The exam will focus on the material that we have discussed in lecture from the beginning of the semester through the material on binary numbers included on Problem Set 4.
Remember that you can access all of the relevant pre-lecture videos and lecture recordings in the Lectures section of the course’s Blackboard site, and that all of the relevant lecture notes are in the coursepack.
The exam will be held from 6:30-7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, in the following locations:
We will not meet for lecture on the day of the midterm. (However, we will have lecture on the Tuesday before the exam, because that Monday is a holiday, and that Tuesday is a Monday schedule.)
You must bring your BU ID to the exam, so that we can check it when you turn in your exam.
You will have the full 75 minutes for the exam.
You may not use any materials during the exam. In particular, you should turn off and put away cell phones, watches, and other devices.
You should either use a pencil (recommended) or a pen with blue or black ink.
Once you leave the exam room, you may not return, so please use the restroom ahead of time.
The exam will include questions similar to the ones posed in lecture–both the Top Hat questions and the open-response ones. However, these questions will not be multiple-choice. You will need to determine and write the answer without a list of options to choose from.
In addition, there will be questions that ask you to write a function or a short program, similar to the problems from the homework.
One thing that we highly recommend is to review the pre-lecture videos and lecture notes and make a summary of the key points in your own words. “Boiling down” the material in this way is a great way to ensure that you really understand the key concepts.
We also encourage you to do practice problems. Options include:
redoing the questions posed in lecture–both the Top Hat questions and the open-response ones.
redoing the lab exercises, the solutions for which are available on the Labs page
some additional practice problems
(Note: Solutions to these additional practice problems will
be posted under Other Content on Blackboard as we get closer
to the exam.)
the following questions from CodingBat:
When working on practice problems, try to come up with your answers on paper, rather than through a trial-and-error approach on Spyder or in another programming environment. This will give you an experience that is similar to the one that you will have during the exam.
Feel free to post questions on Piazza (using the midterm_exam1
tag) or to email the course account (cs111-staff@cs.bu.edu).
Last updated on October 11, 2024.