Midterm Exam¶

Overview¶

One of the goals of this course is to develop your computational problem-solving skills; this goes beyond just writing code in a code editor! One of the ways we assess your progress in building these skills is through written exams, which test your ability to evaluate (trace) code as Python does, debug code you haven’t written, and translate word problems into code that performs desired actions.

Format¶

This is a hand-written test, meaning electronic devices and external aids are prohibited. Any math on the exam will be limited to simple arithmetic.

Question types may include some of the following. Note: this is not an exhaustive list, nor will all of these formats appear. This list is meant to give you an idea of what might possibly appear on the exam:

• Given a program, function, or code snippet and possible inputs, what is the output?
• What is the value of variables X, Y, Z on line N?
• Fill in the code: Replace the blanks on line N with an appropriate statement or expression
• Evaluate expressions
• Write a function that takes … and returns …

Materials¶

You must bring the following to the exam:

1. Yourself :)
2. Your UW ID card.
3. A writing implement. Responses must be written in pencil, or blue or black ink.

You may bring the following:

• A sealable water bottle.
• One sheet of paper, no larger than 8.5 x 11 inches with your own notes for reference (i.e. a “cheat sheet”):
  • You may use both the front and back sides of the cheat sheet; it may be handwritten or typed.
  • Additionally, we will provide you with a reference sheet as part of the exam packet that includes some documentation that you won’t have to memorize or include on your own cheatsheet.

You may NOT:

• Use any electronic or computing devices during the exam. This includes, but is not limited to, calculators, cell phones, headphones or earbuds, music players, wearable smart devices, etc.
• Bring any additional paper (including scratch paper — we will provide this to you) outside of your single cheat sheet.

Topics¶

All topics through lecture 11 (1/30) are ‘in-scope’ for the midterm exam. Dictionaries will not appear on the midterm. The short list of those topics is:

• Variables, Statements, Expressions
• For loops, range, nested loops
• If statements and conditionals
• Functions, function arguments, and return statements
• Lists/Nested Lists
• File input/output (I/O)

Practice¶

Here are some prior midterm exams along with their answer keys:

You can review individual exams by quarter:

• 24sp Midterm (and its answer key)
• 24au Midterm (and its answer key)
• 25wi Midterm (and its answer key)
• 25au Midterm (and its answer key)