Photo: Morgan Sackett / NBC.
As you complete activities in this course, you will earn philosophy experience points:
| Activity | Experience Points | Total Points Available | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation | 120 per week* | 1,560 | |
| - Social Annotations | |||
| - Discussion Posts | |||
| Weekly Quizzes | 100 per module | 2,600 | |
| Unit Exams | 1,120 per exam | 6,720 | |
| Total | 10,880 |
* Each week, the sum of your points from the social annotation and the discussion posts are capped at 120 points. I do this because some students are not comfortable using Twitter, and so I don’t want to put them at a disadvantage. As a result, you are free to focus on only one form of participation while still earning full points for that week.
You have entered this class as a New Philosophy Student, but as you do assignments and earn philosophy experience points you will advance to higher levels. The level at which you end the semester will determine your final letter grade in the course:
| Experience Points | Level | Title | Letter Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 999 | 0 | New Philosophy Student | FX | |
| 1,000 to 2,799 | 1 | Philosophy Student | F | |
| 2,800 to 3,799 | 2 | Philosophy Initiate | D | |
| 3,800 to 4,299 | 3 | Philosophy Novice | D+ | |
| 4,300 to 4,799 | 4 | Philosophy Apprentice | C− | |
| 4,800 to 5,299 | 5 | Unemployed Philosopher | C | |
| 5,300 to 5,799 | 6 | Armchair Philosopher | C+ | |
| 5,800 to 6,299 | 7 | Assistant Philosophy Professor | B− | |
| 6,300 to 6,799 | 8 | Associate Philosophy Professor | B | |
| 6,800 to 7,299 | 9 | Philosophy Professor | B+ | |
| 7,300 to 7,799 | 10 | Philosopher Royale | A− | |
| 7,800 or higher | 11 | Philosopher Supreme | A |
This philosophy experience point structure means that you are free to choose some activities and skip others. You are also free to decide how much you want to engage in the course.
Some students will reach the level of Unemployed Philosopher and then vanish. Fair enough! Others will not relent until they are Philosopher Supreme. Great—go for it! In the end, I will support whatever choice you make.