Miscalculations and Misjudgements: My EngG130 Midterm Story

[General_Sax]

F*** my life

UGGGHH! Today I wrote my EngG130 (engineering mechanics: statics) midterm that's worth 35% of my final grade.

This would normally be very stressful/difficult, and I managed to compound this with my bullheadedness.

We are allowed faculty approved calculators, great I have a faculty approved calculator.

However, further inspection on the calculator policy reveals an important tidbit: the calculator must be NON-PROGRAMMABLE, which, surprise surprise, I didn't have.

I decided to bring my faculty approved PROGRAMMABLE calculator.

I just wrote a two hour midterm without a calculator. I'm sure I failed.

F*** my life.

P.S. If anyone has encouragement to offer please do

P.P.S. Similar stories would be nice.

 

[cristo]

Just think of it this way: 35% of a course is not the be all and end all. If you knew what you were doing, then you will presumably only miss out on some of the marks for getting the correct final number, but still pick up points for method. Just make sure you blitz your final exam, and it should make up for it.

 

[General_Sax]

Yeah, you're right. One low mark won't kill me. I just hope this doesn't result in me not getting into the program I want to get in.

 

[Moonbear]

I think that if courses are going to allow calculators on exams, but have restrictions on the type you can use, then they should provide the calculators for those who need them. With so many different classes requiring calculators, and all of them having different rules about what type you should or shouldn't have, it's ridiculous for students to need to keep purchasing multiple calculators. And, for the sake of exam security, it just seems easiest to hand out calculators and collect them at the end.

Anyway, as cristo pointed out, you still should be able to get the majority of points for method, and just lose some minor points if you miscalculated something in your head.

 

[rootX]

For most engineering exams, the calculations worth less than 20%. As you far you put your steps there and show that you know how to solve the problem you should be able to get 80% at max. You should be good if you did everything but the last step of finding the numerical values. Your marker would probably go easier about that part if you mentioned the circumstance.

 

[Topher925]

For most engineering exams, the calculations worth less than 20%.

I would say even less than that. Around here, its the way you set up the problem, the assumptions you make, and the physical laws you apply to solve are what gets you the points. A final number is worth maybe 2% if that.

 

[NeoDevin]

(In physics) In the past I have written a note at the top of the exam stating that I did not have a calculator, and would carry all calculations as far as possible without one. I simplified everything as best I could, and was given full credit. As far as I know, this is standard practise, but I could be mistaken.

 

[Pengwuino]

I went to one of my intro calc based physics courses' finals when i just started college.

Forgot my calculator, period.

Aced that test One of the highest scores in the class to top it off I think.

 

[BobG]

Geez frickin' Louieez! Learn to use a slide rule!

 

[lewdtenant]

I agree with most of the replies here, but I've had multiple choice Engineering exams as well, and if you didn't have a calculator for a test like that then you're pretty much screwed.

 

[General_Sax]

It wasn't a multiple choice test, it was long answer. The problem is that my work is going to be so hard to follow, because I have untidy work to begin with. The other problem is that I could have easily made errors in my substitutions. I did try to simplify, but some cases were just too much, and I had to leave the question in concerns of time/risk of cerebral aneurysm. I was aiming for/expecting 15% above average, now I'm speculating a grade 10-20% below average.

 

[Quincy]

If they're only allowing non-programmable calculators and by non-programmable calculators, you mean calculators that can only do simple operations (add, subtract, multiply, etc), then surely the exam wouldn't have been that hard w/o the calculator since you would just need to do those simple operations in your head or on paper.

 

[Moonbear]

It wasn't a multiple choice test, it was long answer. The problem is that my work is going to be so hard to follow, because I have untidy work to begin with.

A calculator isn't going to help with that. There's no reason not to be tidy in your work and make it clear to follow.

If they're only allowing non-programmable calculators and by non-programmable calculators, you mean calculators that can only do simple operations (add, subtract, multiply, etc), then surely the exam wouldn't have been that hard w/o the calculator since you would just need to do those simple operations in your head or on paper.

Usually it's the trig functions people need to use the calculators for (or in Bob's case, use the slide rule for).

 

[Pattonias]

I think that if courses are going to allow calculators on exams, but have restrictions on the type you can use, then they should provide the calculators for those who need them. With so many different classes requiring calculators, and all of them having different rules about what type you should or shouldn't have, it's ridiculous for students to need to keep purchasing multiple calculators. And, for the sake of exam security, it just seems easiest to hand out calculators and collect them at the end.

I agree, I think I have at least four calculators. On the down side the university would consider the handing out of calculators in the class a reason to raise the cost of the class by a hundred dollars. Not because they would give us a graphing calculator, but because they might have given us a graphing calculator. The handing out of calculators in class for temporary use would be deemed an expensive and unnecessary risk.

 

[General_Sax]

A calculator isn't going to help with that. There's no reason not to be tidy in your work and make it clear to follow.

Yeah, I know. I try to be neat, but it often doesn't seem to work. I do leave comments as to what I'm attempting.

Usually it's the trig functions people need to use the calculators for (or in Bob's case, use the slide rule for).

I had problems with roots as well. I tried to simplify, but only had so much time.

If I'm multiplying expressions and such, I can easily leave a term 'behind', or copy it down incorectly, ect. A caclulator would've made this portion of the exam a lot easier. Same with the substitutions. Often in the course of this exam I would have to solve systems of equations. It would have been much easier to be able to compute expressions rather than subbing in whole expressions.

Oh well, I just hope I don't fail. If I do, then I'll just have to be a civil engineer... *shudder*

 

[chemisttree]

Geez frickin' Louieez! Learn to use a slide rule!

Oh, if he did there would probably be some obscure restriction against using one with a sliding k scale... and guess which one he would bring!

 

[BobG]

Oh, if he did there would probably be some obscure restriction against using one with a sliding k scale... and guess which one he would bring!

Why is the restriction put in place to begin with? If there were a way to prove the person taking the test programmed the calculator instead of his buddy, then you wouldn't need the restriction. In order to program your calculator, you need to know how to solve the problem.

In fact, in a small class with a fairly standard calculator, the restriction is sometimes relaxed. The instructor just makes sure the program is cleared at the start of the test. Who cares what you program into your calculator during the test.

It's a somewhat silly restriction anyway. I've always been amazed at how many students never learn how to use their calculator. The ones that need help on their test probably don't realize they could program their calculator to solve the problem.

 

[renz]

If you did the method right, you should be ok. Sometimes thing came out better than you expected. (sometimes)
to share my experience:
It was a final exam in my programming class. I had other (more important) finals to worry about, so I didn't study much for it. I thought I'd do fine since writing codes was never a problem for me. Then I went to take the exam. There were four questions on it. I had to write separate programs for each. Turns out all of them needed same two lines of code to make them work, and I couldn't remember since usually I copied those lines from another source. So I couldn't compile any of my programs. I ended up writing the rest of the code without compiling them.
Panicked a lil after the test
good thing I did well in my midterms, so I still got good grade on the course.

 

[Pattonias]

I would ask that you let us know how you did once you get your grade. You have built up a bit of suspense as this thread hasn't petered off yet.

 

[chemisttree]

Why is the restriction put in place to begin with? If there were a way to prove the person taking the test programmed the calculator instead of his buddy, then you wouldn't need the restriction. In order to program your calculator, you need to know how to solve the problem.

In fact, in a small class with a fairly standard calculator, the restriction is sometimes relaxed. The instructor just makes sure the program is cleared at the start of the test. Who cares what you program into your calculator during the test.

It's a somewhat silly restriction anyway. I've always been amazed at how many students never learn how to use their calculator. The ones that need help on their test probably don't realize they could program their calculator to solve the problem.

Because it is likely that only one student would actually program the calculator and the others would simply download it. I once gave a class an assignment to pick up an article in chemistry from the library for an extra 10 points on their next test... ANY ARTICLE. The point of the exercise was to teach the class that there was a part of the library where chemical journals are kept and to familiarize them with at least one of the journal names.

One student did the assignment. The rest of the class turned in a photocopy of his article.
I about popped a blood vessel! These were college students... well, premeds at least.

I've never gotten over it.

 

[Gamma Ray]

Im in you class man (Ya UofA!), lol that sucks. Small world, lol. Lubell was sayin that he had students in the past write the exam with no calculator (they did not have that gold sticker) for that same reason, but some of them pulled off the highest marks in the class (his point was that a calculator won't help you if you don't know the material).

If you gave final answer as an expression or if you at least showed the process even though you did not solve everything, you should be okay. And if you screwed that exam, you still have the final and I got a Bs in uAlberta classes that I failed midterms in. In general the exam imo was difficult, so the curve should be low.

Good luck man.

 

[General_Sax]

lol, small world. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[BobG]

Because it is likely that only one student would actually program the calculator and the others would simply download it. I once gave a class an assignment to pick up an article in chemistry from the library for an extra 10 points on their next test... ANY ARTICLE. The point of the exercise was to teach the class that there was a part of the library where chemical journals are kept and to familiarize them with at least one of the journal names.

One student did the assignment. The rest of the class turned in a photocopy of his article.
I about popped a blood vessel! These were college students... well, premeds at least.

I've never gotten over it.

I would subtract 20 points from the test score of the student that provided copies of the article to the rest of the class. Rationale: the drug dealer should always receive a worse punishment than the people just trying to satisfy their addiction.

 

[Gamma Ray]

Marks released today, class avg 49% ( a ~800 enrollent class). Hope your ok gen sax (brutal marking on this one I noticed tho).

 

[Moonbear]

Because it is likely that only one student would actually program the calculator and the others would simply download it. I once gave a class an assignment to pick up an article in chemistry from the library for an extra 10 points on their next test... ANY ARTICLE. The point of the exercise was to teach the class that there was a part of the library where chemical journals are kept and to familiarize them with at least one of the journal names.

One student did the assignment. The rest of the class turned in a photocopy of his article.
I about popped a blood vessel! These were college students... well, premeds at least.

I've never gotten over it.

I've been dealing with premeds too long (even was one once, until I saw the light and came to my senses) not to have anticipated that. It was always amazing how many students in my biology classes would sit right outside the door to the lab copying the homework assignment from the one person who did it. I get even. If I suspect that's happening, I put some questions on my exams that come straight from the homework assignments. If they actually did their own homework, they'd know the answer.

Now, I give assignments to my students to complete as a group in the lab. I know there are a few groups where some of the students come in with the answers already filled out so they can rush through the lab...oddly enough, they never seem to do well until they catch on that my assignment questions are all worded in a way that they need to actually tell me what they see in the lab, not what the book says about those structures. At the beginning of the term, I would end up crossing out half their answer and deducting points with the explanation that they couldn't have seen what they have described because A) the material in the lab was missing that part, or B) it's gross anatomy, not histology, and no microscopes were provided to see those microscopic structures they described. Now they just try to sweet talk the TAs into giving them the answers.

Oh, I remember how the bio students used to screech when they weren't allowed to use calculators on their exams. But, we always made it so the final steps of arithmetic were very simple if you set up the problem right...100 divided by 10, or square root of 16 type stuff. If they couldn't solve that without a calculator, they didn't belong in college.

 

[Office_Shredder]

I can't believe the number of students who see something like 2 times .1 and pull out the calculator. I'm half convinced the first week of calc 1 should be doing arithmetic until students know how to do it for real

 

[Moonbear]

I can't believe the number of students who see something like 2 times .1 and pull out the calculator. I'm half convinced the first week of calc 1 should be doing arithmetic until students know how to do it for real

It's not even a new problem. My parents used to say similar things when I was a kid and the store clerks couldn't make change without the cash register telling them how much to give or getting out pencil and paper to figure it out. A couple generations of people not even able to count money might explain a lot about the current state of the economy.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Actually here's a great example:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMNoef6xDenBbHWO0Im6rIjDmAgAD9BOJH300

The Obama administration asked places that received stimulus funds for raises to count the percent raise as a portion of a job saved. Here's one person's take

At Southwest Georgia Community Action Council in Moultrie, Ga., director Myrtis Mulkey-Ndawula said she followed the guidelines the Obama administration provided. She said she multiplied the 508 employees by 1.84 — the percentage pay raise they received — and came up with 935 jobs saved.

"I would say it's confusing at best," she said. "But we followed the instructions we were given."

Did they really have nobody who realized that 1.84 percent is .0184?

 

[BobG]

Actually here's a great example:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMNoef6xDenBbHWO0Im6rIjDmAgAD9BOJH300

The Obama administration asked places that received stimulus funds for raises to count the percent raise as a portion of a job saved. Here's one person's take

At Southwest Georgia Community Action Council in Moultrie, Ga., director Myrtis Mulkey-Ndawula said she followed the guidelines the Obama administration provided. She said she multiplied the 508 employees by 1.84 — the percentage pay raise they received — and came up with 935 jobs saved.

"I would say it's confusing at best," she said. "But we followed the instructions we were given."

Did they really have nobody who realized that 1.84 percent is .0184?

That's just wrong. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. (so I'll do both just to be safe)

 

[Pattonias]

Don't worry, who ever said you have to be good with money to manage the wealth of a nation.