Grading Guidelines for Lab Exercises
Math 2374
rogness@math.umn.edu

What's expected in a Lab Assignment?

One of the goals of this course is for you to be able to think critically about what you've learned and apply it in different settings.  You'll have to do a fair amount of this in your solutions to the lab exercises.  The problems in your book tend to be run-of-the-mill exercises, where you take a process you've learned in lecture and repeat it a few times, perhaps with different functions.  This type of problem is very important -- you can't learn a mathematical concept without actually doing it a few times -- but it doesn't help you apply that knowledge in some other setting, where the problem may not look exactly like those in your textbook.

The other goal of the lab exercises is to teach you to communicate your ideas to others.  As you move on in your studies, your work will become less "run-of-the-mill," and more abstract and detailed.  Being able to communicate your ideas and solutions is an important part of your success.  This is not a writing intensive course, so you don't have to produce pages and pages of output.  But clear writing and careful explanation of your work is a mark of good mathematics, so you also shouldn't expect to hand in a solution with lots of equations, but no words.  In other words, your solutions should be written in complete sentances -- paragraphs, even! -- with the occasional equation or picture interspersed throughout.  This balance is almost the exact opposite of a typical homework problem.  Roughly speaking, an "average" lab exercise should require about a page of work; sometimes less, sometimes more.

Your basic guideline is that a solution to a lab exercise should look something like a detailed example in a textbook.  That means each step should be justified and explained, you should include a picture or diagram which helps the reader understand the problem, and you should somehow check your work and make sure your answer is reasonable if possible.  For example,  if you are supposed to find a function whose graph matches a certain picture, you should verify with Mathematica that your answer produces the correct graph.  Also, in many cases it's possible to get a rough estimate of the correct answer without doing the actual calculations;  if you compute an integral which should definitely have a positive answer, and you get -3 instead, there's a problem.

How will Lab Assignments be Graded?

What follows is a possible grading scheme for a 15 point lab assignment.  Your TA may or may not use this exact scheme, but it's still a good guideline for you to figure out what's expected.  If you have questions about how your TA will evaluate your work, ask her (or him, as the case may be).

60% (9 Points) Mathematical Content
40% (6 Points) Presentation -- 3 Points each for writing and pictures.

(Note that some problems may or may not require a diagram; ask your TA if in doubt.)

Score	Mathematics
9	Nothing is missing.  All questions are answered correctly. and the solutions show real insight into the concepts.
7	Nothing is missing.  All questions are answered, with a few minor mistakes along the way.  Your solutions show that you have a good understanding of the material.
5	Generally accurate mathematics.  Has the basic concepts down, but ran into problems along the way toward a solution.
3	Significant progress is made towards the solutions; or, correct mathematics based upon false assumptions (such as misreading the problems and creating much easier exercises instead).
1	Some reasonable ideas about how to proceed.
0	No work, or work that will not lead to solutions.

Score	Writing	Pictures / Diagrams
3	Clear, complete exposition.  A joy to read.	Good, neatly drawn (or computer generated) pictures which are well labeled and contribute to the reader's understanding of the problem and solution.
2	Adequately organized, with reasonable explanations of mathematical reasoning; references (such as named of theorems used) are given.  Reaonsably neat.	Pictures exist which provide some insight into the problem, or at least document what has been done.
1	Hard to follow and/or poorly organized.  Lacking explanations for  steps in the solution.	Pictures exist, but they do not aid in the understanding of the problem.  Labels may be missing.  Alternatively, there many be too many pictures, which is generally a detriment to the solution.  (Example: a diagram of 5 line segments does not require 5 separate accompanying pictures of each individual line segment.)
0	Illegible or impossible to follow.	Pictures are either missing, or bear no relation to the problem at hand.

Note that these are only guidelines.  In particular, the level of work is not always consistent throughout an entire assignment, which means your TA may have to give you a score based on the "average" level of work.