Course Work
Assignments will be posted on the course web page.
Course work will consist of
- Problem sets
- Midterm and Final exams
- A class project
- Class participation
The participation component is to encourage engagement in class,
in whatever form that may take
over the course of the semester.
Students registered for ASTR/PHYS 428 will encounter additional problems
on the problem sets and exams.
Grades
Grades will be on a curve. The highest performing students will receive the
highest grades, and vice-versa. The absolute scale is irrelavant.
| Problem Sets | Midterm Exams | Final Exam | Project | Participation |
|---|
| Number | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Total weight | 23% | 20% | 20% | 15% | 22% |
I will review the situation at the end of the semester to check whether this
weighting scheme remains fair.
Problem Sets
Grading will be on a best-effort basis: you get credit for making a serious
effort at each problem posed. The point of these exercises is to develop
your intuition as a budding cosmologist and gain an appreciation for the sorts
of problems that the field faces. Collaboration with your peers is encouraged
provided that the final submitted work is your own.
Exams
Exams will be closed book. You are allowed a [dumb]
calculator and a writing instrument. You are also allowed a formula
sheet that is whatever you can fit on one side of one 8.5 x 11" piece of paper.
These are cumulative through the semester: one page for the first exam;
that plus another page for the second exam; one more for the final.
Course Project
The course project is described separately.
Grading will include personalized feedback.
Class Participation
Showing up may be 80% of life, but it is 22% of this course grade.
This is the number of class meetings that are not exams or reviews or
holidays or what not. Asking questions will be rewarded; missing class
will be penalized.
Missed Assignments
The first rule of missing assignemnts and exams is don't.
If you do fall ill or suffer some other tragedy at exam time,
let me know ASAP (before the exam happens) that you will be unable to attend,
and we'll see what can be arranged. This is to be avoided if at all possible.
There will be no make-ups and no extra credit outside the regular assignments.
Academic Integrity
Academic inegrity
is important. It is essential that you do your own work. Ultimately, that is
the only way to learn. If, for example, you rely on friends or AI for answers, you won't
know how to tell when it is right and when it is wrong, nor will you be able to
perform well on your own (e.g., on the exams).