The dates of the quizzes and exam are documented in the class schedule. There will be no impromptu (‘pop’) quizzes or exams. Students are permitted to use a single 8.5 x 11 page of handwritten notes on SOME quizzes and the exam. The notes must be handwritten. Students are permitted to use both sides of the notes page and their name must be on it. Instructors will collect the notes pages after each quiz or exam.
There is only one exam. It is administered during finals week. Students are required to take 12 quizzes. There are two kinds of quizzes: Traditional and Hands-On.
Traditional Quizzes
Traditional quizzes are roughly 10 minutes in length. They are usually administered at the end of class. Students are NOT permitted to use notes on the traditional quizzes.
Traditional quizzes are designed to evaluate the learning of students inside and outside the classroom. Traditional quizzes are paper/pencil based. The format of the quizzes will vary from week to week. Here are some of the possible question formats:
- Answer a multiple choice or a short answer question
- Write a very short portion of code by hand
- Identify one or more errors in a code sample
- Read a code sample and determine its output
Hands-On Quizzes
Five quizzes will be “Hand-On” quizzes. The Hands-On quizzes are designed to evaluate a student’s ability to apply concepts learned in the class. They are also intended to help students prepare for the final exam. Students are permitted to use notes on the hands-on quizzes and are required to use the computers that are in the classroom.
The Hands-On quizzes are given the same weight as the Traditional quizzes. Students are allotted an entire class period to take a Hands-On quiz. Students are encouraged to think of the Hands-On quizzes as low-stakes practice opportunities for the final exam.
The final exam will be similar in nature to the Hands-On quizzes. The final exam accounts for a greater percentage of the student’s grade. Students are permitted to use a single page of hand-written notes on the final exam. The student note page must be turned in with the exam with the student’s name on it.
The Administration of Hands-On assessments
The Hands-On assessments are technical exercises completed in a fixed amount of time. These are conducted in class and students must use a workstation in the classroom to complete the exam. No other electronic device is to be used for the exams. If the preferred arrangement is not possible, then the exams will be administered remotely via an online proctoring service (TBD).
What happens if you miss a quiz or exam?
Make-up exams/quizzes will not be given. Exceptions are reserved for:
- Students who make prior, mutually agreed upon, arrangements with their instructor.
- Documented hospitalization or other extreme circumstances.
If an exception is made, students may find the content of the make-up exam/quiz to be more difficult than the original. It is, therefore, to the student’s advantage to show up for the exam at the scheduled time and take it with the rest of the class.