Return-Path: william@bourbon.usc.edu Delivery-Date: Wed Oct 15 14:31:52 2008 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.3 (2007-08-08) on merlot.usc.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.3 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.2.3 Received: from bourbon.usc.edu (bourbon.usc.edu [128.125.9.75]) by merlot.usc.edu (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id m9FLVqx1007829 for ; Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:31:52 -0700 Received: from bourbon.usc.edu (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by bourbon.usc.edu (8.14.2/8.14.1) with ESMTP id m9FLdsQP006955 for ; Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:54 -0700 Received: (from william@localhost) by bourbon.usc.edu (8.14.2/8.14.1/Submit) id m9FLds7d006954 for cs551@merlot; Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:54 -0700 Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:54 -0700 From: Bill Cheng Message-Id: <200810152139.m9FLds7d006954@bourbon.usc.edu> To: cs551@merlot.usc.edu Subject: Midterm summary of topics... Hi everyone, I have just posted a quick summary of the midterm topics at the class web site (not all topics covered are listed). Please take a look. The midterm exam will be closed book, closed notes, and closed everything (and no "cheat sheet"). Also, no calculators, cell phones, or any electronic gadgets are allowed. Please bring a photo ID. Your ID will be collected at the beginning of the exam and will be returned to you when you turn in your exam. There will be assigned seating. Regarding what type of questions will be asked on the exams... I have just added the following to: http://merlot.usc.edu/cs551-f08/description.html#examqs Question 2 in the "extra homework" is an example of one type of questions that I could ask. Many of the questions on the exam will be in the following form: "In N words or less, what is the answer to the following question?" For this type of question, you can write as many words as you'd like, but I will only read the *first N words* of your answer! You don't need to count the number of words in your answer, you just need to make sure that the most important part of your answer appears in the first N words! (There is no need to write complete English sentenses when you answer exam questions. Just give me the important stuff!) The reason I'm doing this is that I don't want a brain dump of everything you know about a topic and tell me that the answer is there and that I have to look for it! I want you to tell me what part of your answer *you think* is important and you need to distinguish between answers of different quality and put the best answer up front. Let me give a couple of silly examples (with questions that's not in the scope of the exam). 1) "In 20 words or less, for our programming assignments, when is 'plagiarism' considered taking place? If your answer is "when you take someone else's work and claim it to be yours", then you will get full credit. If your answer is, "when you submit someone else's work", you probably will not get full credit. 2) "In 20 words or less, what is the *fairness* policy of this class?" If your answer is, "whatever the instructor offer to one student, he must offer it to the rest of the class," then you will get full credit. If your answer is, "the instructor must be fair to every student," you probably will not get much credit. Can you tell why the first answers above are *better* than the second answers? In general, better answers may score more points. If you give very high level and generic answer that's generally true, you probably will get very little credit for it! You need to answer a specific question with a specific answer. -- Bill Cheng // bill.cheng@usc.edu