Grading
The grade will be based on an open book exam with a duration of 120 minutes. You may use any materials you wish; the only requirement is that you work by yourself.
| Grade | Minimum number of points |
|---|---|
| 1.0 | 114 |
| 1.3 | 108 |
| 1.7 | 102 |
| 2.0 | 96 |
| 2.3 | 90 |
| 2.7 | 84 |
| 3.0 | 78 |
| 3.3 | 72 |
| 3.7 | 66 |
| 4.0 | 60 |
You can earn up to 12 extra points, which will allow you to improve your grade by up to 0.7 units. The extra points will be determined as follows:
You will earn 0.5 points for participating in group work (a maximum of 6 points).
You will earn 0.5 points for participating in a quiz before lectures (a maximum of 6 points).
The minimum requirement for passing the course is to obtain at least 60 points in the exam. It is not possible to jump from not passing to passing via extra points accumulated via the homework quizzes and group work.
Exam¶
Content-wise, the exam will be as close as possible as typical sessions during the course. That means:
We will give you a paper that is broadly related to the course contents 48 hours before the exam, including some reading hints.
The exam will be consist of questions regarding the contents of the paper, your assessment of key mechanisms, and its relation to other papers we have seen during the course. In short: Exactly what is happening during group work throughout the term.
Some specifics we can already tell you:
Exam will be on paper provided by us; do bring a pen.
Please bring the paper the exam is based on along in whatever format you prefer. We won’t ask for what is written on page 3 in the second paragraph, but obviously it should be helpful.
By a similar token, feel free to bring along the papers we read during the course and any notes that you took.
“Any format you prefer” = anything that does not disturb your fellow students and that does not allow you to use AI tools. Paper, e-Ink tablet, ... should all be fine; unfortunately we cannot allow laptops, iPads, and similar devices.
What should be clear: To best prepare for the exam, actively participate throughout the term.
Examination: A note of caution¶
The interaction during the course prepares you best for the exam. Because the habits are still present, regular participants from prior years have found it profitable to participate in the first examination phase. Results have typically been very good throughout.
Upon hearing from these students, some people who never participated much took the exam during the second examination phase. Most of them ended up being very disappointed with their results.
This is just a pair of empirical observations. Much in line with the course, you may now come up with a model that explains the past data for optimising your own choices.