A Note on Rounding in Fantasy & Science Fiction
Students sometimes ask how the point system in these courses handles rounding. Since there are no partial points available for the longer papers or participation, this question applies only to the handling of the points for the shorter papers. When the shorter paper points are first added together, no rounding occurs. Thus, a student with a shorter paper total of 3.9 (say three checks and three .3s) has exactly 3.9 and a student with a shorter paper total of 8.6 (say eight checks and two .3s) has exactly 8.6. If both the shorter point total and the longer point total meet or exceed the minima for passing the course (4 and 2 points respectively), then the shorter paper total is added to the longer paper total and to the participation grade to produce a course total. If either the shorter paper total or the longer paper total does not meet or exceed their respective minima, the course grade automatically is E. In the first hypothetical case, where the shorter paper total was 3.9, regardless of the longer paper total and particaption grade, the course grade would be E. In the second hypothetical case, let us also assume a 4 point total for the longer papers and 1 point for participation, yielding a course total of 13.6. At the time the course total is translated into a grade, the total is rounded up from .5 or above and down from .4 or below. Thus, in the second hypothetical case, 13.6 would become 14 and yield a course grade of B+. Had the shorter paper total been 8.3, rounding would have brought the course total to 13 and yielded a course grade of B.
I hope this helps clarify any doubts you may have had about rounding. If not, please let me know.