Here are the activities that will contribute to your overall grade:
Excel Projects: 10% of your grade
More and more, second interviews with employers include an opportunity to show your ability in using Excel. Just glance through the job listings online, and you will see that 90% of the listings will specifically state experience with Excel. This semester, you will gain some experience working with the program, especially in setting up spreadsheets and using them to apply the things we are learning in class. This work is to be completed by you, and while you can discuss the problem with other students, any copied work will be failed. I fully expect that this may take a bit more time if you don’t have previous experience with Excel, and it may take longer in the beginning while you learn the myriad shortcuts that make Excel so efficient. However, I provide a detailed PowerPoint demonstration walking you through the completion of each assignment. Here are the rules for the assignments:
1- The assignments are posted on the “Assignment” tab of Canvas, or you can reach them by clicking the link on the Modules tab. Also, all the files are in the folder for the week of class in which the assignment is given.
2- Your assignments will be due at midnight on the day given in the syllabus. To turn them in, you will be able to upload them on the assignment page.
3- Grading will be pretty lenient, as I am really only interested in getting you to work with Excel, and not so much getting the exact answer I do. Therefore, there is no need to copy someone else’s work. If you copy another student’s work, you will get an F for the class. If you give someone your file to work off of, you will get a zero for that assignment.
Two Group Write-ups: 10% of your grade
One of the worst things in the business world is that you inevitably have to work with people. Over the course of the semester, I am going to have you work in groups to complete two projects that allow you to demonstrate understanding of the material we are covering. You may distribute the work for each of these projects however you wish, but I hope each team member will try to work the cases independently and then come together as a group to complete the project for submission. Each assignment will be worth five percent of your grade.
I want to make clear that participation in these projects are not optional! You cannot decide to just write off these points and not work with your group. That type of selfish behavior is exactly what we don’t want from our graduates, and I reserve the right to fail you in the class completely for non-participation! (See grading percentages at the bottom of this section)
I expect that the work for these write-ups will take about two or three hours on your own, and a couple hours with your group, and will be no longer than two pages, double-spaced text and any additional tables for the write-ups. Your write-ups will be evaluated for correctness, and professionalism. If the writing is abysmal with many spelling errors, you can expect a lower grade. I do expect that you will turn in something that would not embarrass you to submit to a future employer or client. There is a rubric on Canvas accompanying each of the group assignments.
Please understand that unlike the Excel assignments, these will be graded as to quality of analysis, accuracy and quality of presentation. When turning in these assignments, please include the name of everyone on the team who contributed to completing the project so they will get full credit. Anyone not listed on the project will receive a zero for that project.
Quizzes: 10% of your grade
These quizzes are simply to help you evaluate how well you understand the material. They are not timed and you are welcome to use whatever materials you wish as you work them. They are more auto-graded homework than true quizzes. They are graded on a pass/fail basis. If you score higher than 80% on them, you will get the full points. If you do worse than 80%, you will need to take it again and fix the ones you missed and then receive full credit. If you don’t take it again, it will be converted to a zero. However, these quizzes are worded very similarly to what you will see on the exams, and are thus excellent preparation!
Four non-cumulative exams: 70% of your grade
The four exams are each based on the material covering the modules preceding the exam. While they are not comprehensive, there will be elements, such as calculating the WACC, which will carry through each of the exams. But in general, the practice sets will be the best preparation for what to expect on the exam itself.
Grading Components:
Exam 1: 10%
Exam 2: 20%
Exam 3: 20%
Exam 4: 20%
Group Projects: 10%
Excel Projects: 10%
Quizzes: 10%
Non-Participation on Group Projects: -40%
I will not necessarily use the traditional grading scale in assigning + or – to your grades. You can find a copy of my grading scale on the Canvas site. It is normal at the top, and if you score above 90%, it will at least be an A-. But I have a wider range for B than traditional, with the cutoff for B- at 73%. The cutoff for passing the class is set at 63%, which is the lower bound for a C. Most student’s grades will fall between 70-85%, so please don’t feel like a failure if you are in that range. Everyone in the class is smart, and despite that, most will struggle with the material as well.