On the document assignment, I gave grades and plus grades (A+, A, B+, B, etc.) Here’s how the grade scale worked out, approximately:

Grade Level	distribution
A	5%
B	25%
C	20%
D	35%
F	15%

On the test, I gave plus and minus grades (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc) which translate into a 100 point scale in my gradebook (100, 96, 92, 88, 85, 82, etc., down to 58, 55, 50 for F-level). The high score in the class was 47.8 out of a possible 50, not counting extra credit, so for simplicity sake I used 47.5 as the 100% mark (if you’re not sure whether that helped you, just double your raw score to get your percentage score before the adjustment). The median score was on the D/D+ border meaning that about as many people got above a D+ or above as a D or below; the average score was on the D+/C- border. The extra credit was worth up to 3 points: About half of the people who attempted extra credit went up one grade level (B to B+, etc.) and about a third went up two grade levels (B- to B+, etc.). Here’s how the grade scale worked out:

Grade	minimum points	distribution
A+	47.5
A	44.5	12%
A-	42.75
B+	41.2
B	39.5	12%
B-	38
C+	36.5
C	34.75	24%
C-	33.25
D+	31.75
D	30	24%
D-	28.5
F+	27
F	23.75	28%
F-	Below 23.75

Obviously, this is a somewhat disappointing result, but it’s only the first test of five, so those of you struggling with this one will have lots of chances to improve your overall grade.