=========================================================================== CSC 363H Tips and advice for the Final Examination Fall 2007 =========================================================================== --------------------- Studying for the exam --------------------- For the final exam, you will be allowed to bring ONE 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper, HANDwritten on both sides, and nothing else (no calculator or other electronic device -- be aware that the Chief Presiding Officers appointed by the Faculty of Arts and Science are very strict about taking away cellphones, pagers, and other unauthorized electronic devices -- see the note to that effect posted on the Tests/Exam page). For your aid sheet, I recommend that you start by writing down the main topics and subtopics of the course, and review all of the lecture and tutorial notes; make sure that you understand everything in the notes, including all of the proofs, and ask questions if you don't. You should also read all of the relevant chapters in the textbook, but you can safely ignore any sections that cover material that was never mentionned in lectures, tutorials, assignments, or term tests. Make sure you go over ALL of the exercise/assignment solutions and that you understand them. Make sure that you also understand the mistakes you may have made, why they were mistakes, and what the correct answers were. That's the whole point of learning: to make mistakes and understand the difference between what's correct and what isn't so that you don't repeat your mistakes! Also, by reading the posted solutions carefully, you may notice things you hadn't thought of when you were working on the problems, and maybe learn a few new techniques or tricks for solving certain types of problems. Do the same for the term tests. As you're going over all of this course material, keep notes on the important points, on details you know you have trouble remembering, etc.: this is exactly the stuff that you should put down on your aid sheet. Once your aid sheet is ready, the best way to get ready is practice, practice, practice! Go over as many exercises and problems from the textbook as you can, and the same for previous year's assignments, tests, and exams (which you can get from the UofT Library website -- there's a link at the bottom of the Main course website). ---------------- Writing the exam ---------------- READ THE QUESTIONS! If you answer the wrong question, even if it's because you were nervous and you misread it, there is nothing that we can do. If something is unclear, don't be afraid to ask. SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW! Your strategy during the exam should be: - identify the questions that you know how to answer (this means that you must read EVERY question before you start answering any of them); - answer those questions right away; - go back to the questions you're not sure about, and work on them; - if you get stuck on a question, move on to the next one and come back later (don't waste your time) -- you can figure out ahead of time how much time to devote to each question (based on how much it's worth), and stick to that estimate as much as possible. If you have an idea how to solve a question but no time to do it in detail, then of course you should write down your idea. Also, for most questions, you will get roughly half of the marks for having the correct structure (i.e., clearly showing that you know what you are supposed to do), even if you cannot fill in the details (see the next point). EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE DOING! When you give an answer, make sure that you give at least a short statement of what you're doing before giving us the answer: if your answer is incorrect, this can make the difference between getting NO mark (because we can't tell if you understand what you're doing) or getting part marks (if we see that you have the right idea but simply made a small error, or that you have the wrong idea but wrote it up correctly). DON'T RAMBLE! Write concise, to-the-point answers. If you ramble, the feeling it gives us is that you don't know the correct answer. Also, be aware that if you give us a correct answer followed by explanations that are clearly wrong or irrelevant, you will lose marks! So only write down what you know is correct: if you're not sure, either say so explicitly or don't say anything. On the other hand, if you start writing down an answer and you realize that it's wrong, SAY SO! You'll get more part marks for showing that you understand your mistake, even if you're not sure how to fix it, than if you simply leave it like that (which gives the impression that you don't even realize that what you did was wrong). On a related note, don't feel like you must fill all of the available space: it is quite possible that a correct answer will require only part of the space for some questions. RELAX! You'll function much better if you are well-rested and relaxed than if you are tired or tense. If you know that you are the type of person who gets extremely nervous during a final exam, then take the time to talk to other people to find out what they do to relax, or go to the Learning Skills Centre in the Koffler building and talk to the people there. They have experience helping people cope with "exam anxiety" to allow you to really show what you know.