Statistics 250H

Homework Grading policy

Homework assignments will receive a numerical score of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, with the grade equivalents of these scores as follows:

Score: 01234
Grade: 0%10%50%90%100%

The grader will check for correctness of answers and also evaluate the form in which solutions are submitted. Scores will be assigned according to the following table:

Answers
only
Answers plus some
supporting work
Enough written
to stand alone
None correct 012
Some correct 023
Most correct 124

Late work:Your score shifts one box to the left in the table above for each weekday it is late. No homework will be accepted more than two days late. (Note: These are weekdays, not class meeting days).

Clearly, your grades will be highest if everything you turn in falls into the rightmost column of the table. When writing your solutions, remember that everything you write should form a complete thought. As a rule of thumb, an intelligent reader should be able to infer the general nature of the question asked, if not the details, from what you write. Complete thoughts may be expressed in many ways, even using mathematical symbols, and grammar isn't necessarily paramount (though I encourage you to pay attention to your grammar; in science, communicating results is almost as important as the work itself). Here are some simple examples:

  1. Why did the chicken cross the road?
      Bad: To get to the other side
      Good: The chicken crossed the road to get to the other side.
  2. What is 2+3?
      Bad: 5
      Good: 2+3=5
  3. If X is the number of times we get an odd number in 100 rolls of a fair 6-sided die, what is the variance of X?
      Bad: 25
      Mediocre: 100(.5)(.5)=25
      Good: Since X is binomial with n=100 and p=1/2, Var(X)=np(1-p)=25.

dhunter@stat.psu.edu