CS/ECE 374: Exam Policies

• Logistics
• DRES accommodations
• Conflict and makeup exams
• No "I don't know" this semester, Deadly Sins, etc.

Logistics

• This class has two 2.5-hour evening midterms and a three-hour final exam. Times of the midterms will be announced on the course web page in advance. On the last Thursday and Friday before each midterm, we will hold optional review sessions instead of the regular lecture and lab sessions.
• Exams will be held synchronously, proctored via Zoom. We will post the Zoom links on Piazza. Your environment should be set up following the CBTF guidelines and instructions. At the Zoom call, you will be provided with a link to the Exam PDF.
• Following the exam period, you will have half an hour to scan and upload your exam to Gradescope. You are not allowed to work on the exam during this time; the large time window is purely to account for any technical difficulties that may arise. Please make sure that your scan is clear and easy to read. We strongly recommend writing with a black ink on white unlined paper, using a scanning app instead of a raw photo.
• Cheat sheets:
  • For each midterm, you may bring one double-sided 8½"×11" sheet of paper with anything you like written on both sides. (Two single-sided sheets are okay.)
  • For the final exam, you may bring two double-sided 8½"×11" sheets of paper with anything you like written on both sides. (Four single-sided sheets are okay.)
  • We strongly recommend that your cheat sheets must be hand-written by you, not photocopied or printed.

    In the past, many students included reduced photocopies of complete homework solutions, lecture notes, and/or old homework/lab/exam solutions, or just photocopying cheat sheets created by other students. Those students performed significantly worse on the exams than students with their own hand-written cheat sheets.

  • Everyone must submit their cheat sheets on along with the rest of the exam, or a page declaring that no cheat sheet was used.
• Except for cheat sheets, all exams are closed-everything. In particular: No medically unnecessarily electronic devices are allowed in exams. Writing on a tablet is fine, but make sure to turn off the internet and to not to switch away from your writing app. Bring writing instruments, your cheat sheet, and your brain.

DRES accommodations

• Students requiring extra time or other exam accommodations should first discuss their needs with DRES, and then give their instructor a copy of the DRES accommodation letter at least one week before the first midterm.
• We strongly prefer that students who require accommodations schedule their exams at DRES. Please do not attempt to schedule exams at DRES at the last minute; they normally require reservations one week in advance for midterms, and two weeks in advance for final exams.

Conflict/Makeup Exams

• Conflict midterms: For each midterm, we will schedule a conflict exam to accomodate students who cannot attend the regular exam for any of the reasons listed in the student code:
  • Another simultaneous exam scheduled earlier
  • A regularly scheduled class
  • A regularly scheduled performance or rehearsal
  • Sickness, regular employment, or other extenuating circumstances
  • Religious accommodations
  “Extenuating circumstances” do not include out-of-state job interviews. (Do not believe recruiters who tell you rescheduling is impossible; they work on commission.) Students who have registered with DRES for exam accommodations are also welcome to take the conflict midterms.
• We may forgive midterms under extreme circumstances, such as documented illness or injury, that prevent taking both the regular exam and the conflict exam. We will compute your exam average as though the forgiven exam does not exist. Please ask your instructor for details.
• Conflict final: We will schedule a conflict final exam to accomodate students who cannot attend the regular final exam for any of the reasons outlined in the student code:
  • Another final exam at the same time
  • Three consecutive final exams in 24 hours
  • National or state professional examinations
  • Sickness, regular employment, or other extenuating circumstances
  • Religious accommodations
  “Extenuating circumstances” do not include already-purchased plane tickets; the date of the final exam was announced before the start of the semester. Students who have registered with DRES for exam accommodations are also welcome to take the conflict final.
• Makeup final: Students who cannot take either the regular final exam or the conflict final exam because of serious extenuating circumstances, such as illness or injury, should request an Incomplete from their college (Engineering or LAS). Any student who does not take the final exam and who does not have an Incomplete will be given a grade of ABS (“absent from final”).

  If necessary, we will offer a makeup exam early next semester for students who miss the final exam, either with or without an Incomplete. Please ask your instructor for details.

Other Policies

• In some previous semesters, we used to give IDK (I dont know) points. We will not do this semester as it seems to discriminate against people that know what they are doing, but are not sure about it. IDK points make sense when one enforces aggressive policies of giving zero for solutions that are not very close to being correct. Naturally, students hate such aggressive grading policies.
• Deadly Sins are automatic zeros, just as they are for homework. Write general solutions, not just examples. Algorithms require English specifications, especially for dynamic programming. Greedy algorithms require formal proofs of correctness. Never use weak induction. Don't cheat.
• Except for greedy algorithms, proofs are required on exams if and only if we explicitly ask for them.