What are the different Certificate levels?

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According to a previously sent e-mail, and this forum post: link, it seems that each individual will receive a certificate based on the number of questions he/she correctly answers on the final. I have tried looking, but I could not find any details as to what these different 'levels' are. Does anyone have more information on this?

I apologize if the answer to this question is already posted somewhere. Please kindly direct me to it.

asked 04 Apr '12, 14:16

Richie's gravatar image

Richie
3314914
accept rate: 25%

1

Yep, this is the question of the week. That language insinuates that the final is all that matters regarding an end grade. Just curious, before I get jumped on for caring about grades rather than learning!

(04 Apr '12, 14:19) christopher ... christopher%20bijalba's gravatar image
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The certificate is really worthless compared to the learning (that's true about anything else in life). People shouldn't worry about it.

(04 Apr '12, 14:34) username username's gravatar image
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Wow, even in light of the disclaimer Just curious, before I get jumped on for caring about grades rather than learning!

How dare I actually care about the system of how performance is measured in a computer science class that has an intricate performance measuring system. Maybe I don't care about the certificate itself, but I like to see and think about the system behind them?

(04 Apr '12, 14:36) christopher ... christopher%20bijalba's gravatar image
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That's not what I meant, tracking performance is the one of the foremost reasons I love Udacity.
For example, you've just earned yourself 10% crankiness. I'm just kidding ;)

(04 Apr '12, 14:40) username username's gravatar image
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Though I understand you @bijalba and am curious myself, it's probably better not get cynic about that, it'll only lead to everybody jumping ... I think everyone should have the right to be or not to be interested in ratings if one doesn't take it toooo seriously (offending staff and such).
[EDIT] It seems one can also entertain both views at once, comparing comments and answers, ;-) !

(04 Apr '12, 14:42) Monty Monty's gravatar image
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I do agree that the learning is what matters. This class is actually the first 'online' course I have taken. Thus, the idea of receiving a certificate grants me a feeling of excitement and accomplishment. While it doesn't necessarily mean anything 'in the real world (yet!),' it is a personal triumph. I know this may sound extremely shallow, but I can't help feeling this way.

On another note, I am curious as to why having the different levels are necessary. Most courses are generally PASS/FAIL. If one meets the requirements for passing, he/she passes. If one does not, then he/she fails. So perhaps the different levels act as some type of 'grade'?

(04 Apr '12, 14:45) Richie Richie's gravatar image
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If final grading is done “only" based upon the final exam, then what about those people who spent late nights and weekends to work out the "Home Work" problems? It gives an indication that “Home Work” problems are useless.

(04 Apr '12, 14:46) Snehasish Ba... Snehasish%20Barman's gravatar image
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@Snehasish It's not based only on the exam (unless your hw grades have been low, then they won't count). It's been covered before.

@ everyone else - Way to be misunderstood... I guess I'll just say it again - I love the grading system. But it's just like a highscore in some game, it's (in most cases) worthless, but I sure like the good feeling of getting it. Seriously guys...

(04 Apr '12, 14:53) username username's gravatar image
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Quote from the FAQ (http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs101/CourseRev/feb2012#q10):

How will my final grade be determined?
Your final grade will be the maximum of two different calculations. The first is determined 50% based on the homework assignments and 50% based on the final exam. For the homework assignments, your lowest homework score will be dropped. The remaining five homework assignments will count equally, as 10% of your total grade each. The alternative weighting is based 100% on the final exam. This allows students starting late to still earn a perfect score in the class.

(14 Apr '12, 07:24) Hendrik Venn... Hendrik%20Vennekate's gravatar image
1

@Snehasish, do you think you would have been able to ace the exam if you hadn't spent all those late nights doing the homework assignments? I know I wouldn't.

(14 Apr '12, 14:41) JFreegman JFreegman's gravatar image

9 Answers:
15

Whatever its value to others I'll be framing mine and putting it on the wall.

I found the delivery mechanisms of this online course very engaging and felt a genuine sense of achievement with the progress I made.

Well done and thank you to all those involved in making this course possible.

link

answered 14 Apr '12, 07:29

John%20Hegarty-1's gravatar image

John Hegarty-1
248118

Hope, the certificate features bunnies and/or toasters.

link

answered 14 Apr '12, 16:02

David's gravatar image

David
1.2k3735

2

Hope the certificate for Peter Norvig's course will feature a hawaian shirt !

(22 Apr '12, 14:58) Olivier GERARD Olivier%20GERARD's gravatar image

I showed a friend the certificate and levels and he asked: What percentage of people got each level. That's a fairly useful question, though I recognize that the purpose of the class is to have everyone succeed, so it's not necessarily a problem if a large amount of people get high scores (unlike a college class graded to a curve).

link

answered 22 Apr '12, 16:57

Graeme's gravatar image

Graeme
5.9k214895

2

That would be nice to know! But I'm an 'A' junkie from long ago. If I don't get an 'A' I feel that I've failed... And there's the competitive aspect, that we've been ingrained with for all our academic career. It's nice to let that all drop away, truly.

(22 Apr '12, 18:51) Rafael Esper... Rafael%20Espericueta's gravatar image
1

We just need to know. Udacity gets a lot of data from us, so we should at least get a few basic data from them as well.

(22 Apr '12, 18:53) Tom Vandenbosch Tom%20Vandenbosch's gravatar image

If Peter will happen to see this post:

I wonder, in the email it says: "the highest distinction will require answering some of the Starred questions in addition to the Regular questions.".
How many is exactly "some"?

link

answered 04 Apr '12, 14:30

username's gravatar image

username
6.1k1024102

1

You ask this after saying "The certificate is really worthless compared to the learning (that's true about anything else in life). People shouldn't worry about it." above? M'kay!

(04 Apr '12, 14:38) christopher ... christopher%20bijalba's gravatar image
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Actually, I have asked this before saying what you have so gracefully quoted. M'kay indeed.

(04 Apr '12, 14:58) username username's gravatar image
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Well I got only 7.1starred wrong so I am hopeful for a top level certificate.

(14 Apr '12, 09:48) DJOldskool-1 DJOldskool-1's gravatar image
1

I'm guess at least two correct, otherwise it would say 'one', or 'all'.

(15 Apr '12, 07:58) Scooter Scooter's gravatar image
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Technically "some" can also mean one, but we'll know exactly what they meant pretty soon.

(15 Apr '12, 08:13) username username's gravatar image

I'm guessing that they might offer the Certificate with Distinction, the Certificate with Merit, etc. -- something like the British uni system.

link

answered 14 Apr '12, 12:15

mondstein's gravatar image

mondstein
1.1k11243

1

I was thinking the same thing, some courses in the UK give a Pass, Credit or Distinction.

(14 Apr '12, 13:34) DJOldskool-1 DJOldskool-1's gravatar image
1

We shall soon find out! :-)

(14 Apr '12, 14:31) mondstein mondstein's gravatar image

Whatever grades I get , I will be happy with the constant work I have done here by directing me from my other life to the Introduction of Python for the first time . And I know I learnt a lot from this and I am going to continue learning python this summer, This cs101 was just a gist for me to such a beautiful and dynamic language.

And yeah , I will never forget to add "Completing CS101" -by great professors as one of the "achievements" in my resume.

Thanks Udacity.

link

answered 14 Apr '12, 14:47

Estilo's gravatar image

Estilo
15151026

edited 14 Apr '12, 14:48

This is what I was told by a trusted source:
If you solve at least 3 regular final questions, you will get a certificate of accomplishment that indicates you have learned a lot. If you solve more than 3 regular questions of the Final Exam, you will receive a regular certificate, a little higher than the first level. If you solve most of the regular + some of the starred questions, you will receive the highest certificate of distinction meaning you perhaps had the highest skills at the end of the course. Hope this helps.

link

answered 04 Apr '12, 14:25

Eenvincible's gravatar image

Eenvincible
3.6k164179

edited 04 Apr '12, 14:25

2

That's what's in the email + link shown in the original post. It's a bit frustrating as it is vague as to what "most" of the regular and "some" of the starred means. Is most >50% and some >=1? O_O What's especially odd is how vague this is in light of it being a CS course dealing with exactitudes!

(04 Apr '12, 14:28) christopher ... christopher%20bijalba's gravatar image
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I think the most important thing is to do your best. If you knew the answers to all the questions, you wouldn't be bothered by certificate levels right? Just do them as if you were not going to earn a certificate at all. It does not mean that if you knew that you will get the highest distinction cert by solving only 1, you will choose to ignore the rest of the questions....no offense!

(04 Apr '12, 14:39) Eenvincible Eenvincible's gravatar image
1

I hope certificates aren't only based off the final.

I had a heavy work week during the final and didn't even get a chance to do the starred questions. Hence i also didn't get to spend a lot of time making the code to my answers of the unstarred questions "bullet proof" and didn't do as well as i wanted on the final.

I was able to get almost all of the unstarred and starred on the normal HW's though.

(15 Apr '12, 04:54) Andrew I You... Andrew%20I%20Young-3's gravatar image
1

Seems a bit unfair to the students who got all right in both sections - I got one wrong in each, so I'd get the same level of cert as a student who got 100%?

(15 Apr '12, 05:08) Anthony Lilley Anthony%20Lilley's gravatar image

To add to the above questions, when do we get to see the certificate? :P

link

answered 14 Apr '12, 07:15

HimalayanWind's gravatar image

HimalayanWind
278321

1

Early next week.

(14 Apr '12, 07:20) username username's gravatar image
4

Never....all certificates have been sealed in an airtight chamber, deep underground to be discovered by future alien archaeologists. They will be very proud of us!

(14 Apr '12, 07:25) David Henson David%20Henson's gravatar image

I' m very sad because this course have been finished. It was very intresting and exciting to participate in and very sad when the course have been finished, so a little certificate could cheer me up a little. Because i have finished the exam with the result of 100%/100% (regular/starred) i' m waiting the certificate where it would be noted that i'm very smart. I have' nt been told that i'm very smart since i was six. So i'm waiting.

link

answered 15 Apr '12, 09:52

Denis%20Shchepetov-1's gravatar image

Denis Shchep...
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Asked: 04 Apr '12, 14:16

Seen: 2,189 times

Last updated: 22 Apr '12, 18:53