10/19/04

A student writes:

     Professor Patt,
     I was just wondering, is there a place where I can see all my grades
     together? I ask this, because in a class as large as ours, I worry that
     perhaps some of my homework was not counted, as when you do it in a
     group, the graders may miss a name occasionally.

     Thanks,

     << name withheld to protect the worried >>

Right now, there is no place where you can check your grades. However, if you keep all the graded work that is returned to you, and perhaps (if you are overly worried) a xerox copy of the record of your problem set with the grade and the names of all the students in the study group, you can stop worrying.

I am working on a convenient mechanism for allowing you to check your grades which does not violate any federal privacy laws, and is not a time sink for the students who enter the grades. This will happen as soon as I am convinced that I have the best one for our purposes. Yes, I know about Blackboard.

If you have received the grades on your work, you know how you are doing in the course. We have worked long into the night to get your work graded promptly. The ONLY reason for you to worry is if we made a mistake in recording your grades, and the ONLY time that matters is when I assign your final grade in the course. I will be sure to give you a chance to check what grades we have recorded for you before I assign final grades in the course. And, obviously, any grade that has been recorded incorrectly will be corrected.

If this presents a hardship for anyone, please let me know.

Yale Patt