Biol 591 
Introduction to Bioinformatics
Course at a Glance : Exams
Fall 2003 

What are exams?

You might think that this question is rather unnecessary, but in my view we have exams primarily because they're one of the best teaching tools in existence. The evaluation function is secondary. Exams are may be the time when you put things together for the first time. It may be the first time you really go out on a solo flight. It may be when you put in your most concentrated effort.

If exams are so good at teaching, then I'd better be careful what lessons are taught. As best as I can manage, exams will pose problems similar to those you will face in the real world. With that in mind, all exams will be open book, open web, open everything except living people (exception: you can always go to me with a question) (second exception: there may be questions that are opened up to group attack). All exams will be take-home.

What will be on the exams?

Questions will be inspired by the problem sets you get for each scenario. A question may be very close to one in a problem set, with only the details changed, or it may combine the points of two questions from the problem sets.

In addition to problem set-based problems, there will be the following question on all exams:

How many questionnaires did you fill out since {the last exam | the beginning of the semester}?
This question is to encourage you to read the notes and fill out questionnaires in a timely fashion, and to reward you for your effort. Questionnaires are of great help to us in assessing how to cover the material most efficiently. Keeping up with the notes helps the class move along. I may also ask the following question:
 How many problem sets that you were invited to turn in did you in fact turn in?
Again, I want to encourage you and reward you for keeping up with the problems, the heart of this course. On the other hand, I have no desire to compel you to do problems that pose no challenge to you. For example, the computer programming experts in the class need not bother with questions designed for those just learning the art.

How can I do well on exams?

Do well on problem sets.