Assessment and activities table

activity	weight	hours	knowledge area	what is assessed
Homework 1	1	6	basics of materials science	knowledge and skills
Homework 2	1	6	specific materials	knowledge and skills
Homework 3	1	6	specific materials	knowledge and skills
Team project 1	1	4	elemental solids	presentation, discussion, report, revision, teamwork research
Team project 2	1	4	structural types	presentation, discussion, report, revision, teamwork research
Team project 3	1	4	functional materials	presentation, discussion, report, revision, teamwork research
Participation	1	0	materials science	attendance, activity
Exam	2	5	materials science	knowledge and skills (lectures, reading)
Final project	4	25	materials science	presentation, discussion, research, report
Communication	1	0	materials science	scientific communication skills
total	14	60
Classes		50
Reading		50
6 credits		160

Assessment criteria (what is considered as A, see also grading scheme):

Homework: All tasks are completed accurately and in full, without redundancy.
Presentation: Scientific presentation style, content is delivered in full, without redundancy, slides are well organized and properly formatted.
Report: Scientific article style, content is delivered in full, without redundancy, conclusions are fully supported.
Research: Scholarly quality of your work including accurate and supported statements, knowledge of the subject, presented computed and measured data and facts are analyzed and rationalized.
Final project discussions: Ask 3 good questions/comments, bad questions/comments are counted with minus sign, clarifying questions are not counted.
Scientific communication skills: Clearly communicate your thoughts and answer questions using scientific language during presentations and discussions.
Participation: Active participation in all class activities (assessment period is not counted).

Assessment rules:

Become familiar with Skoltech regulations on grading, academic integrity, and attendance.
For written submissions you will get written comments: every critical comment decreases your grade by one level in the row A/B/C/D/F.
For homeworks if, let say, 8 completed tasks correspond to A, then B corresponds to 6.5 completed tasks. If majority of students failed on a given task, that task is excluded from downgrading.
Identical homework solutions are not counted.
Additional homework tasks may be taken during assessment week to improve grades (C and lower): submit a single request for all tasks by email or via shared Google sheet. The deadline is 1 day after you obtained your last homework evaluated. Then all requests are processed and extra homework is uploaded here.
Team projects can be resubmitted by email two times.
Do not forget that any resubmissions or extra tasks can not only increase but also decrease your grade.
Final projects are assessed as follows:
- 40% – written report (75% content, 25% presentation)
- 40% – oral presentation (50% content, 25% presentation, 25% discussion)
- 20% – discussion of other projects