Editing User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment (section)

=== Overall case discussion assessment ===

Final grades are computed at the end of the final case using the following algorithm:

# First, I will compute a case grade that is the average of all the questions they have answered using the rubric described above.
# Next, I will subtract 0.2 points on the UW grade scale for every day that a person did not answer a question when called upon (i.e., presumably because people were absent from class without having used the opt-out form). This is the ''baseline case grade''.
# Finally, I ensure that students are never penalized for a relative lack of participation in cold call discussions simply because they were "unlucky." I do this by computing the median number of questions students were asked and then sorting students into three groups:
## First, I identify students who were asked at least the median number of questions. Their course grade is simply their ''baseline case grade.''
## Second, I identify the subset of remaining students who were asked fewer than the median number of questions simply because they were "unlucky" (i.e., were they asked fewer questions ''not'' because they had opted out of participation using the class form more often than their classmates). All these students' grades are also the ''baseline case grade''.
## For the remaining students who participated less than their classmates because they had opted out of doing so, I assess students with no credit (0 points) for the difference between the median and the number of questions the student was asked. For example, if the class median were 3 questions and a student asked only two questions despite being "luckier" than their classmates (i.e., they opted out so much that even my weighting algorithm couldn't make up for things), I would assess students as a zero for 1/3 of their case participation grade and provide them with the ''baseline case grade'' for the two questions they did answer. In the past, the only students in this category have opted out of many case discussions.
<!-- In the past, I have needed to modify the design of case discussions. For example, I have had to move synchronous case discussions into asynchronous online conversations. In these cases, I will communicate an alternate system for discussion and assessment and use it to apply a proportional amount of individual case discussion grades in the course. -->