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Following my class’s mid-term examination, students been graded on just under one-third of the total points they can accumulate during the semester. The mid-term examination is worth 20% of the course grade. That figure is large enough to alert a student to possible challenges. It is also sufficiently small to allow a student ample opportunity to recover and pass the course.

After scoring the mid-term exam, students who fail or perform poorly are invited to discuss the results of the exam and their performance to date. They are also provided with raw final grade scenarios based on the most common outcomes on the two big pieces of work remaining: the research paper (25% of the course grade) and the final exam (40% of the course grade). That information allows them to assess their own prospects in an objective fashion and to set realistic targets that would enable them to pass the course and, preferably, earn a grade that meets their expectations.

Below is the chart that is given to such students: