Test and success info

This document has useful information about tests in this course, and more generally, being successful in this and other courses.

Test info

All tests in this course are hand-written, in pen or pencil. Answer styles will vary, but we’re mostly looking for short- to medium-length answers, and/or diagrams, and so on. You will be tested on comprehension, understanding, and how to apply and use what you’ve learned.

No references or resources are permitted - “closed book, open brain”. Device usage is not permitted.

Tests are done during the Monday sessions, in the computer-lab room, at the beginning of the timeslot.

The duration of each test will vary, between 40 and 60 minutes. Generally, about 4 minutes per question is allotted, which seems to work out OK. And, you will have some choice - you will be able to answer any “x” of “y” questions.

The tested topics are mostly review-based, covered since the previous test, but will also include topics for the current “week”.

A few other points:

• This is NOT a memorization course. This is a learn and apply course. Simply reading, memorizing, and regurgitating words is not enough to convince anyone that you’re competent.

• You must apply the learning - by writing software - to convince others. (You show that by doing the programming assignments.)

• What content and activity do you have to cover while preparing for a test? Everything, and more. If you think that simply reading/scanning the few hundred words on these weekly notes pages is enough, you’re doomed. You must think, analyze, and evaluate all topic content.

  • Follow the links, and look up other referred-to topics.

  • Look up and learn related topics that interest you and spark your curiosity.

  • Review the notes that you made while preparing for each class, and the notes that you made during our class time together.

  • Go back to review/refresh topics covered in previous courses.

  • Write code, study the code examples, and reproduce tutorial and code examples.

  • Make some mistakes, find the solutions, and learn from the experience.

  • If or when you need an answer to or explanation for something, ask your professor, or a fellow student who knows the answer.

Being successful in this course

We are part way through the course, and your professor hopes that you’ve enjoyed it so far. This section of the notes has advice on how to improve your performance in the course, get the most out of it, and earn the highest grade that you can.

The following advice is for every student in the course. It will also work for other courses in our School of SDDS (formerly ICT) software development programs. Here’s the advice:

Prepare

Prepare before every class. Your professor expects you to have read and studied the notes, including the linked and recommended readings. You must perform some learning activities before class. You don’t need your professor to verbally dictate content that you can consume better and more efficiently on your own. Therefore, make it a habit to prepare before class.

Readings are important. It is impossible to learn what you need to learn in this course, by simply listening to your professor talk for several minutes each week. It is also impossible to learn what you need to learn simply by writing code, and ignoring all of the good advice and best practices that are communicated to you through the readings.

The way you work through the content is important. Don’t just move your eyes over the content, with the support of a partially-engaged and distracted brain. Instead, read critically, concentrate, and think as you read.

• Read the difficult or challenging topics out loud (with your speaking voice!).
• Look up words or terms that are unfamiliar.
• Open and study the code examples (using your developer tools), while you are working through the content.
• Follow the links to the linked material, and work through that too.
• Write down questions that you need answers to (and follow up by asking your professor or someone else in your support-and-learning network).

Review

Review the course content. Every week. How?

Schedule a regular time to do this work. You have an appointment calendar on your computer or phone - use it.

When? Whatever works for your schedule, to ensure that you can recall techniques and best practices that will be useful as you work on the next assignment. Also, it will help you “study” for the periodic Monday test.

Review the material in sequence. Two sequences could work: New-to-old, or old-to-new. In other words, you could start with the most recent material, and work backwards, day by day, to the oldest material. Alternatively, you could start with the oldest material, and work forwards to the current material.

Is there a benefit to a regular review? Yes. Ask yourself a question, and answer it honestly: Have you ever read something technical for a second (or third) time, and “discovered” the real meaning of something that you know you have read before? The answer will always be “yes”. It’s natural, and it’s part of being human.

Some students establish a “study group” with a few classmates. That’s a good practice. Quiz each other. Have each member be responsible for digging deep into a specific topic, and reporting the results to the others.

Resources

Use the recommended resources. There’s “gold” in the resources. Don’t ignore the resources that you think are too dense, or technical, or boring. Read them. Re-read them. If you begin to read content that’s unfamiliar, or beyond your current level of knowledge or understanding, you should still skim/read it. That way, when you later raise your level of knowledge and understanding, you will remember the material, and can handle it.

Assignments

When working on the programming assignments…

Follow instructions.

Make a “coding plan” before you begin writing code. Whatever form works for you, use it:

• flowchart
• pseudocode
• comments inside empty methods/classes
• English-like statements
• boxes-and-arrows

Whatever works for you.

Do not copy-paste code, hoping that it will work. Write your code without using copy-paste. Later, when you realize that you are writing and repeating the same code as before, then you can consider using copy-paste. And, you should look for opportunities to refactor your code.

As stated in the assignment specifications, your professor believes that the best way to work through any assignment is to do it incrementally. Get one thing working correctly, before moving on to the next. Test each part.

Tests

When working on the tests…

Understanding a test question is important. Make sure you are answering the question, and not some other question. Ask your professor - during the test - if you’re unsure. (For best results, come up to the front of the room, to the professor, to ask your question. That way, you’ll have some privacy.)

Understanding the question format is important too. Our questions are conversational in nature. They skew towards applying the knowledge you’re learning. They’re never trivial. The overall goal is to help you become a better explainer, in writing, and verbally. That will pay off in future work and career opportunities.