Exam Rules:

bulletEach midterm is 50 minutes long, in quiz section.
bulletEach midterm counts for 23% of your grade. Midterm 1 covers up to Worksheet 9.
bulletThe exam will consist of 3-5 problems, each with multiple parts.
bulletYou are permitted to bring: one 8.5"x11" sheet of handwritten notes (both sides are OK), a ruler, and a calculator. No other electronics are allowed (including cell phones and mp3 players).
bulletPlease bring photo ID and be aware that your TA may spot-check some IDs.
bulletThere are no makeup exams. If a serious emergency occurs (such as illness) and you miss the midterm, you need to contact your professor as soon as possible and provide documentation.
Note that Hall Health provides one acute illness visit per quarter free for UW students, so even if you do not have medical insurance you can visit a doctor's office.

 

To study for the midterm:

1)      REVIEW:  First, review all the basic concepts, formulas and methods we covered so far (use the posted Review File as a starting point, and look through your class notes and text). For each concept or method, make sure you can define it or describe it, and give examples. Recall in which homework problems or activities you had to apply it.
Also, don't forget to review any algebra skills you had trouble with during the quarter.

2)      UPDATE YOUR SHEET OF NOTES: As you work through (1) above, make sure your sheet of notes for the exam contains all the important points. Your sheet should be clean, neat, and organized, so you can find things easily. Do not write too small or make the sheet too busy/messy; otherwise it may confuse you more than it will help. Remember that you'll have limited time during the test! In particular, including entire homework problems on your note sheet is counter-productive. It's important to know how to apply the concepts you've learned to new situations.

3)      PRACTICE:  Once you're comfortable with the material and the homework problems, print out a few previous exams from the Exam Archive (Exam 1), and attempt them in test-like conditions: 50 minutes, quiet location, with no help but your sheet of notes and calculator. When finished (or when the time's up), compare your work to the posted solutions and see which parts you missed. Review again the parts you missed, or bring questions to me., your TA, or the study center.

During the exam:

  • Start by looking over the test quickly to see how long it is and about how long you can spend on each problem.

  • Start with the problems that look easiest to you. Read each question very carefully before writing down anything, to make sure you're answering the correct question and you're not wasting time on something that was not asked.

  • Don't spend too much time on any one problem and don't panic. If you get stuck, move on and come back later. If you studied regularly and well, you should be able to do the entire exam, but sometimes the pressure can make you unable to think straight. If you return to the same question later you may notice something you missed the first time.

  • Don't cheat. You'll get a better grade on your own work anyway --- in addition, you are likely to get caught. There will be different versions of the exam and we take cheating very seriously. The consequences for cheating are outlined in the university policy on academic misconduct.

  • Before handing in your exam, take a quick look and make sure you answered as much as possible every question. If you have time left, review your answers.

  • MOST IMPORTANTLY: unless otherwise stated, SHOW YOUR WORK and use the methods learned in this class!
    This includes drawing lines and points on graphs,  labeling each of them, describing the method you use, showing which  computations you performed, etc. Guessing and verifying will not get full credit if there was a step-by-step procedure to determine the answer. In particular:
    • If we cannot tell how you got your answer you will not get much credit, even if your answer happens to be correct.
    • On the other hand, if you show work and your answer is wrong, you will get partial credit for the steps that are correct in your solution.

GOOD LUCK!