The Index...

Here's how the Index works:

I call the roll every day, for reasons that I explain elsewhere in my syllabus.  Most days you'll have something due, a draft, some other smaller piece of writing, reading notes, or a writing response to your reading.  If you're in class and you've got the assignment, it goes into the gradebook as a "5."  If not, it goes in as a "1." 

Over the course of the semester you'll have a considerable number of these 5s and 1s.  These numbers are translated into a percentage in your WebCT gradebook, and you can go to WebCT and check the Index row at any time.

I also use the Index to reward good participation.  For example, if you let us look at your work in class, I usually kick up your 5 to a 7.  If you make a good contribution to the class discussion, I sometimes throw in extra points, as well.  If you don't have much to contribute or you fall asleep in class, I might knock a few points off your 5.  I'll be as fair and even-handed as possible, but I reserve the right to make judgments about how well you're participating in class.

The main thing to remember is that if you come to class every single time, turn everything in, and participate in class in a reasonable manner, your Index will be at least 100, which is exactly what you want it to be.

Since the Index doesn't really assess the quality of your work (except in the case of the short inclass writing that we may do occasionally), merely its physical existence, it should be 90 or higher.  The Index counts as a relatively small portion of your course grade, which means, of course, that even a high Index doesn't guarantee that you'll pass the course--but it helps.

What the Index indicates:

90--100+:  You're doing pretty much everything that you should be doing.

80--89:  Not too bad;  write well and you can probably pass the course with this grade, but don't expect to make an A or B.

70--79:  Am I seeing your best efforts here?  The likelihood of your passing is in question.

0--69:  What do you think?

I'll be checking your Index often;  in fact, it's the first thing I look at when I start to grade your papers.  If it's below about 85 or so, ask yourself if you're really doing your part in this undertaking. 

If you have a question about your Index grade, I’d be happy to discuss it.  But before you ask, consider these points:

Over the course of the semester, your Index grade is a general indicator of how well engaged you are in the course.  At the end of the semester, I consider anything between 90-100 to be more or less the same excellent level of engagement.  In short, I’m pretty much giving you 10 free points to begin with.  Furthermore, since you get a 1 even if you're not in class, that amounts to another 20 points that I'm spotting you at the beginning of the semester.

Remember that there are a number of other events during the semester that give you extra Index points, like when we look at your work in class or when you attend certain events on campus.

If you see a 1 on your Index that indicates you weren’t in class, say, three weeks ago, but you believe that you were, it’s pretty hard to resurrect, three weeks later, whether you were or not.  Are you sure you weren’t late?

At the beginning of each class period I open the gradebook, call the roll, then close it.  If you come in late, it’s too much trouble, and too much of a disturbance, to dig back into the gradebook to correct it.  Besides, punctuality is a fine virtue.  And if you’re late once or twice during the semester the impact on your final Index grade will be very small.

If you got a 1 that indicates that you didn’t post a piece of writing (and you think you did), check to see if it was of the proper length.  And consider whether it was posted on time.

When I’m calling the roll and marking your presence, of course, it’s always possible that I could make a mistake.  But generally I suspect that I’m just about as likely to make a mistake in your favor as against you, so one would think that the mistakes would more or less balance out.

Besides, any mistake I make in marking your 1s and 5s for your Index grade might make the difference between, say, a 99 at the end of the semester and a 97.  But it won’t make the difference between 99 and 69.  And that’s the difference that counts.

So, all in all, while I’m willing to grant that small discrepancies might crop up from time to time in your Index grade, all in all, it’s going to be pretty accurate.  In short, it’s your level of engagement that has, by far, the biggest impact on your Index.

That’s why I don’t like to spend a lot of time quibbling over a 1 or 5, here or there.  It tends to be counter-productive and inefficient.  In the long run, the Index will indicate fairly accurately how well you stayed up with the work in the class.

Nevertheless, if you believe a real error has occurred, make your case via email.   Just send me a note explaining what you think went wrong and why you think your point of view is correct.

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