Exam Advice for PHY 303K (in Chiu’s section)
Before
the Exam Starts: Bubble sheet and the individualized exam printout.
- As you sit down, check the bubble sheet on your
table. It should have your name, UTEID and the exam version number
pre-printed and bubbled in. Make sure the name and that UTEID are indeed
yours (if not, you are probably sitting in somebody else’s assigned seat)
and that they are in agreement with your QUEST account record and are
bubbled-in correctly. Remember, a bubble sheet without the correctly
bubbled-in UTEID and the exam version number cannot be graded. If your
UTEID is wrong or mis-bubbled or your bubble
sheet is damaged, tell this to proctors right away; do not wait until the
exam begins. If a proctor gives you a blank bubble sheet to use instead of
a bad pre-printed sheet, you should immediately write and bubble in your
name, your UTEID and the version number of your exam.
- Each student will have a different version of the
exam. Before you do anything else, make sure the version number of your
problem set is the same as the version number pre-printed on your bubble
sheet. Also, make sure your problem set is complete, i.e. it has all the
questions (the proctors will announce how many there should be) and that
all pages of your set have the same version number – the same as on your
bubble sheet. If your problem set is bad or the version numbers do not
match, call a proctor immediately, get a new problem set and a blank
bubble sheet instead of the preprinted one with a wrong version number. As
soon as you get anew bubble sheet, immediately write and bubble in your
name, your SSN and the version number of your exam; the version number
should be the same as on your new problem set.
During and after the
Exam
- Keep your student ID with you during the exam –
the proctors will spot-check ID’s to make sure the right students are
being tested.
- It is desirable to organize your scratch paper:
Use only one side to write up your work. Put up to 5 questions per page.
Put the problem number(s) on the right upper corner of each page.
- Please remember that the scanner and the grading
computer read your bubbles and not your mind – if you don’t bubble in your
answer, it does not count. Use a soft pencil (No. 2 is recommended) to
fill the bubbles and fill them completely. The scanning machine does not
read ink and it may get confused by partially filled bubbles.
- Do not delay bubbling-in
your answers till the last minute of the test, as you may run out of time.
It is best to bubble in each answer as soon as you are done with the
question. And if you later come back to an already answered question and
discover a mistake, use your eraser. Make sure to erase everything
cleanly; otherwise, the scanning machine may still read it.
- If you finish answering all questions before the
exam is over, use your time to check your answers and make sure they are
bubbled in correctly.
- At the end of the exam, bring your bubble sheet to
the proctors’ table. Bring your student ID with you – the proctors may
check to make sure you are indeed the student whose exam you are turning
in.
- Once the proctors announce the exam is over, do
not delay turning your bubble sheet in. If you procrastinate, your exam
will not be collected and you will get a zero score.
- The solutions to the exam problems will be
available on the web – in the same place as the homework solutions –
shortly after the end of the exam. The exam scores will also be available
on the web after the exam is graded. It take
about 1 to 2 days to have the exam graded.
Exam format
- Most problems are single-question
problems, i.e. one question per problems. There are some multi-question
problems, i.e. involve several related questions.
- All exam questions are in multiple
choice format. Regardless of the level of
difficulty each single-question-problem worth 10 points.
- For multi-question problems, the default-setting
is that each question worth 10 points. (Some instructors prefer to reduce
total number of points assigned to these problems.)
- For multi-question problems, often (but not
always) the questions can be answered out of sequence. So, if you have
difficulty with the first part of a problem, don’t give up; instead, take
a look at the second (or third, etc.) part and see if you can solve it
first.
- Our exam grading policy is that both
wrong answer and no answer are graded with 0 score. If you do not know an
answer, it is to your advantage to guess an answer.
- Make sure you read all possible answers
given for the problem (sometimes a few answers are printed on the next
page) before answering the question.
- If there are 2 or more choices which are
identical, you should call attention to the proctor. And you may proceed
to choose any one of the identical answers. If you suspect that the
TT-system has graded your exam incorrectly please contact your TA.
- During the exam, you will be given a
copy of the course summary sheet containing basic equations of the course
material you have learned. This summary sheet was handed out on the first
day of class and is available on the homepage of this course. During any exam, questions on these
equations will not be answered. However,
at other times your questions are surprisingly welcome.
- No
crib-note cards will be allowed.
- Programmable calculator
may be used during an exam. However, its memory needs to been cleared
before using it.
- Academic dishonesty
will not be tolerated.
Miscellaneous
Advice
- We reiterate that you are graded by
the number of questions you have answered correctly. Each question worth essentially
10 points regardless the level of difficulty. Do not get stuck and
spend too much time on one hard question while many easy questions remain
un-answered. If a problem feels too hard, move on to the next problem – or
to any other problem you know how to solve. Your best strategy is to
answer all the easy questions first, then go back to the medium-hard
questions and leave the really hard questions for the last part of your
exam.
- On numerical multiple-choice questions, the
correct answer may be slightly (up to 1%) different from your result
because of the round-off errors, and the use of slightly different
constants in the problem. You
should select the answer that is closest to your result. Note that if your
result is nowhere near any of the 10 answers provided on the problem
sheet, then you are probably wrong. If you suspect that the exam problem
is wrong please call attention to the proctor.
- On questions involving multiple choices of
algebraic expressions, first, derive the correct expression, write it on
the scratch paper, then compare it to the
expressions given on the problem sheet. Select the expression that’s
algebraically identical to your answer. If none of the expressions fit,
consult with a proctor. (Maybe you are wrong, but sometimes the problem is
misstated.)
- Some problems are multi-part; i.e. involve several
related questions. The default-setting is that each question worth 10
points. Often (but not always) the questions can be answered out of
sequence. So, if you have difficulty with the first part of a problem,
don’t give up; instead, take a look at the second (or third, etc.) part
and see if you can solve it first.
- Some problems may be poorly written (you have already
seen a few on your homework assignments). If you are confused by a
question and are not sure what exactly are you supposed to calculate, ask
a proctor to clarify; do not rush to calculate something wrong.
- If you need the value of a physical
constant (eg., g= 9.8 m/s2) and it’s not given in the text
of the problem, check your formula sheet. If it’s not on the formula sheet
either, ask the proctors to write it on the blackboard.