15-344/Term Test
Some unrelated links. France driving distances, Iowa tour, All Over.
Before
Our term test will take place at class time, on Tuesday October 27, starting at 3:10PM and ending at 5PM, in two separate locations: at MP 202 if your last name begins with A through R, and at Bahen 1190 if it begins with S through Z. No material other than stationary will be allowed; calculators will be forbidden and anyway useless.
The material for the term test is everything done in class or in tutorials, including the false proof of the 4CT. There will be no sample exam. Most likely there will be some choice: "choose 4 out of 5", or "8 out of 10 smaller questions", or something similar. The questions will come from four sources: class material (usually, "repeat something done in class"), questions discussed at the tutorials, questions assigned as homework (for submission or not), and questions from the book that were not assigned or discussed but are similar to questions assigned or discussed.
How to prepare? We each have our own ways. My own (and it worked quite well) was concentrate on totally knowing all the material, and not so much on doing exercises. So before an exam I'd make a list of "class material divided into (say) 100 points", and then I'd go over that list again and again crossing out those points which I was confident I fully understood, until there was nothing left. Yet given my declared intent that some term test questions will coming directly from the homework assignments, you'd probably be wise to go over these too. All the assignments submitted to far will be available for pick up on the tutorials on Thursday October 22.
Pre-exam time table.
- Thursday October 22, 11:30-12:30: Dror's office hours, Bahen 6178.
- Thursday October 22, 2-3: normal class.
- Thursday October 22, 4-5: tutorial session I, at LM 158.
- Thursday October 22, 4:30-6 unrelated, but perhaps interesting: The 17 Tiling Patterns: Gotta Catch 'Em All!, at MS 2173.
- Thursday October 22, 5-6: tutorial session II, at LM 158.
- Sunday October 25, 3-5: TA office hours, Math Aid Centre, SS 1071. (Check again shortly before).
- Monday October 26, 2:30-5:30: TA office hours, 215 Huron room 1012.
- Tuesday October 27, 10-1: Dror's office hours, Bahen 6178.
- Tuesday October 27, 3-5: the exam itself, in two separate locations: at MP 202 if your last name begins with A through R, and at Bahen 1190 if it begins with S through Z.
Remember. Neatness counts! Organization counts! Language counts! Proofs are best given as short and readable essays; without the English between the formulas one never knows how to interpret those formulas. When you write, say, "", does it mean "choose ", or "we've just proven that ", or "assume by contradiction that ", or "for every " or "there exists "? If you don't say, your reader has no way of knowing. Also remember that long and roundabout solutions of simple problems, full of detours and irrelevant facts, are often an indication that their author didn't quite get the point, even if they are entirely correct. Avoid those!
The Exam
The exam itself is at TT-15-344.pdf.
Results
160 students took the exam, and 14 asked for medical exemptions (a record). The full list of results, before appeals, was (median underlined):
100 100 100 100 100 100 99 99 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 98 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 94 94 93 93 93 93 93 92 92 91 91 91 91 91 90 89 89 89 89 89 88 88 88 88 88 87 87 87 87 87 87 86 86 85 85 85 83 83 83 83 82 82 82 81 81 81 81 81 80 80 80 80 79 79 78 78 77 77 76 75 75 75 74 73 73 72 72 71 71 70 69 68 67 67 65 65 63 63 63 62 62 62 61 60 60 59 59 57 57 56 54 51 51 50 48 48 46 44 42 42 40 39 38 34 34 34 24 23 22 20 18 14 10 5
The exams will be returned in class on Tuesday November 3.
Appeals.
Remember! We try hard yet grading is a difficult process and mistakes always happen - solutions get misread, parts are forgotten, grades are not added up correctly. You must read your exam and make sure that you understand how it was graded. If you disagree with anything, don't hesitate to complain! (Though first consider very carefully the possibility that the mistake is actually yours). Your first stop should be the person who graded the problem in question, and only if you can't agree with him you should appeal to Dror.
Dror graded problem number 4 and did the data entry. Gaurav Patil graded everything else.
The deadline to start the appeal process is Thursday November 12 at 1PM. Once you've started the process by talking to Dror or to Gaurav, it ends when a final decision is made, with no deadline.
