Testing (quizzes, and exams)

Instructor: Mark Kampe

Quizzes

All of the quizzes combined are worth a measurable fraction of the course grade, and each quiz covers one day's assigned reading. One will be given in the first five minutes of every lecture period for which reading was assigned. The primary purposes of the quizzes is to encourage you to do the reading, and thus come to each lecture well prepared to understand the material that will be presented. A secondary purpose of the quizzes is to enable me to assess what concepts you are having trouble with, so that I can give them greater emphasis in future lectures.

Each quiz will have four or five questions. Quiz questions usually ask for the definition of a key term, distinctions between two key terms, or examples of a key concept. Most quiz questions can be answered in a single sentence (or even a few words).

There are no make-ups for missed quizzes.

Typical quiz question, and full credit answer

Exams

There are two exams, each covering approximately 14 lectures worth of material. The first will be given near the end of the eighth week. The last is given during the final exam period. These are closed book exams. The purpose of these exams is to determine whether or not you understand the key concepts that have been discussed in the preceding lectures and chapters.

A typical exam will be comprised of roughly 10-20 questions. Some may ask for definitions and examples, but most will ask you to describe how or why something works, to contrast related concepts, to explain which principles are applicable, or to predict what would happen in some situation. The vast majority of these questions will pertain to designated key concepts, and in most cases the answers will have been presented in the text, the lectures or both. Most exam questions have brief (2-4 sentence or a simple diagram) answers. Though there will be a few more difficult questions.

Typical concept exam question, and full-credit answer

Typical practical exam question, and full-credit answer

Typical difficult exam question, and full credit answer