Computability Exam Rules

The final exam is a written test. Students achieving a high score in the written test may ask for an optional oral test. More in detail:

About the written test:

• Please have your ID with you (e.g. a passport).
• This is a closed book test. You can not refer to books, notes, etc.
• No cell phones or other potential communication devices (e.g., laptops).
• Both theoretical and practical questions will be asked. To pass the exam, both kinds of questions must be answered. Answering only one kind, even if perfectly, causes the failure of the test.
• Theoretical questions are about recalling a definition / statement / proof from the notes. (The ones to remember are marked as such.)
  • Some theoretical questions
• Practical questions are exercises, of varying difficulty. These will be similar in spirit to those asked in the written tests of the previous years.
• Evaluation. To award points, you need to provide a correct answer to the questions and an adequate justification for it. A correct answer without justification awards instead no points. Further, severe mistakes negatively affect your score - it is in general advisable to refrain from answering rather than making a blatant assertion of an obviously false property. I am providing a short list of specific mistakes. If one of these is found in your answers, a harsh penalty will be applied.
  • Common mistakes in written tests
• Answers to the questions will be provided in the following days.
• Results of the written tests will be made available on the course web page, but NOT before 6 days since the written test. Please do not email me about the results before that. Be patient.

Examining your answers after the exam:

• If you so wish, you can examine your written test by requesting office time (see above). Before doing so, be sure to have understood the provided answers.
• Appeals can cause the score to be adjusted only as follows:
  • In the case I find I was indeed wrong in my evaluation, I will raise/lower the score as appropriate.
  • I will not ignore significantly wrong claims done during the discussion. If this happens, I will lower the score. It is fine to ask why something was wrong; less so to insist it is correct after having been told why that is not the case, and having read the correct solution before.

About the optional oral test:

• The oral test is meant to be an optional hard challenge for students aiming at top marks, and is not meant to be a hidden extra burden that all students "have" to take.
• Only students having scored at least 27 in the written test may attend the oral test.
• Students willing to attend the oral test have to ask for it.
• The oral test may cause the mark to be raised as well as lowered. Understand the risks and do not underestimate the option of accepting the written test score as your final one.
• Please have your ID with you (e.g. a passport).
• This is a closed book test.
• You can be asked anything, within reason.

After the exam:

• If your mark has to be reported to the secretariat as soon as possible (e.g., to meet a graduation deadline) inform me of that.
• Marks will be entered on our ESSE3 database. You will receive an email asking whether you accept or reject your mark.
• Accepted marks are final, and can not be changed anymore.
• Rejected marks are "frozen". Frozen marks are lost whenever you submit your answers to a written test in another session (attending the exam without submitting your answers preserves frozen marks). Frozen marks are lost if another professor is asked to teach this course for the next year. Frozen marks are lost after one year.
• If you hold a frozen mark, you can ask for it to be "thawed" and entered again on ESSE3 in another session. It is lost if rejected again.
• To request a mark to be "thawed" and registered in an exam session, register to that session and send me an email before (or right after) the written test of that session. In that email, please include your name and matriculation number, and state in which session you previously passed the exam. Failing to register or sending me a late email will cause ESSE3 to prevent me to enter your mark. In that case, you will have to choose another session.
• If in doubt, feel free to ask for clarifications.

As a joke, here's a pseudo-Java representation of an exam session.

void examSession(Student s) {
  if (! s.registeredOnESSE3()) {
    throw new FatalError();
  }
  Test t = new WrittenTest(new Date());
  Answer a = s.performWrittenTest(t);
  if (a == null) {
    // Student did not submit answers
    if (s.acceptsFrozenMark()) {
       s.finalMark  = s.frozenMark;
       s.frozenMark = 0;
    }
    return;
  }
  s.frozenMark = 0; // Erase possible previous mark
  t.correctAnswers().publish();
  int mark = a.evaluate();
  if (s.appeal(a,mark)) {
    mark += a.adjustment(); // Warning! May be negative!
  }
  if (mark >= 27 && s.requestsOralExam()) {
    mark = s.performOralExam(mark, a);
  }
  if (mark < 18) {
    throw new FatalError();
  }
  if (s.acceptsFinalMark(mark)) {
    s.finalMark = mark;
  } else {
    s.frozenMark = mark;
  }
}
// Warning! Frozen marks are kept for long, but not forever!

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Roberto Zunino, 2012