Quizzes and Exams - M E 433, Spring 2015
There will be six quizzes and a final exam in this course.
All quizzes are comprehensive, but generally concentrate on more recent material.
The final exam is also comprehensive, covering material from the entire semester.
Quizzes
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There will be a quiz approximately every other week, beginning with week 3. For exact dates, see the Quiz Schedule at the Testing Center.
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Coverage: In general, coverage is up to and including the Friday lecture before the week in which the quiz is administered.
For example, Quiz 1 is held during the third week of class; it covers all material presented in the first two weeks of class.
- All quizzes are comprehensive, but weighed more heavily on material covered after the previous quiz.
For example, Quiz 2 is held during the fifth week of class; it covers all material presented in the first four weeks of class,
so you will see some questions based on material from the first two weeks.
However, most of the quiz will be on the material since the last quiz; in this case, material covered on weeks 3 and 4.
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All quizzes will be administered at Penn State's Testing Center.
Students will receive an e-mail from the Testing Center prompting them to sign up for an available time slot to take the quiz.
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Make sure you bring your PSU ID to the Testing Center or they will not let you take the quiz.
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Each quiz will be an appropriate mix of True/False, Multiple Choice, Matching, and Short Completion problems, worth between 2 and 5 points each, for a total of 100 points.
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You will have 60 minutes to take the quiz, and will be warned when 10 minutes remain. This should be more than enough time to take the quiz.
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Warning: At 60 minutes, your quiz is automatically submitted. You will still be able to enter answers after this, but they will not count.
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After you submit your quiz, you will be able to stay at the Testing Center for a while longer to review your performance.
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However, you will not be able to see the quiz questions after you leave the Testing Center.
If you want to review your quiz later, you will need to visit Professor Cimbala during office hours or some other time to be arranged individually.
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Each quiz is closed-book, closed notes, and no calculators,
but you will be given a sheet of scrap paper on which you can work out equations and calculations. This scrap paper is scanned by the Testing Center staff, and must be turned in after you take the quiz.
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Do not bring your own scrap paper, notes, cell phones, calculators, or anything - just a pencil.
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At the top of each quiz will be a link to an equation sheet,
Equation_Sheet_ME433.pdf
that contains equations, constants, tables, etc. as might be needed for the quiz.
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Do not bring a hardcopy of this equation sheet to the quiz - it is posted here so that you can become familiar with its layout and content.
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You will be able to click on this same equation sheet during the actual quizzes at the Testing Center.
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You should familiarize yourself with the equation sheet so you do not waste time during the quiz hunting for equations and constants, etc.
There is no guarantee that the equation sheet will contain everything you need; you are expected to think, not just plug and chug to get answers.
The equation sheet may be updated as the semester progresses.
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A basic pop-up calculator app will also be provided with the quiz; you are advised to copy from the calculator display and paste into the quiz to avoid copying errors.
You will also be able to borrow a real (physical) calculator from the bin of calculators.
Make sure you ask the person at the front desk for the calculators for M E 433.
When you are finished with your quiz, return the calculator to the person at the counter, or put it back into the bin.
Here is a picture of the TI30X IIS Solar calculator that is available at the Testing Center.
You may want to familiarize yourself with its functions so you do not waste time during the quiz hunting for buttons.
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Your quiz grades will automatically appear on the ANGEL website for this course.
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Statistics about the quiz results will be posted below, within a few days after everyone has taken the quiz.
Quiz Results and Statistics
Quiz |
Coverage |
# Students |
Mean |
Standard Deviation |
Median |
Highest |
Lowest |
1 |
Up through week 2 |
59 |
77.2 |
11.7 |
78 |
98 |
49 |
2 |
Up through week 4 |
58 |
68.5 |
12.7 |
70 |
93 |
40 |
3 |
Up through week 6 |
59 |
74.3 |
12.1 |
75 |
100 |
37 |
4 |
Up through week 9 |
59 |
81.4 |
12.1 |
84 |
100 |
43 |
5 |
Up through week 11 |
58 |
82.6 |
12.2 |
87 |
98 |
47 |
6 |
Up through week 13 |
59 |
83.2 |
12.1 |
87 |
100 |
53 |
Final Exam
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Final Exam: The final exam is scheduled for:
Monday, May 4, 10:10-noon, 117 Osmond
.
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Please sit in every other seat.
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The final exam is comprehensive.
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Format:
The exam consists of two parts, a closed-book part and an open-book part, roughly equal in weight.
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Closed portion
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No notes, no calculators, no sheets of papers - nothing but a pencil! A few equations and tables will be provided as needed.
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This part will test your understanding of concepts and terms (Multiple choice, True/False, and short completion - limited or no partial credit).
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This part will be similar to the quizzes at the Testing Center, except it will be on paper instead of on the computer.
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Open portion
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You may bring: the course textbook, your class notes, web lecture notes, tablet PC notes from the web, tables from the web, graded homeworks, a calculator, and Professor Cimbala's homework solutions.
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You may not bring: any books other than the course textbook, exams or homeworks from other courses, anything (exams, notes, homework, etc.) from previous semesters of this course.
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Only a basic calculator is permitted. It must be a calculator, not a cell phone, ipad, tablet, etc., or any device that can store notes, example problems, etc. HP graphing calculators are permitted.
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The instructor and TA will proctor the final exam - cheating will not be tolerated.
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No cell phone usage during the exam (turn it off).
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This part will be problems similar to homework problems and class example problems - show all your work and calculations in the space provided on the exam (there will be partial credit.).
Results of Final Exam:
- Number of students: 59
- Mean: 88.6 (out of 100)
- Standard Deviation: 7.5
- Median: 89 (out of 100)
- Highest: 100 (out of 100)
- Lowest: 71 (out of 100)