Grades will be based on

• Lab 1: Observational Astronomy (20%)
• Lab 2: Data Reduction and Analysis (20%)
• Short imaging and spectroscopy project (5%)
• Oral exam on lecture material (10%)
• Final project presentation to the class (20%)
• Final project Web page (15%)
• Preparation (10%)

The following lists the grade distribution I have given out the last five times I have taught this class. These may not reflect the totals compiled by the Registrar because some students may have taken the course pass/fail, but professors do not know this when assigning grades. The compilation does not reflect grades of students who dropped before the add/drop date, or those who were in another section of the class from what I taught.

Asterisks indicate students who later applied to and were accepted into graduate school in astronomy. Note the strong correlation between doing well in this class and continuing on to a career in astronomy. Essentially all of the remaining students with above average grades had other majors, chose different career paths upon graduation, or have yet to apply to graduate school.

       X
       X
    X  X   X
    *  X   X
    *  X   X
    *  X   X      X   X
    *  X   X   X  X   X
    *  *   X   X  X   X   X             X
X   *  *   *   X  X   X   X  X          X
-------------------------------------------
A+  A  A-  B+  B  B-  C+  C  C-  D+  D  F

The median is a B+ and the mean GPA is 3.07.