Exam, Tests, and Assignments#
Grading#
You are evaluated by the end of the course based on two components:
A 4-hour written exam (weight 4/5)
Four homework sets during the course (weight 1/5)
You will receive a final grade based on an overall assessment that includes these components.
Weekly Tests and Bonus Points#
In weeks without Theme Exercises the Short Day will end with a Weekly Test. This test will contain questions that cover the material of the week and is intended to train you for the no-aids part of the written exam as well as to keep you on track throughout the semester. By passing a Weekly Test you earn a bonus point that will count towards your exam score.
Note that not passing or not doing the Weekly Tests will not subtract anything from your exam result; the Weekly Tests are a “carrot”, not a “whip”. The Weekly Tests will be carried out via an online Möbius quiz system. In the half-hour version of a Weekly Test (see below) you are only allowed to use notes and books in paper-form and cannot use your laptop for anything else than access to the test. Even though you can use any tool in the week version of the Weekly Test, we still encourage you do stick to paper-based aids, since this format will train you for the no-aids part of the exam in December (see more in the exam rules). It is thus a good idea to create a personal collection of notes and to get used to reading and searching through the textbook in its paper form, which can be trained at the Weekly Tests.
How to Earn Bonus Points#
The half-hour version: A Weekly Test is active during the final half hour of the Short Day, so Friday 16:30-17:00. We call this the half-hour version. Here you have one attempt.
The week version: If you do not earn your bonus point in the half-hour version of the test (which expectedly is unlikely), then a week version of the test will be open from Friday 18:00 until Wednesday 18:00. Here you have an unlimited number of attempts. The week version of the test will contain the same questions as the half-hour version but with “scrambled” numbers.
A Weekly Test contains 10 questions. Your results from the half-hour version and from the week version will be added together. To earn a bonus point, you must reach a total of 8 correct answers.
How Bonus Points count towards your Exam Score#
You may bring maximally 8 bonus points to the exam. There will be 9 Weekly Tests during the semester, so there is room for missing out on a test (for instance in case of illness).
Your bonus points will be added to your score at the written exam in December. Roughly speaking: if you score 65 % on the written exam and you have earned 6 bonus points during the semester, then your exam assessment will be based on a score of 71 %. Note that bonus points are carried over to the first re-exam.
Rules for the Weekly Tests#
The Weekly Test is accessed via the Möbius quiz system. A link can be found in the course’s DTU Learn module (in the topmenu).
You may discuss the questions with fellow students. But note that Möbius scrambles the numbers such that while all students have the same question types, each student has his/her own personal version of the test. You must calculate and enter your own answers into your own test.
For the half-hour version, the following rules apply:
The test is on-location, meaning it must be done in your study area.
You must bring your own laptop. An access passcode will be handed out by the teaching assistants.
No electronic aids are allowed. Aids in paper-form are allowed. Your laptop may only be used for typing your answers into Möbius.
Your laptop must be in fullscreen mode when you have entered the test, such that the test fills the entire screen.
You may discuss the questions in your study group/at your table.
Homework Assignments#
You will complete four homework assignment sets during the course. The intent with a homework assignment set is for you to dive deep into the syllabus, to train your mathematical thinking and handling of the mathematical tools related to the topics, and to be challenged on your problem-solving skills both on classical, ideal tasks and on tasks that require you to combine different parts of the syllabus in fitting ways. A homework assignment set consists of two parts:
A written assignment that you download via a link on the website (on the semester overview). Your answer to this written assignment must be uploaded as a .pdf to the course’s DTU Learn module (under “Assignments” in the topmenu) before the deadline.
A digital answers-only assignment in Möbius that opens at 17.00 o’clock on the last Friday prior to the assignment deadline and closes the following Wednesday at 23:55.
In the digital assignment in Möbius only the correct answer is to be typed into the Möbius quiz system, which you access via link in the course’s DTU Learn module (in the topmenu). This Möbius assignment will also include topics from the connected Theme Exercise that typically will be completed that same week (see more about Theme Exercises below).
In the written .pdf assignment you should provide full answers, arguments, and reasoning, and all necessary parts of your computations should be presented. That being said, a perfect assignment is as short and concise as possible. The focus is your ability to write mathematical texts and to reason towards logical conclusions in a mathematically correct and precise manner. Your assignment is individual, in the sense that you are allowed to discuss the assignment problems and solution strategies with fellow students, but your final delivery must be formulated by yourself in your own words. Close-to identical solutions will be considered plagiarism. The first two homework assignments must be completed manually, meaning without any electronic tools used for computational work. You may write the assignment by hand and then scan it in for upload, or you may use a text editor, such as Word, Write, Latex or the like.
NB: On the last Long Day before a homework assignment deadline the teaching assistants will be prepared to answer your conceptual questions about the homework in the timeslot 15:30-16:00. The teachers will not answer questions that directly concern the solutions, and the teachers do not answer any homework-related questions outside of this timeslot.
Theme Exercises#
Four times during the semester the usual lessons are replaced by Theme Exercises. The purpose of the Theme Exercises is to train your use of Python and SymPy for efficient problem-solving within the scope of the course syllabus, and to show you how tools and methods from the course can be applied in engineering-relevant applications.
Theme Exercises take place on four Short Days in the usual study areas (see the semester overview). On a day with a Theme Exercise, the usual lesson activities are cancelled - so no usual exercises, lecture, nor Weekly Test. All four hours of the Short Day time slot are instead reserved fully for your own dedication to the Theme Exercise.
The Theme Exercise will be uploaded to the website a few days before the Short Day in question. Note that a Theme Exercise will not be handed in - rather, the terms and techniques you learned and the methods you used in the Theme Exercise will be needed for answering the Möbius assignment of the upcoming homework assignment set (see above).
We advise you to form groups for working on the Theme Exercise. Keep in mind, though, that the Möbius assignment in the homework assignment set will give you individualised questions with scrambled numbers. We therefore recommend that you complete the Theme Exercise in a manner where you can easily adjust your Python/SymPy code to similar uses and new numbers.
Final Written Exam in December#
On the scheduled exam day, a 4-hour exam will be administered, divided into two consecutive parts:
The first part is a 2-hour exam without electronic aids. The exam will be provided on paper, completed on paper, and delivered on paper. Notes and textbooks are allowed in non-electronic formats. All answers must be justified and the reasining made clear, and relevant theorems from the notes should be referenced.
The second part is a 2-hour exam with all by DTU-permitted aids (no internet access). This part is a multiple-choice exam administered electronically on DTU’s exam platform, DE (Digital Exam). You must bring your own computer to connect to DTU’s exam Wi-Fi network in order to access the exam platform. The exam consists of questions with several answer options, of which only one is correct. Only the correct answer should be marked, and it is not possible to add intermediate calculations, reasoning, or other justifications to your multiple-choice answers.
The two parts weigh equally in the assessment, and bonus points are added to the exam score as detailed above.
The exam date is listed on the semester overview on the course website. The DTU Exam Office, which oversees all written exams at DTU, will notify you directly and individually of the exact time and location, typically one week in advance. Please note that exam durations and schedules may vary for each student. If you are eligible for extended time, this will be clearly indicated in the information you receive from the DTU Exam Office.
Syllabus for the Exam#
The syllabus is defined from the weekly programs, which can be access via the semester overview on this website. These weekly programs specify which parts of the textbook and possibly other materials that are included in the syllabus.