I got a B+ final grade from a [B+, 30%] and [A, 50%] with a remaining 20% participation. What did I get in participation for my final grade to be a B+?

Does the professor have anything in the syllabus about if the grade is teetering on the edge of an A-/B+, they have discretion over which way the grade goes? It could have come down to attendance or something small like that. It might be worth shooting a quick e-mail or visiting them in their office to discuss it so your GPA can correctly reflect your effort.

The answer might depend on knowing what numerical value the instructor equates with the letter grades.

Ok, I tried to estimate this and I came to the conclusion you received a Cor C- on participation.
I don’t know the specific values of each grade but I assumed:
A+=100, A=95, A-=90
B+=89, B=85, B-=80
C+=79, C=75, C-=70
and X=participation grade.
So…
.3(89)+.5(95)+.2X=.89
26.7+47.5+.2X=89
74.2+.2X=89
.2x=89–74.2
.2X=14.8
X=14.8/.2
X=74
74 is between a C and C-
hope this helps.

Wouldn’t it be easier to ask your instructor?

I used a slightly different scale than @pieceofapuzzle , but I also came up with C- for class participation. If you feel that the grade is unfair, you should speak to your teacher. It was always my understanding that class participation was mainly used if a student was on the border between two different grades, which does not hold in your case. Without the class participation, your grade would be between A and A -..

@LostInParadise, I think that’s going to vary with the instructor. I had one who said that class participation is crucial to your grade and who included some kind of class-participation assignment two or three times a week. He graded each one individually and added up the points. I had others who hardly ever entertained class discussion at all.

The key to this question is the individual instructor and not any generality or common experience.

@Jeruba is right, we need to know what constitutes each grade, and then we can do the algebra to figure it out, @pieceofapuzzle provided the format for the equation, and how to solve it, it just needs the right numbers. Or, you can just ask your professor.

Anything from C to D- would have gotten you that average if the professor is using standard college grading with rounding. Anything higher would get you bumped up, and anything lower would get you bumped down.

To everyone who says that @erniefernandez should talk to his teacher, I think this was offered as a mathematics question. Maybe it’s based on real life, maybe it’s not. But the details and topics suggest that we’re being offered this as a puzzle, not as a question about fairness.

@Patton, I suspected that from the wording. But given that the solution appears to depend on starting with numerical values, which are by no means absolutely standardized—or certain from the letter grades (assuming that each one represents a range), it doesn’t seem answerable in those terms.

If you’re right, then our sympathies have been engaged to no purpose, and we’ve been tricked into giving homework help. That would certainly affect my future willingness to offer assistance to the OP.

@Jeruba Tricked into giving homework help? Get over yourself. Classes would have ended before this question was asked, and homework questions are allowed on Fluther.

Disclaimer: This may look extremely confusing for some, so if you don’t want to read everything I wrote, just skip all the way down to “Summary” at the end of my answer.

I’m going to use FGCU’s (university I’m currently attending) grading system to help determine your participation grade. I got the answers for you on what your participation grade was, and what it should have been if you wanted an A-.

First, this is what each grade is worth in points:

A = 4
A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3
B = 3
B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C = 2
C- = 1.7
D+ = 1.3
D = 1
D- = .7
F = 0

Now, the equation:

Grade 1 (10%) + Grade 2 (10%) + Grade 3 (10%) + Grade 4 (50%) + Participation Grade = Final Grade in Points

Plug numbers in, and solve:

3.7 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 4 (50%) + ? = 3.3
.37 + .33 + .33 + 2 + ? = 3.3
3.03 + ? = 3.3
3.3 – 3.03 = .27
.27 / 20% = 1.35, or, for this case, about 1.3, which would be a D+.

Plug answer back in to check for problems:

3.7 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 4 (50%) + 1.35 (20%) = 3.3
.37 + .33 + .33 + 2 + .27 = 3.3
.7 + 2.33 + .27 = 3.3
3.03 + .27 = 3.3
3.3 = 3.3

Everything checks out.

Therefore, based on my equation, I can pretty much guarantee you that your professor gave you a “D+” for your participation grade. I will bring this up again later.

Now, as for what the minimum grade should have been, let’s do it all again to see what you should have done to get an A- or an A.

First, A-:

3.7 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 4 (50%) + Partcipation = 3.7
.37 + .33 + .33 + 2 + Participation = 3.7
3.03 + Participation = 3.7
3.7 – 3.03 = .67
.67 / 20% = 3.35, or by FGCU’s standards, 3.3, which is a B+.

Plug back in to check work:
3.7 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 4 (50%) + 3.3 (20%) = 3.7
.37 + .33 + .33 + 2 + .67 = 3.7
.7 + 2.33 + .67 = 3.7
3.03 + .67 = 3.7
3.7 = 3.7

Both sides check out. Therefore, you would have needed a B+ in participation to have gotten an A- with the way all your other grades went.

Now, for A:

3.7 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 3.3 (10%) + 4 (50%) + Participation = 4
.37 + .33 + .33 + 2 + Participation = 4
3.03 + Participation = 4
4 – 3.03 = .97
.97 / 20% = 4.85

Since the scale only goes to 4, and the amount of points minimum you would have needed is over that, I can declare to you that it was impossible for you to receive an A in this class with how everything else played out.

Summary:

1) With a real grade of B+, I was able to determine that your real “Participation Grade” is D+.

2) For you to have gotten an A- in this course, you would have needed to get a B+ in “Participation.”

3) It was impossible for you to get an A in this class, no matter how good your “Participation Grade” was.

Don’t be ashamed bro. B+ is still a great grade (unless your a straight A student). Hope all of this helps.