Attendance and Making-Up Graded Activities
Occasionally you might need to be absent from class
for a good reason, and it might cause you to miss a quiz and/or an in-class
activity. Attendance is not required for the course, nor does it play a
direct part in the course grade. However, if you are absent for a quiz,
or if your turn comes up for an in-class activity when you are absent,
you will get a grade of zero for that quiz or activity.
One might normally expect to be able to make up
a quiz or activity missed due to an excused absence (i.e., an absence for
a legitimate reason such as illness). However, the large number of quizzes
and in-class activities would entail a unreasonably large amount of time
and effort spent on negotiating excuses and administering and grading make-up
assignments. Therefore, the policy for this class must be:
No make-ups for missed quizzes or in-class activities. As an alternative,
when final grades are computed for the course, I will drop the lowest quiz
grade and the lowest in-class activity grade. If more compensation is appropriate,
I will consider dropping more grades. Also, the course grades will be curved,
so your missed classes will probably average out with those of the other
students. Thus, if your absences are infrequent, it shouldn't have a significant
effect on your course grade.
If you have to miss class for an extended period
due to a protracted illness or similar reason, we will treat your needs
as a special case and I will do everything I can to help you recover lost
ground.