Exams
Exams
There will be four exams. The first three exams are non-cumulative and each cover one third of the course (lectures & textbook chapters). The third midterm exam will be given on the second to last day of class.
See Missed Work to learn what to do if you need to miss an exam.
To take this course, you MUST be available to take your exam during the university-assigned final exam slot (see the course calender).
We cannot give early final exams.
What do the exams cover?
Exams will test your understanding of topics presented in lecture and text, including overlapping and nonoverlapping material between the two sources. Although some (~25%) of questions will assess your understanding of key terms, most questions (~75%) test conceptual understanding or the ability to apply concepts to new situations.
What types of questions are on the exams?
Each exam includes non-cumulative multiple-choice questions and one or two short-answer essay questions. We will provide sample questions before each exam to give you a feel for the kinds of questions we like to ask. This will not be a full "practice exam" but will give you a couple of questions for each topic covered on the exam.
Is there a final exam?
The fourth exam—given during the final exam slot—will consist of a cumulative multiple-choice test covering all concepts from the course. **As noted in the section on In-Person lectures, this fourth exam will be optional for students with no more than three unexcused absences from lecture. Those students can choose to not take the fourth exam, or can use it to drop and replace a lower exam grade. Note that if the test is considered “optional,” then it can only help you: if this optional test is your lowest exam score, or you chose not to take it, then it will not count toward your grade.