Page last updated: December 9, 1999


Final Examination

I know, I know. Nobody enjoys final exams. But on the positive side, I once read a study claiming that students who reviewed for and took a final exam retained 30% of their knowledge compared to 10% for those who didn't. If you think about it in terms of your tuition dollars, that's a much better return on your investment.

There will be a cumulative final examination. Closer to the end of the quarter I will post more information here: sample questions, suggestions for studying, etc. The examination will be Thursday, December 9, 1999, from 6:30PM to 8:20PM, in room EE1 105 (same building as class, different room). All students will be required to take the exam in the same place (on campus). If you have a conflict, I'm sure we can work out a mutually agreeable solution, but you need to notify me of any potential conflicts by 1 week prior to the exam.

You can also expect a question regarding the implementation project. This means that if you work with a partner on this, you should be familiar enough with the code written by your partner to be able to answer general questions about it.

The examination questions and answers will be available on the web after the exam is over.

For some idea of the format of the exam, please check out the previous version from Summer 1998. You can expect at least one of these questions to re-appear. That turned out to be a challenging exam given the time constraints, so ours might be a bit shorter.

The exam will be closed-book, but you will be allowed to use one "cheat sheet" if you like (one sheet of 8.5" by 11" paper with anything you like written on it -- ideally, things you're likely to forget, or examples of syntax for queries, etc.). You can also use a calculator if that makes you happy. Suggestions for studying: review questions/answers for the homework assignments, study lecture notes, and pay close attention to the reviewing, etc. we do during the last week of class.

The examination questions are now available in both Microsoft Word and HTML. The examination solutions are now available in Microsoft Word.