The following are standard instructions for CS 173 examlets. Please familiarize yourself with them ahead of the first exam. See this information about how to make up missed examlets, and also this information about disabilties and other special situations.
For students in the in person section, Examlet scheduling will be handled by the CBTF (you will receive instructions).
For online students, there will be multiple proctored exam times (see Prairietest for the week-by-week schedule). You are responsible for attending one of those blocks each week and following the online exam proctocols (your camera must be on at all times).
The exam itself will be accessible through Prairietest. Online exam proctoring will be on zoom.
Zoom links can be found on our course home page. This semester we will be using Zoom focus mode, so you can stay in the main lobby during the exam -- other students will not be able to see you but you should stay muted at all times. If you have any questions, message any of the hosts / cohosts (your proctors) and they will pull you into a breakout room.
This exam will be proctored on zoom. Before taking the exam arrange your zoom camera so that it can see your entire workspace (your face, keyboard, scratch paper, screen). If you don't have a movable webcam, you can install the zoom app onto your cell phone. Here are some hints on how to position your camera.
To take the exam, you must be logged in to zoom using your U. Illinois (netID) credentials. Ahead of time, go to U. Illinois zoom and make sure that your display name is correct.
Use Chrome or Firefox; Safari is known to have incompatibilities with moodle.
If the exam is not visible on Prairietest or will not let you open it, raise your hand using the Zoom reaction and you will be DMed or moved into a breakout room.
You have 50 minutes to do the exam, starting from when you open it. However the default proctoring window is one hour -- if you are more then 10 minutes late to the exam you will not be given the full exam time and can choose to continue with the exam or schedule a makeup. Remember that if you have to take two makeup exams in a row, you must contact an instructor to work out a catch-up plan.
This is a closed-book exam: no books, no notes, no looking on the internet, no consulting other people (e.g. friends). Scratch paper is ok, but it must start off blank.
Electronic devices other than your computer and web camera must be turned off or put where you cannot see/use them. Your cell phone can only be used to connect to the zoom session. You do not need, and should not use, a calculator.
Foam earplugs are ok, but headphones and earbuds are not allowed.
For open-answer questions, your answer must be typed directly into the answer box. You cannot upload scans of handwritten work. Cut and paste from other editing windows may be possible but can result in messed-up formatting or cause the exam window to lock up.
Save your work frequently. Prairielearn may not autosubmit saved work if you run out the clock without pushing the submit button.
Points may be deducted for solutions which are correct, but hard to understand, poorly explained, excessively hard to read, or excessively complicated. Use your best mathematical style.
Open-answer questions asking for a short factual answer normally also require brief justification or work. Provide this unless there are clear indications to the contrary, e.g. the question is worth only a couple points. You can lose significant points for a short answer with no justification. You can also lose points for leading up to the final conclusion but never actually stating it.
Unless explicitly requested by the problem, it is not necessary to simplify or calculate out complex constant expressions such as 0.715 or 7! or log3 2. However, you should simplify expressions such as logarithms inside exponents (e.g. 3log2 n).
Use whitespace to make your math easy to read, e.g. use paragraphs and linebreaks, do not make any individual equation very long.
You may not leave the view of the proctor for a significant length of time and then come back and continue working on your exam. If an emergency (e.g. upset stomach) forces you to leave before you have had time to finish, stop working on the exam and email a full explanation to your instructor. We'll schedule you to take a makeup. Very brief interruptions (e.g. to answer a knock at the door of your room) are ok. This rule doesn't apply to the final exam.
Similarly, if you start an exam but discover you are too sick to continue, we'll abort the exam and have you do a makeup. Tell the proctor at the time. Then email a full explanation to your instrutor.
If possible, you should be the only person in the room while you are taking the exam. If someone else must be in the room, e.g. a dorm roommate, do your best to act as if they are not there.
Obviously, you may not look at the exams of other students, share answers, and so forth. But, also, do not do things which look like cheating. If you have to do something that could be misinterpreted, e.g. your phone rings, deal with it quickly and (if it's not obvious) tell the tell the proctor what is going on.