Exams

Exams Grading FAQ
  • Will there be a curve? I don't plan to curve the exam per se. What I do is curve the final letter grades, if necessary. For reference, the median letter grade in CS106B is usually around the B+/A- boundary.
  • Where can I get my exam? Pick up your exam in class on Friday, October 30 or afterward from the large filing cabinets in the foyer of Gates Bldg that faces in the general direction of the Oval. You can now view your exam in Gradescope (you should have received an email with instructions/link). If you want to get the paper copy of your exam, come to office hours at any time this quarter.
  • May I get a regrade? Yes, if there is an error in grading. You must make a clear statement of the error in Gradescope (no email). Please be aware that requests of the form, "I think what I wrote deserves more points" will not be reviewed and will result in a stink eye from me. You must explain why what you wrote is correct and points should not have been deducted. The reason is that we are following a rubric so the deductions for various things were consistent with other students and we cannot change it for one student. Regrade requests are DUE no later than one week from today (11:59pm Monday May 16). Although we do not regard the occasion of a regrade as an occasion to intentionally seek out additional points that could be deducted elsewhere on the exam in a punitive way, if we do notice incorrect grading elsewhere on the exam, we reserve the right to correct it.
  • What is my grade in the class? You can do the arithmetic on your grade using the % final grade breakdown in the course information sheet. The course information sheet also has a HW grading explanation to give you an approximate idea how those scores translate. All assignments are weighted equally. For reference, through the first three assignments, the average homework grade was a ✓+ on functionality and a ✓ on style (both in aggregate and on each individual assignment). If you enter your scores in Excel, you can even easily run the numbers on different hypotheticals with your final exam and remaining assignment grades. [Excel Grade Calculator]
  • Should I drop? That is always a very personal decision, and I think usually depends more on a variety of factors outside this course than factors inside this course. Check the Excel spreadsheet (see above), but mathematically it is almost always possible to recover from a midterm, no matter how disappointing the score. So it comes down to whether you will have the bandwidth to really ramp up effort in this class. I have seen really dramatic turnarounds post-midterm when students were able to do that. The good news is that we pack in so many of the hardest topics before the midterm (pointers, recursion, Big-O), and after the midterm is (I think) just some time to really let those early topics sink in and gel better, with just a few new topics (trees, graphs, inheritance). I would only consider dropping if you anticipate that you won't have the bandwidth to spare to really make an investment in turnaround. This most often happens when there are other classes that need similar turnarond investment and you can't do it in all of them, or when there are other challenges going on.
  • Can I just count my final double if I improve on the final? Can I do extra credit or other extra things to compensate for my midterm grade? No, the course work is what it is. The points allocation and other policies in the course information sheet are like a contract, and that is how we will grade. There is almost always something you can do on our assignments for extra credit, but keep in mind that this gives only a small amount of extra credit.
Midterm
  • DATE: Thursday, May 5, 7-9p.m.
  • LOCATION: The location of the midterm depends on the first letter of your last name. A-D: Hewlett 201; E-N: Bishop Aud (in Lathrop); O-Z: Braun Aud (in Mudd).
  • Please refer to the Course Information Sheet for exam policies including book/notes and OAE accommodations. Here is the relevant section:
    • No alternates: If you must miss an exam due to an unavoidable academic schedule conflict (an exam in another class at the same time), you must contact the instructor immediately [fill out the web form at the link below]. There are no discretionary alternate exams. Vacation, internship, etc., are not allowable reasons to miss an exam.
    • Open-book, limited-notes: 106B exams are open-book (the official course textbook), and only one page of notes. I know textbooks are expensive and that some students choose not to purchase one, so a few copies will be available for loan during the exam. A reference page will be included in the exam itself, containing commonly needed information (for example, documentation on the Stanford C++ library classes). The purpose of my open-book, limited-notes policy is to reduce the need for rote memorization of anything (this is a problem-solving course, not a memorization course), but still standardize the playing field in terms of precisely what information students have with them.
  • All students are REQUIRED to fill out this form regarding midterm and final exam scheduling.
  • The exam booklet will include the following Library Reference page (this is last quarter's version--watch for updates as the exam date approaches). You may want to review its contents so you don't duplicate this information in your limited amount (1 page) of notes. UPDATED: The reference sheet now includes Big-O cost of each operation.
  • The first page of the practice exams includes the same information and instructions that will be on the first page of the actual exam. Take a minute to review the contents while you're studying. One less thing to worry about on the actual exam day!
  • UPDATED: Practice Exam #1 [solutions] (I added a recursion problem since the real exam will definitely have one. Now it's closer to the real exam format/topics.)
  • Practice Exam #2 [solutions]
  • Marty's Autumn CS106B has a large number of midterm practice exams (he's taught this more quarters than I have so he has a great treasure trove of these built up!) that will be *excellent* practice. You might start with those problems to study, and then use our two practice exams as a kind of "dress rehearsal" when you think you're getting close to full readiness. NOTE: the "Topics to Study" list for the midterm on Marty's exam page is also a good resource and an exact match for our topics.
  • Our section problems are an excellent source of exam practice. The handouts are designed to be a length that we rarely finish all of the problems in section, and the intention is that you will use the extras as exam practice.
Final Exam
  • DATE: Friday, June 3, 8:30-11:30a.m.
  • LOCATION: Hewlett 200 & Hewlett 201
  • SOLUTIONS: Final exam solutions are here.
  • STATISTICS: Median: 51/60, Mean: 49.68/60, Stdev: 7.09
  • TOPICS: Final exam topics study list..
  • Please refer to the Course Information Sheet for exam policies including book/notes and OAE accommodations.
  • The final exam is open-book, limited-notes: the final exam is open-book (the official course textbook), and only TWO PAGES of notes (4 sides--this is twice as much as for the midterm).
  • The exam booklet will include the following Library Reference page (note it is different from the midterm version because it includes classes we covered after the midterm). You may want to review its contents so you don't duplicate this information in your limited quota (2 pages) of notes.
  • Practice Exam #1 [solutions]
  • Practice Exam #2 [solutions]
  • Practice Exam #3 [solutions]
  • Practice Exam #4 (Dress Rehearsal) [solutions]
  • Dress Rehearsal Practice Exam: Wednesday 6/1 from 1-4pm (in lieu of lecture) there will be a dress rehearsal practice exam. This is your chance to take a practice exam under realistic exam conditions (lecture room, timed, no distractions, no solutions). The practice exam will be different from the others that will be posted to the class website, so you can experience new questions. Attendance is completely optional. This is provided as a service to help you prepare for the exam. You may come late or leave early if you have conflicts (since it extends outside our lecture time before and after), but we encourage you to minimize that, if possible, to mimimize disruption to other students.
  • Review Session: The review session slides can be found here and the recording can be found here.