. I do feel that I did well and participated a great deal but I could have encouraged other to participate just as much. I think this was a challenge being in an online class because you don’t get to present yourself to the class, or see any of your classmates. I know I could have motivated better and lead better if I had been in an actual classroom with my classmates.

Overall: I really enjoyed taking this class and have no regrets. I found this class to be demanding… but fair. The grade calculator gave me a 3.2 and I really feel that is what I deserved. I feel that my only downfall would be my scores on the exams but I feel that is because I am a bad test taker. I really did participate a whole lot and got every assignment in on time. This was a great class where I gained a lot of new knowledge and I am excited to go show that off!

Another good eval

The Grade Calculator came up with 3.2.

Midterm: For the midterm I gave myself a 2 because I was average in the class, which I am happy with being, I wish I did a little better, but even though my midterm score does not reflect it I tried hard and learned a lot! I went over the chapters and skimmed them before the midterm and looked over the homework, I felt I was as ready as I could be so I did my best.

Final: I have not taken the final yet but I gave myself a 3 because I am going to really try hard to improve my grade from the midterm, and I want to get an above average score. I think I can do it. I understand the chapters very well, and I will continue to go over them to improve my chances for this goal.

Homework: I did very good with the homework. I always turned it in before it was due, and my scores were average or a little above so I gave myself a 3. I am confident with my scoring because I know I always tried hard to get the right answers out of the book, and I made sure it was always submitted before it was due. I could not find every answer nor did I learn everything in the book that I read, but the things I did understand will now make me a smarter and more experienced person, and I am glad I can take away a lot more new information I never knew before.

Journal: I turned in my journal twice every single week like the assignment said to. I never missed one, and made sure to always right down my feelings for the week. I put a 3 for this. I think I could of done a little better and maybe expressed my feelings a little more. I will try to do this in future online classes, this was my first class, but that is not an excuse because the assignment was very clear. Overall on the journals though I think I had good effort.

Stargazing: This part of the class, was a little more difficult for me. At first I did not quite get the star chart. I then figured it out though. I turned in 2 stargazing sessions every week, and never missed any weeks. I gave my self a 3 for being on top of my assignments. I made sure that even if it was cloudy I would still do some work, so I used starry night a lot to make sure I was active in the stargazing forum. I tried to share information about what I had found to help the class learn as well.

Articles: the articles was a fun part of the class. I liked seeing all the different articles people came up with. Some would even post articles that did not really have to do with science which I thought was amusing. I turned in an articles every week, and responded to other articles along the way. I gave myself a 3 for this. I always tried to find an article that would directly relate to astronomy and I had good effort in that. Overall I think this was a good exercise to get students to participate and have fun.

General Participation: This is the area where I was weakest at. I could have been more active in here. I always made sure to post atleast twice a week in the general discussion, which was what was assigned, but I still think I could of had more conversation with the other students. I give myself a 2 in this category, because I could of have more effort thrown this way. Next online class I am going to make sure to try harder on this aspect.

Motivation/Leadership: For this part I think I did an average job, so I will give myself a 2. I once in awhile would have a good question or comment that popped in my head and I would post it. I also tried to answer a few DQ's. But I think I could have done more to earn a 3. I am disappointed that I did not try harder for this part and for the general participation. I think these are actually the easiest parts of the class to do well in because all you have to do is show an interest and presence in the conversations. I will definitely try to improve the quality of me.

Overall, I think the grade calculator gave me a fair number. I did not put in a 4.0 effort, so I do not deserve that, the 3.2 that it gave me seems very fair to me, because I did all my work with good effort, but there was room for some more effort. This class has broadened my skills of online classes since it is my first, and it was challenging, but I enjoyed it as well!

 

Another good eval

Grade calculator: 4.0 GPA

Exams: I studied extensively for the midterm and for the final.  On the midterm I scored 83% and on the final I also scored 83%.  The average score according to Canvas is in the high 50 percentile region for both of those tests, so statistically it seems very likely I scored in the upper third on the class.

Homework: I did every single homework assignment and usually averaged around 95% on them.  I have little doubt this places me at least in the top third of the class, and probably significantly higher than that.  I never had any homework related questions, but if I saw someone post a question that I had a good answer for I would answer it without hesitation.  I never procrastinated.  I generally started and finished the homework within a 90 minute time frame.

Journals: I wrote in depth journals at least twice a week every week detailing my progress in the course, and letting you know any feedback or ideas I had that I thought you might find to be of interest. I felt like you would have a good idea of where I was in the class at any given time by reading my journal entries.

Stargazing: I made sure to stargaze at least two times a week every week except one where I was unable to get out for several consecutive nights.  On that particular instance I stargazed 4 times on the following week to make up for lost time. I tried to provide interesting factoids about my observations when possible, and when the weather was uncooperative I tried to explain what my plans were to have been. I frequently used the software to plan in advance and never disappeared for an extended period of time.

Articles: I posted an article every week and read through and responded to the articles of two other students that I found to be of interest.  They were always in the proper format, of interesting subject matter and explored the material in a way as to draw others into what I had found so interesting about them.  I tried to be provocative in my responses to others.

Participation: I posted both early and often, while frequently starting interesting discussions.  My thought provoking questions certainly seemed to provoke others to think and when others posted interesting queries I didn't hesitate to respond to them.  I never failed to express my opinion about any relevant subject I had an opinion on, and I didn't cut a paste anything.

Motivation/Leadership: I posted several times a week in the general forum, and attempted to lead and to motivate others through my posts into giving me interesting responses. Others frequently responded to me and I felt like I helped a lot in drawing others into interesting conversations.  It was easy to stay highly motivated during the entire class given how interesting the subject matter was.

General: I really enjoyed this class and I felt like this contributed greatly to how willing I was to invest more time into it. Usually with online classes I've found myself putting in minimal effort, but this one was different and drove me to study harder.  This was predominantly a characteristic of how interesting the subject matter was. I think I did an excellent job overall in this class, and it seems to me to be a find way to end my community college career before moving on to a four year university.  I believe I earned a 4.0 in this class due to outstanding achievement in all of the areas of the class.

 

An excellent grade eval, but missing overall summary and plan for improvement

This student demonstrated a passion for learning throughout the quarter, was a leader in most aspects of the class, and finished off with an excellent grade eval, clearly worthy of a 4.0.

I gave myself all 3s, so the grade calculator gave me a 4.0

Here’s my reasoning for that grade.

 

Midterm—From your standards (5 or more above average = 3), I got a 3 on the midterm.  I felt very apprehensive about it, because I hadn’t been reading all of the lecture notes.  But when I read how others in the class were studying, I knew I had to work harder.  I read through all the lecture notes—most of them several times—and reviewed key points from the chapters.  I did not use my book or any other outside sources, but was pleasantly surprised to find that as I read the questions on the test, I knew most of the answers.  My score demonstrates the hard work I put in after some low scores at the beginning of the quarter.

 

Final—I gave myself a 3 for the final because I’m consistently spending more time studying now than I did before the midterm.  I’m learning a lot, and I know most of the information is sticking, because I’ve been able to answer some of the other students’ questions on the discussion boards.

 

Homework—The very first homework assignment was a bit shocking.  I’m a 4.0 student for the second year in a row here at Highline, but I’ve never taken an online class.  I scored significantly below average on that first assignment.  Lots of my earlier journal entries show the horror and discouragement I was feeling from missing lots of questions on the homework.  However, I have changed my study habits significantly, mostly through trial and error.  I’ve spent more time figuring out how to study for this class than any other class at Highline, but it’s paid off.  On every homework assignment except the first one I have scored significantly higher than the class average.  For the most part, every week I would miss fewer questions.  My scores on the homework show how I have applied myself in an effort to redeem my poor performance that first week.  I applied the advice in the syllabus about perfectionism and procrastination, and the result is a homework grade I am proud of.

 

Journal—I gave myself a 3 for journal.  I posted twice almost every week (I think there were one or two weeks where I posted more or less).  Yes, there were a few stressed-out posts that may have sounded whiny.  Yes, there were posts I forgot to put the date on.  I apologize for both of those things.  They were the downfall of my early journals.  But, as I have previously said, this quarter was all about learning, and not just about astronomy. My journals became more positive (and had dates at the top, just like the syllabus said) as the quarter went on.

 

Stargazing—The stargazing definitely scared me the most about this course.  It’s the first week of the quarter, the middle of winter, raining or cloudy every night, and I remember thinking, “How can this possibly work?”  But, the syllabus said we could post about other aspects of the weather if we couldn’t see the stars.  There were a few weeks when I had to do that, but for the most part I braved the cold to observe constellations.  I learned so much from watching the stars—it became my favorite aspect of class.  I can point out constellations to my friends.  I can’t wait for summer to spend time stargazing without having my face get numb from the cold!  I didn’t post more than twice each week because honestly, stargazing posts tended to be the most redundant.  But I did try to make my posts helpful to other students—asking questions, giving tips on what’s visible, and posting links to helpful sites.  When other students posted with those things, I enjoyed it much more than the typical “I found _______ constellation.” or, “It was cloudy again.” 

 

Presentation/articles—I posted an article every week except one (I believe), and the following week I posted several.  I read a lot of other people’s articles and tried to comment with more than “That was interesting.”  I tried to ask questions whenever I could.

 

General Participation—As with my other categories, I’ve shown improvement in general participation.  It took me a couple of weeks to figure out the general forum—what to post, how often, etc.  Once I started reading the chapters earlier and earlier in the week, however, I found it was a great place to interact with the other students.  Classroom interaction is difficult to replace in an online class, but the forum was surprisingly helpful.  I posted some links I had found helpful, answered some questions, and posted questions.  Toward the end of the quarter, I tried to be more creative with my questions so the class would enjoy them as well as learning from them.


Motivation/leadership—As evident from the other categories, I have learned a lot from this class.  My motivation has steadily improved from the beginning of the quarter (and I was excited to begin with).  Even my early posts were usually enthusiastic about my discoveries, and they have progressed from there.  As far as leadership goes, I have done my best to post things that make other students think.  I have tried to discuss topics with them when I comment, and to prompt their discussions when I post my own entries.  This is what I would want from other students in the class.  The students who posted like this are the ones I see as leaders.  They are the ones who help me learn, who urge me to think more deeply about the topics we’re covering.  I feel that I have been one of these students, one who tries to urge her fellow students to enjoy the class and think at a more critical level.

Another excellent grade eval

This student was a pleasure to have in class, no doubt had a very positive influence on peers, and has clearly discovered the secret to being happy in life--a passion for learning and growing.

Grade Calculator: 2.9

Throughout the quarter I have tried my best to do well on every aspect and now it’s time to see how I did and what grade would my effort earn. Isn’t it such a great opportunity!
 
Exams (midterm and final: 2): Before taking the midterm, I thought I prepared well for it, but the score 65% told me that I did not try hard enough and I had to change my study habits. Knowing that memorization does not work for this class, but I still used it to prepare for the midterm. Since I learned a good lesson, after taking the midterm, I invested more time into understanding the principles and the qualitative concepts behind them. I asked a lot of why’s questions while reading the book and lecture notes in order to gain a deeper and longer-lasting understanding of astronomy and eliminate memorization. While studying for the final, I keep remind myself: “Do not memorize, but internalize”. I have been working so hard on reviewing for the final, but I’m afraid I might leave out some subjects and these subjects are appeared on the final exam’s questions. So, I gave myself a 2 for both the final and the midterm sections.
 
Homework: Although weekly homework dues at the end of the week (Sunday), I usually started doing it at the beginning of the week (Monday) and then kept continuing each day until I completed it. I tried to find the answers in the book as much as possible and when it was necessary I referred to other resources (mostly internet). Since I gave myself plenty of time to complete the homework and I never procrastinated, my weekly homework was submitted before or by the due date and averaged around 95%. Besides, when I saw someone post a question that I had a good answer for, I wanted to take a chance to answer it, but I was always one step behind my peers. However, I did contribute my comments and homework-related questions in the General Forum. Thus, I gave myself a 3 for the homework section.
 
Journal: Although it said journals should not take more than 5 minutes per entry, I enjoyed spending my time for at least an hour to “put a little dressing on it”. Every week I wrote two in-depth journals detailing my progress in the class, my feelings, things I have learned and things I were having trouble with. Even though, I had good effort, I think I could have done a little more on identifying areas of strength and weakness and providing some comments about the textbook. Thus, I gave myself a 2.5 for journal section.
 
Stargazing: At first, I found it extremely difficult because I didn’t know what I was looking at; I saw stars but couldn’t name them, but I didn’t give up. I referred to textbook, articles, and some online resources such as stardate.org, earthsky.org, and skyandtelescope.com to help me identify objects in the sky. I always tried to make each observation helpful and interesting even in a cloudy sky by providing background information, relevant links, names and history of stars. I usually observed the sky at 2 (sometimes 3) different times to come up with one report. Comparing to the first time of stargazing, I am now able to name some stars and know where and when to look for the Moon and planets such as Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn.  Although I put some thought and effort into stargazing and share two interesting observations each week with the class, I’m not sure if my guesses made sense or not and I was relied on those resources. Thus, I gave myself a 2.8 for stargazing section.
 
Articles: At the beginning of the week, I submitted only one article and noticed that there wasn’t any response. Then I thought I better change the topic (but still science-related topic) and spend more time to choose interesting topics. Started from the second week to the eleventh week, I submitted two well-format articles each week. I took time to think how to write a “quick blurb” that is just long enough to whet the reader’s appetite. Although it said articles should not take more than 30-60 minutes per week, I usually spent about 2 hours on choosing, reading and writing well-format articles and another 2 hours to read and respond to the articles that others posted. It might seem incredible, but reading articles is knowledgeable and I enjoy spending my time on it and after this class, I will make it become my new habit.  Since I posted two articles each week (except for week 1) and most of my articles received multiple responses, I think I did a good job on this section. Besides, I always provided feedback to my classmates in Article Forum telling that we are so grateful to learn such interesting and helpful information from each other.  Thus, I gave myself a 3.  
 
General participation: Throughout the quarter, I found General Forum so helpful because it is where I can interact with and get help from my instructor and classmates. It’s a helpful tool to help me succeed in this class. So, I tried to participate as much as I could.  It took me a week to figure out how to get involved. Since then, I started posting thought-provoking discussion, insightful questions, and comments related to reading and homework and responding to discussion questions, including DQ’s by instructor. The number of participation each week depended on how I understood the chapter, but usually I did more than it was required. The reason was that I was not only motivated to do a good work, but I would love to motivate others to learn. I thought I did an excellent job on this section, but when I sat down and evaluated my participation, I realized that I didn’t frequently take stands and express opinions and I communicated with some cut-and-paste. Thus, I gave myself a 2.6 for this section.
 
Leadership/Attitude: I’m a hard-working but quiet person. However, I tried to overcome my shyness by participate on the discussion forum as much as I can. I’m shy to speak up in class when I don’t know what to say. Since this class is online and I have time to prepare for what I want to say, I’m not shy to post my comments, questions or answers in discussion forum.   Throughout the quarter I tried my best to learn and to motivate and educate others. For article and participation components I did more than required. Everything that I posted I always made sure that it was helpful so others can be beneficial. However, I don’t think I am one of the leaders because I see some of my classmates are a lot better than me. Thus, I gave myself a 2 for this section.
 
Overall, when it came a chance for me to sit down and look back to see what I did, I realized that I didn’t do as well as I thought. There are still some aspects needed to be improved. Thus, the final grade of 2.9, coming from the grade calculator, seems fair enough to pay off my hard work throughout the quarter. This is my second class giving me an opportunity to evaluate my own grade. Thanks to this “nontraditional” grading scheme, I was not too preoccupied with points, but was strongly encouraged to become independent and self-motivated learner. Thus, my learning and growth will be endless after the class is over and I can’t tell how grateful I am to have such a wonderful opportunity! Big thanks!