Exams

Because of the unusual nature of this semester, there are only two exams this year: a prelim and a semi-final. These exams will correspond roughly to the two prelims of previous years (the final exam, which was cumulative, only had one new question on it). The traditional final exam will be replaced by the final assignment.

Because of the size of this class, it is important that you be aware of the exam times, and you should have nothing else planned when they are scheduled, as there are no alternative times for these exams. With that said, we do have a policy for legitimate conflicts. See below for details.

If you are a student in Ithaca, we expect you to take the exams in person. so long as you are physically able. Because of resource limitations, online examinations are limited to students with health concessions or students not present in Ithaca. Again, see below for details.

Table of Contents

• Make-up Exams
• In-Person Exams
• Online Exams
• Prelim 1
• Prelim 2
• Exam Archive

Make-Up Exams

Make-up Exams are reserved for students with legitimate conflicts with the scheduled time. We reserve the right to reject make-up request.

Requests for make-up exams will be handled two weeks before each exam. You should upload your conflict information into CMS. You should use the provided make-up petition template to submit your information. If an emergency comes up in less than two weeks of the exam, you need to contact the instructor and course administrative assistant as soon as possible.

The make-up petition should also be filled by all students who have been granted extra time, as they will not be taking the exam with the rest of the students.

In-Person Exams

Students that are at the Ithaca campus are to take the exams in-person unless they apply for an explicit exemption to take the exam online. The in-person exams are scheduled for Barton Hall, with overflow in 114 Gates for students with SDS accomodations.

Students taking the exam in-person will be assigned a seat and time slot to show up for the exam. This protocol is to ensure that social distancing is maintained during the exam. Please the seating charts linked above for your exact seat position.

Online Exams

This course will allow a small(er) portion of students to take the exams online. This is limited to students with health concerns and students not in Ithaca. For students not in Ithaca, exam times are in the Eastern time zone and students are expected to adjust their schedule to match provided that the exam is within 8:00am - 10:30pm of their native time zone. Make-ups will only be permitted to students outside of that exam window.

In order to ensure fairness, online exams will replicate as much of the traditional exam experience as possible. Exams will be timed and students will not able to access other material online or talk to other students while taking the exam. For exact details of this process, please refer to the instructions for taking an exam online.

We have tested this process extensively and are convinced that it is both secure and fair. However, ensuring this fairness will require a large number of proctors, in order to keep the student-proctor ratio low. That is why online examination is limited only to the students that absolutely need it.

Prelim 1

This exam will cover up to Lesson 15.

This exam focuses on the basics of Python. You will be expected to write code for simple functions, given a specification. It will include the material demonstrated in class up to, and including, October 13.

Time and Place

The exam will be held Sunday, October 18 at 7:30 pm and will take 1 hour 30 minutes.

The exam will take place in Barton Hall 100. unless you are notified otherwise. Students will be assigned a specific time to ensure that they can enter the building while still maintaining social distancing. The exact time to show up for the exam will be specified by a CMS entry named Exam Seating.  
 
Students taking the exam online will be contacted directly by their proctor with exam information.

Review Session

There will be a review session held Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 pm. It will last for up to an hour and a half, allowing for questions.

The review session will be held online. It will take place in the normal Zoom session. used for the synchronous lectures.

The review materials are below.

Prelim 2

This exam will cover Lessons 16 through 25.

This exam will cover the more advanced concepts covered in the second half of the course. Both recursion and classes will feature heavily on this exam. It will include the material presented in class up to, and including, November 12th.

Time and Place

The exam will be held Thursday, November 19 at 9:30 am and will take 1 hour 30 minutes.

The location is to be announced later.

Review Session

There will be a review session held Monday, November 16 at 7:30 pm. It will last for up to an hour and a half, allowing for questions.

The review session will be held online. It will take place in the normal Zoom session. used for the synchronous lectures.

The review materials are below.

Exam Archive

To give you some idea of what the exams might be like, we have posted the exams from previous semesters. However, please be aware of the following:

In particular, exams before 2017 used Python 2, not Python 3. Furthermore, the material between the Fall and Spring semesters can be quite different.

Prelim 1 in Previous semesters

Prelim 2 in Previous semesters

Final Exam in Previous semesters