Grades

With the Distance Calculus course pedagogy (teaching strategy) based upon Mastery Learning, the concept of grades calculated with point accumulation is not applicable: all of the student's homework is expected to be completed at 100% correct, so getting anything less than an "A" on your homework is not possible.

Accordingly, to base a student's grade (solely) on a proctored, written final exam, is not a realistic and fair assessment of the student's gained knowledge in the course.

Therefore, we have devised the following combination of different evaluations to fairly and accurately determine an earned grade in a Distance Calculus course.

The options for the "C" Grade are intended to accommodate the student who needs to finish the course quickly, and the final grade is of less importance than completing the course post haste.

The 48-hour Take-Home exams are completed independently by the student, under the honor system, with the use of the computer algebra software. These Take-Home exams are a bit more challenging, usually 8-10 questions each, meant to be completed in 2-3 hours student work time, and are not graded recursively. The 48-hour time period is provided to accommodate students with work/family/life schedules that are not necessisarily predictable (i.e. the take-home exams don't take 48 hours to complete!) A very high percentage of students who finish a Distance Calculus course earn an "A" grade; the take-home exams are meant to measure the student's knowledge upon completion of the course, rather than "lower the curve" as they say.

The proctored, written final exam is the same for all three grade levels, and completed without the use of computer algebra software or other notes or aides. This proctored final exam is conducted at the student's location via Skype video call with the instructor, or, alternatively under the supervision of a proctor pre-approved by the instructor. Final Exam proctors are proposed by the student, and must be one of the following:

• a Librarian at a local library (public, or school/college/university), or
• a Teacher at a local school/college/university, or
• an Official at a place of worship (church, temple, mosque, et al.)

[Note: Final Exam proctors at your location are usually very easy to identify and get approved - don't worry about this until you near the completion of your course work.] The proctored final exam is completed within a 2 hour time limit; as our completing students are exceptionally well-prepared, the vast majority of completing students report that the proctored final exam "was easier than I thought it would be."

The Final Video Portfolio is a set of screen videos that the student makes answering a set of questions posed as part of the final exam process. It is similar to "come to the board and complete this problem" as you might be asked to do in a classroom course. Final Video Portfolios are generally 5-10 questions to complete in video format.