This is a general page about the Stretch Assignments as part of the CS6440 course. Students will have the option to complete supplementary assignments for points they have missed from other assignments. This gives students the opportunity to “take chances, make mistakes” and also have the opportunity to recover points if unfavorable life events impact their progress in the course.
Requirements & Structure
Stretch Assignments are given at random and are not immediately applied to the grade book. These opportunities are given as they come, so there is no set number of Stretch Assignments that will be given this term, it is completely organic. The assignments will be posted under the Assignments tab under the “Stretch Assignments” heading.
Students can complete as many as they want, even if they don’t need to complete them for points. However, you cannot earn more than 100pts in the course. Points gained from the Stretch Assignments, will only be applied if you have less than 90pts in the course, before Final Grades are given (up to 90pts). To be more specific, these assignments will be graded and applied in their own time, after regular course grades and potential regrades. You will be notified when a set of Stretch Assignments have been graded. Please refrain from requesting a grade or points before you are notified.
Stretch Assignments can range from creating a demo for a new Health IT tool, writing an essay, completing a survey, to creating a small app and so on. Scores will only be given as 0%, 50% or 100% of the Stretch Points. Just completing the stretch assignments will not yield you points. You will have to “stretch yourself” to earn these supplemental points.
Warning! Students are not allowed to complete Stretch Assignments in lieu of other assignments. For instance, if you do not want to work with a team to complete the required Team Project, you cannot just opt for completing Stretch Assignments to supplement your team project grade. We will be checking for this. Another example would be to avoid completing the FHIR Activities (coded, auto-graded activities) with legitimate attempts, by completing Stretch Assignments instead – they will not be counted. The Instructing Team can tell the difference and will request justification when reviewing students final grades. It’s one thing to work hard and put forth legitimate effort on an assignment, score poorly and then gain points from a stretch assignment to help suppliment.
Earning VS. Applying Points
There isn’t a current limit on the number of points you can earn from these Stretch Assignments as this is a new opportunity we are providing this term. We may announce a limit between 10 and 15 points later in the semester if necessary. The number of potential points to be gained and instructions will be added to the assignments themselves in Canvas.
You can earn as many points as you can by completing the Stretch Assignments. After they have been reviewed and graded, you will see how many points you have earned (0%, 50% or 100% of the Stretch Points). Although you could virtually earn endless points, until there is a limit stated, that does not mean that the points will be added to your final grade. At the end of the term, Instructors will review the grades of students that have an overall score of <90pts. From there, an audit will be completed on all of the students’ other assignments (see Warning! above) and then apply points as fitting and necessary.
Scenario #1
Student A has earned 10 points from Stretch Assignments. Instructors have verified that Student A has genuinely attempted all other assignments, etc.
- Participation – 21pts
- Individual Activities – 29pts
- Project – 30pts
Total: 80pts
At the end of the term, those 10pts will be added to Student A’s overall Score of 80pts, yielding a Final Grade of 90pts, resulting in an A in the course.
Scenario #2
Student B has completed “Stretch Assignment #4 (worth a total of 3 points)” during Week 6 of the course. Student B did not need to complete the Stretch Assignment as s/he has gained all points from all of the assignments given thus far. Student B does a good job on the assignment, but not necessarily provide exemplary work, and hence earned a score of 50%. The percentage is converted into points (50% of 3pts is 1.5pts) and therefore, Student B earns 1.5pts stretch points.
Later in the semester Student B does poorly on his/her last quiz during Week 9, scoring only 0.5pts out of 2pts. At the end of the term, Instructors find that this is the only grade keeping Student B from an A in the course. After completing an audit, with no suspicious findings, those 1.5pts were added to Student B’s overall score, resulting in A for the students Final Grade in the Course.
Scenario #3
Student C has earned 12 stretch points by completing Stretch Assignments. Student C does not need any of the earned points to be applied to his/her grade. Student C simply completed the Stretch Assignments to expand on what s/he has been learning throughout the course.