Grading: Your final grade will be based on a syllabus quiz (1%), three hour exams (28% each), and three assignments (5% each, 15%).
Scores will be posted on Canvas gradebook. Students should regularly check their grades online. If you are missing a grade on gradebook or have found an error, contact your teaching assistant via e-mail right away. You have 7 days to correct gradebook errors from the time that grades are first posted on Canvas. After that we are unable to change scores – absolutely no exceptions.
Syllabus Quiz: You will read carefully through THIS ENTIRE online course website and then take the associated “syllabus quiz” on Canvas. You have an unlimited number of trials to get all the answers correct. This serves to familiarize yourself with the structure of the course. Please note DUE DATE on this assignment is Sunday, January 26th, 2025 at midnight (11:59:59pm).
Exams: Exams will consist of multiple choice, and true and false questions. All three exams are administered during the usual class period (see lecture schedule). Exams cover materials covered since the previous exams. There will NOT be a cumulative final exam during final exam week so, DO NOT be misled by information given on ACES, Duke Hub, etc. regarding final exam times. Disregard that information. If you are excused from an exam, you have 5 days to make-up said exam (this count includes weekend days). ALL make-up exams MUST be scheduled through the Testing Center. Athletes may NOT have their exam make-ups proctored on the road or by third parties (advisers, coaches, etc) – all athletes must make up their exams at the Testing Center. See Missing Exams tab for important information.
Assignments: For the assignments, you will watch four award-winning documentaries on climate change and answer questions about each of them on a Canvas quiz. You can take the associated quizzes as many times as you like before the deadline. In the end, the top three quiz scores will count towards your assignment grade (i.e.: essentially you get to drop one assignment). Late homeworks will not be accepted. For details and due dates see the Assignments tab.
OPTIONAL Review Quizzes: Every lecture topic comes with an optional online Canvas review quiz. They are an excellent part of a solid review and learning strategy for our exams, but should not be viewed as the sole means to study the material. Review quizzes will be made available after each lecture topic (sometimes before) was covered in class and ALL will be closed at midnight, the day before each pertinent exam. They WILL NOT be reopened under ANY circumstances. DO NOT wait until shortly before the exam to take these quizzes! You should take them as soon as they become available to keep up with the material. If you miss the quizzes, regardless of circumstances (I MEAN IT), they will NOT be reopened for you. This applies to make-ups. For example, you fall ill the night before the exam and fail to take any of the quizzes. You reschedule your exam to be taken at the Testing Center a few days later. You will NOT be given access to the review quizzes for an additional period of time (like until you take the exam). Plan accordingly! The review quizzes are available well ahead of time – the deadline is FINAL. Let me repeat, the deadline is FINAL regardless of circumstances. Please don’t even ask. It it disrespectful to all other students who kept the deadline, and the instructor.
Final Grade Cutoffs +/-: Final grade cutoffs will follow this distribution (your final percentage will be rounded to the nearest integer):
A+ 98, 99, 100
A 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97
A- 90, 91
B+ 88, 89
B 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87
B- 80, 81
C+ 78, 79
C 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77
C- 70, 71
D+ 68, 69
D 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
D- 60, 61
F <60
THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO EXTRA CREDIT IN THIS CLASS
(Extra credit is an odd US idiosyncrasy that solicits embarrassed smirks among our international colleagues). There is no such thing as extra credit in the real world work environment.
