Grading: Your final grade will be based on a syllabus quiz (1%), three hour exams (23% each), five multimedia assignments (5% each, 25%), and an exercise (5%).
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 the instructor via e-mail right away. You have 3 days to correct gradebook errors from the time that grades are first posted on Canvas. After that I am 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 Monday, July 7th, 2025 at midnight (11:59:59pm).
Exams: Exams will consist of multiple choice, and true and false questions. All three exams are administered online via Canvas (be sure to check the lecture schedule for exam dates). Exams cover materials covered since the previous exams, and are open book/open notes. More information will be provided. 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 3 days to make-up said exam (this count includes weekend days).
Multimedia Assignments: There are five assignments, answers to which you will turn in using the Canvas quizzes and testing function. These are worth 25% (5% each) of your final grade. Assignments require watching multimedia over YouTube or Duke Warpwire. You will need a reliable internet connection to watch these.
Exercise Assignment: You will complete a series of exercises focused on solar irradiation, seasons, and Milankovitch Cycles. There are multiple parts to this exercise and they will be due at different times during the semester. More details to come. This exercise is worth 5% of your final grade.
I expect that all of you will do your own work when completing homework assignments. You will be provided with THREE attempts to enter your answers into the relevant Canvas quiz assigned for each assignment UNTIL the deadline. Multimedia Assignments and their relevant quizzes will be made available from the first week of class (but it serves you well to do them as we cover the relevant background materials). Different parts of the exercise will become available throughout the semester. The listed due dates and times for each assignment are final. After you have submitted your answers, sign out of Canvas, sign back in, and check that your submission was successful. Without a valid excuse you are not eligible to make-up missed assignments, however, everyone has the chance to make up or retake ONE assignment (including the solar irradiation exercise) at the end of the class (Wednesday August 6th – Friday, August 8th) without penalty. Details on how to request these opportunities will be provided near the end of the semester.
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.
Here and here are some interesting perspectives on why extra credit is a bad idea. These do not exactly match my personal views but they come close.
