CS240, Fall 2022: Testing/Exams

Crowdmark Note:

We will usually use Crowdmark for grading our exams and distributing midterm results to students. For this course (and many others) Crowdmark associates an exam with a student by their Quest Username (maximum 8 characters) @uwaterloo.ca email. When Crowdmark sends exam results to this email address it is resolved by your Mail Routing Address in WatIAM. If you have more then one email account in Crowdmark then you can merge the accounts so that all your Crowdmark assessments are visible under any of your Crowdmark accounts; follow account merging instructions.

Final exam

Date:	Thursday, December 15, 2022
Time:	9:00AM - 11:30AM
Location/Seating:	The final will take place in the physical activity complex (PAC). You will be assigned a seat and you must use your assigned seat (the exam will be pre-stamped with your name). Look up your assigned seat here in advance of the final. (The seating assignment is available now.)
Reference Sheet:	There will be no reference sheet provided for the exam.
Instruction Page of the Exam:	Instructions Page
Coverage:	The exam covers everything that was covered in class, with a strong emphasis on post-midterm material (Module 4, slide 12 - Module 11, slide 27). Be aware that we have not been following the course notes (textbook) exactly. Anything that was not covered in class will not be asked about on the exam. For any question where you do not know the exact formula or details of a pseudocode, you can state your assumptions with your solution. You do not need to know any specific details about C++. Any design question will specify all the things we want you to provide (pseudocode, English description, correctness, running time analysis, etc). If nothing is specified, then include everything as per assignment guidelines.
Final Help Session:	Thursday, December 8th [2:00pm - 3:20pm at MC 1085] (Questions have been posted on the tutorials page.)
Office hours:	We will be following a new schedule for Office Hours from Wednesday, December 7th, to Wednesday, December 14th. The new hours can be found in this Piazza post and also on the Personnel page of the course website.
Allowed Aids:	No aids will be provided in the exam. No calculators allowed.
Bring to exam:	Pens, pencils and an eraser. Watcard (the actual card with the photo). You are permitted to bring in a clear water bottle, but remove its label.
What to expect during the exam:	We will follow the University Policies, Guidelines, and Academic Regulations for Assignments, Tests, and Final Exams as well as the Registrar's Office Instructions for Final Examinations. Arrive no sooner than 20 minutes before the start of the exam. Only the South and West entrances of PAC are open. All students must remain for the first hour. Students who arrive more than an hour late will not be admitted. No food or drink (with the exception of water in a clear bottle with no label). Should you require short nutrition breaks, you must contact us before the exam. Furthermore: Students will be let into the room 10-15 minutes before the exam starts, depending on when set-up is ready. Do not enter the room until proctors let you in. Before entering, verify on the posted (outside the room) seating list (by ID #) that this is the correct room for your exam. Also note the seat (given as row and column when facing the front of the room). Once let into the room students may not leave the room until the exam is over or unless being escorted to the bathroom (i.e. before entering, go to the washroom). Students may arrive up to an hour late but no extra writing time will be given: everyone ends at the same time. Find your exam (it will have your name and photo on it). Put your photo-ID WatCard, pens, pencils, erasers on the desk. Put your backpack, bags, hats, etc. under the desk, closed, clear from the aisle and out of sight. No electronic aids allowed: All laptops, cell phones, smart watches, etc. must be out of reach. Read the instructions on the first page and sign where indicated on the front page in pen. Listen to instructions from the proctor(s). Do not start until the proctor tells you to. During the exam, a proctor will come around with a signature (attendance) list that you must sign in pen. Proctors will also look at your WatCard to verify you are writing the right exam and check that you have signed the front page of the exam. Raise your hand if you think there is an error on the exam, or if you have need for a washroom break, or if you want to leave early (but not before one hour has passed), or if you need to get something out of your bag/backpack after the exam has started. You may not leave during the first hour of the exam or within the last 10 minutes. Stop writing at the end when the proctor tells you to. Failure to stop when told to will lower your mark. Remain seated until the proctors have collected all exams and tell you that you may leave. Once you are allowed to leave at the end, leave the room promptly.
Incompletes:	Students who cannot attend or finish the final exam due to illness or other reasons beyond their control must follow the procedure to request an Incomplete (INC). Requests will not be granted automatically and are based on a reasonable demonstration of understanding and learning from work submitted throughout the term.
Grades and exam viewing:	Grades (for the entire course, not just for the final) will begin to appear on Quest on December 24th, 2022. Course personnel are not allowed to share grade information with you before this day. Final exams are primarily diagnostic tools for evaluating how well the course material was learned and understood at the end of term and are not intended as learning tools. As such, solutions are not provided and the marked exam is not released to students.

Midterm

Date:	Thursday, October 20, 2022
Time:	4:30PM - 6:20PM
Location/Seating:	The midterm will take place in several rooms in MC. You will be assigned a seat and you must use your assigned seat (the exam will be pre-stamped with your name). Look up your assigned seat here. (The seating assignment should be available at least 3 business days before the exam.)
Reference Sheet (will be provided in exam):	Reference Sheet
Instruction Page of the Exam:	Instruction Page
Bring:	Pens, pencils and eraser. A pen is needed for signatures (a signature list that the proctor will bring around and your signature on the front page of the exam). The exam will be hand-written on paper; you are encouraged to use pencils (bring more than one in case one breaks) so you can erase in case of minor errors. If you choose, you are also allowed to use any kind of pen to write your answer as long as it will be visible on the scan; do not use colours other than blue or black. You must bring your Watcard (the actual card with the photo; the PDF-version is not enough). If you do not have this yet, bring two pieces of photo-ID. You are permitted to bring in a clear water bottle, but remove its label. Drinking with a straw is preferred so you don't have to entirely remove your mask. Food is not allowed.
Coverage:	The midterm covers everything up to and including Module 4, slide 11 that was covered in class. Be aware that we have not been following the course notes (textbook) exactly. Anything that was not covered in class will not be asked about on the exam. The proctors have not seen the midterm and cannot answer questions about coverage. In general, we don't answer questions like "Do we need to know about XYZ for the midterm?" or "Do I have to memorize ABC?". You must use your judgment in deciding what to study. (Also consult the helper sheet; there is no need to memorize anything that is on it.) We will say, however, that the focus is less on memorizing and more on understanding and applying the concepts you learned in the course. Also, for any question where you do not know the exact formula or details of a pseudocode, you can state your assumptions with your solution. You do not need to know any specific details about C++. Any design question will specify all the things we want you to provide (pseudocode, English description, correctness, running time analysis, etc). If nothing is specified, then include everything as per assignment guidelines.
What to expect at the exam and after:	Masks are highly recommended. Students will be let into the room 5-10 minutes before the exam starts, depending on when set-up is ready. Do not enter the room until proctors let you in. Before entering, verify on the posted (outside the room) seating list (by ID #) that this is the correct room for your exam. Also note the seat (given as row and column when facing the front of the room). Once let into the room students may not leave the room unless during specified periods (see below) or unless being escorted to the bathroom (i.e. before entering, go to the washroom). Students may arrive up to an hour late but no extra writing time will be given - everyone ends at the same time. Find your exam (it will have your name and photo on it) Put your photo-ID WatCard, pens, pencils, erasers on the desk and put your backpack, bags, hats, etc. under the desk, closed, clear from the aisle and out of sight. Read the instructions on the first page and sign anywhere on the front page in pen. Read the blackboard/whiteboard instructions and listen to instructions from the proctor(s). Do not start until the proctor tells you to. Stop writing at the end when the proctor tells you to. Failure to stop when told to will lower your mark. You may not leave during the first hour of the exam or within the last 10 minutes. At the end, remain seated, until the proctors have collected all exams and tell you that you may leave. During the exam, a proctor will come around with a signature (attendance) list that you must sign in pen. Proctors will also look at your WatCard to verify you are writing the right exam and check that you have signed the front page of the exam. Write your answers legibly and clearly. If graders cannot read your answer, they cannot mark it. Also do not answer close to a paper's edge or faintly since this may not be picked up by the scanning done to upload your exam to Crowdmark for marking (i.e. graders will not see it). Raise your hand if you think there is an error on the exam or if you have need for a washroom break or if you need to get something out of your bag/backpack after the exam has started. Once you are allowed to leave and have received permission from the proctors to do so, leave the room promptly. Marking will take a few days. There will be an announcement and post mortem released when grading is ready and you will get an email from the Crowdmark mailer with the link to your marked exam.
Midterm Help Session:	Tuesday, October 18th from 5:00PM to 6:50PM at RCH 101 A list of prepared questions can be found here and the topics that most students are confused about will be reviewed.
Postmortem:	Midterm post-mortem
Midterm Remark Requests:	Deadline Thur. Nov. 2, 11:59PM. Re-mark requests will only be accepted using this form (authentication is required to ensure requester is on the classlist). Note that there was an adjustment to the midterm marks post-Crowdmark. The adjustment reduces the denominator by 5 to account for grading errors and inconsistencies.