Access CourseWorks Gradebook (Students only; requires CU login).
Planet Earth follows the following grading policy, derived from that used by the Barnard Department of Environmental Sciences:
| A+ | Highly exceptional, rare performance |
| A | Outstanding achievement |
| A- | Excellent work, exceeds course expectations |
| B+ | Very good work, meets all course expectations |
| B | Good work, meets most course expectations |
| B- | Work meets major course expectations |
| C+ | Fair achievement, but below what is generally expected |
| C | Acceptable achievement |
| C- | Barely acceptable achievement |
| D | Lowest achievement to allow for pass |
| F | Failure. |
Note that under this grading policy, it is not very easy to get an 'A.' It is definitely possible to fail. The majority of students get B's or C's.
Following is the distribution of grades for a recent year. Note that there is a huge range of performance, with the worst students earning less than half as many points as the best students. In most cases, the students earning F's and D's neglected to do a significant portion of the required work.
Review Course Requirements.
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Check out the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Web Site.
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Updated: January 9, 2003
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