UBC  ATSC 201 - Meteorology of Storms

Evaluation

Evaluation Weight (%)
Homeworks - Mark based on best 11 out of 12 HWs.  (Except for HW1, all homeworks must be done using a computer spreadsheet or similar application, and then submitted as a pdf to be marked.  All UBC students have free access to Excel.)   For the subset of homeworks that you need to write on paper by hand (such as when you analyze weather maps), you can use the free CamScanner software to take a clean picture of your page with your cell-phone camera, and then submit it as a pdf.
 20
Warm-up Question Set (to do online via the UBC Learning Management System called "Canvas" ) based on Readings -  Mark based on best 21 out of the 25 warm-up sets.   [Most warm-up sets are worth a total of 5 points each.  This is composed of 1 point each for answering Qs 1, 2 & 3, plus 1 point each if Qs 1 & 2 are mostly correct.]  The percentage correct is multiplied by the weight at right.  (See grading rubric below.)
 20
Clicker Participation during the classes.  Mark based on sum of all clicker questions answered.  Only 95% of all possible questions after the first 2 class days are needed to earn full participation marks. 15
Midterm Exam - 50 min, open-book in class , individual exam. (Or if virtual, then Canvas on-line and invigilated with Zoom). See "Assignments" for dates.
 20
Final Exam - Individual portion - open book; 100 minutes (= 1 hr 40 min) in final exam room. Most of this exam will be on new material since the last midterm, and the rest is comprehensive.
20
Final Exam - Group portion - open book; 50 minutes in final exam room. (Same questions as on the Individual final exam.)
 5
TOTAL 100
Bonus marks for  correct Clicker Answers  during the  classes.  Mark based on sum of all correctly answered clicker questions.  Only 95% of all possible correct answers after the first 2 class days are needed to earn full bonus clicker marks. +5
.

Missed or Skipped Assignments: Because I want you to earn  the highest grade possible in ALL your courses, I have included some flexibility in the marking scheme.  As you can see in the table above, you don't need to complete all of the Homework, Warm-up Questions, and Clicker Participation to earn full marks.  Also, there are bonus marks for the course.  That way, if you have an important term paper or exam in some other course, you can skip an assignment in my course to help you budget your time better.  This same flexibility applies to students who missed a few assignments due to illness, family emergency, organized field trips or events off campus, and other valid reasons.

But be careful when you do this, because you will still be responsible for understanding all the topics for the midterm and final exams.  Any assignment turned in late will not be marked, and will count as one of the "skipped" assignments.  So if you are planning to do an assignment, please turn it in on time.  If you haven't finished all of the assignment, turn in the portion that have finished so you can get partial credit.

For students who miss the midterm exam with a valid excuse, we will backfill your missing midterm percentage grade with the percentage grade from your individual final-exam. 

Students who miss the individual final exam with a valid excuse will need to speak to the instructor to arrange a make-up individual final exam.  For years when we include a Group final exam in the grading, students who don't write the individual final exam or don't write the group final exam will be given zero for their Group final exam grade. However, students who write a make-up individual final exam will be given a group-exam percentage grade equal to the average group-exam percentage grade of all the students who wrote the group final exam.  Students who will miss final exams in multiple courses, or who will be absent from all courses for several days, should visit the undergrad advising office for their own faculty to discuss options.

If you get any of the pandemic diseases and experience strong symptoms, then all of your courses will likely be affected. For this situation, please contact the undergrad Advising Office for Your Own Faculty.  They will assess your situation, and if appropriate, they will provide an Academic Concession letter to the instructors in ALL of your courses. This way, you can focus your energy on recovering, without worrying about your courses.  For more info, see  https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/atsc201/A201Home/access.html .

Rubrics

Warm-up Quizzes

For Questions 1 & 2 (max 2 points each):
Points
 Rating
 Response
2
 Excellent Correct, concise, relevant answer written in student's own words.
1.75
 Very Good Minor misunderstandings.  Or mostly correct but English poorly written.  Or just pasted correct answer from textbook or other source.
1.5
 Good Partially correct.  Made a good, sincere attempt.
1.25
 Fair Mostly wrong.  On the right track, but misunderstood the question.
1
 Poor Nothing correct.  Poorly written.  But the response was an attempt to answer the question.
0
 Zero Did not answer.  Or wrote gibberish not related to the question at all.


For Question 3:  One point if listed one or more topics of confusion or difficulty, or stated no difficulties.  Zero points if left blank or entered gibberish.  

For Question 4:  No points.  But if you find errors or typos in the book, I would appreciate it if you could enter the errors in Question 4, so I can fix them in future editions of the book.  Thanks.   

Clickers

One mark for each question that you answer.

Plus one bonus mark for each correct answer. Zero bonus marks for each incorrect answer. Some clicker questions might have more than one right answer -- for which you earn the one mark for any one of the correct answers. Clicker answers are discussed in class immediately after each clicker question.

The sum of those marks is weighted as described in the Evaluation table above.

Written Homeworks

Answers must include all the components as utilized in the Sample Applications in the textbook. Also see descriptions of "Apply", "Evaluate", & "Synthesis" types of exercises on p22, 24 and 25, respectively, of the textbook. Also see the Problem Solving example on the first page of Appendix A of the textbook.   Unless otherwise specified, all homeworks must be solved using a computer spreadsheet or similar application.  For all HWs submitted electronically as a pdf file to Canvas, the marking of your HW will be written as annotations on your pdf file, which you can view on Canvas about a week after the HW was due.

Answer keys for each HW is posted on the Resources tab of this web page roughly a week after the HW was due.

Exams

The point value of each question is listed in the exam.