Table of contents
Your grade for the unit will come from two in-class tests, which are exams in all but name. The first will be worth 40%, and will cover Kira’s part of the unit; the second will be worth 60%, and will cover John’s part of the unit. In each test, half the marks will be from a practical component (where you’ll be doing the same sort of thing as in your weekly assignments) and the other half will be from an online theory component on Blackboard (where you’ll be doing the same sort of thing as in your weekly workshops).
The first class test worth 40% of the unit will be held in week 6 on Wednesday October 23rd at 10am. For most students, this will be in MVB 2.11 (the same room as your weekly labs). Students with Alternative Exam Arrangements (AEAs) such as extra time will take the test in a different venue, usually MVB 1.15, but will be emailed seperately by the school office to confirm this.
The second class test worth 60% of the unit will be held in week 13 on Thursday December 12th at 1pm. Again, for most students this will be in MVB 2.11 (the same room as your weekly labs). Students with Alternative Exam Arrangements (AEAs) such as extra time will take the test in a different venue, usually MVB 1.15, but will be emailed seperately by the school office to confirm this.
The following rules will apply for assessments taking place as an in class test. They have been designed in line with the University’s exam regulations and to ensure standardisation across units.
- In class tests are in person and cannot be sat remotely. Submitting anything from outside the test room will be considered academic malpractice.
- Once in the test room you are required to be silent.
- No additional time will be allowed for students arriving late.
- No one is allowed to leave in the first 30 minutes or final 15 minutes of the test. Everyone is to remain in the room.
- If you arrive more than 30 minutes after the start of the test, you will not be allowed into the test and will be directed to your school Office 2.19 Merchant Venturers Building.
- You need to have your UCard with you to be shown on arrival so that your attendance can be recorded, it should also be visible on your desk at all times during the in class test.
- You will be required to leave all bags and coats at the back of the room so please leave valuables at home wherever possible and also ensure that you are appropriately dressed for the venue and weather.
- Drinks bottles are allowed provided they contain water only and have no labels or writing on them. Food is not allowed unless you have a medical need, in which case you should make an invigilator aware.
- Mobile phones, smart watches or other electronic devices are not allowed at your desk.
- You will have use of a computer.
- All tests should be submitted in English.
- Unless explicitly specified otherwise, no translation software, Internet access or other software is allowed other than Blackboard access to the in-class test. In particular, you are not allowed access to any other part of the unit page or unit materials on Blackboard. In this test, you are also allowed access to the exam version of Logisim and the Calculator app (in Standard and Scientific modes ONLY).
- Unless explicitly specified, no outside materials (e.g. printed or handwritten notes or digital files) are allowed.
- We will carry out random spot checks on people’s computers to ensure they are not using any forbidden software or materials.
Mock test
In week 5 we will run a mock test - more details will be available closer to the time. This will be almost exactly like the real test in terms of procedures, but it doesn’t have any marks associated with it and will only last for a few minutes. The point is just to make sure that everyone knows exactly what the real test will involve, what’s allowed and what isn’t. Attendance is optional but encouraged.
In-class test 1 details
In-class test 1 will consist of two parts. The first part, the theory part, will be an auto-marked Blackboard test in exactly the same format as the Blackboard quizzes from live sessions. It will contain roughly 11 questions and will be marked out of 50. Partial credit will be available for multi-part questions. The second part, the practical part, will ask you to modify and submit a skeleton Logisim file with one subcircuit for each question. It will contain 4 questions and will also be marked out of 50. You will get full marks for any circuit which behaves as specified in the question, with partial marks available for circuits with minor bugs - in particular, you will not be marked based on neatness, choice of components, or your approach to the problem unless this is specifically noted in the question. Each question will have a list of which components you are allowed to use - in addition to this, you may create your own subcircuits or use anything in the “wiring” sub-menu. Your final mark for test 1 will be the sum of your marks for the theory and practical part.
You will be allowed use of the exam version of Logisim only, available here. The only difference between this and the normal version of Logisim is that it removes the Project -> Analyse Circuit menu option, which gives various options like automatically building a circuit from a truth table that would be too powerful in an exam setting. Use of the non-exam version of Logisim will be considered academic malpractice (i.e. cheating).
You will be allowed use of the pre-installed calculator apps (Calculator or KCalc) only, in their standard or scientific modes only. (In Calculator, these are called “basic” and “advanced”; in KCalc, they are called “simple” and “science”.) In particular, you must not use any mode of any calculator app with native support for binary, octal, or hexadecimal numbers; typically this mode is called a “programming” mode or similar. You may not bring a physical calculator into the test, as most physical calculators have the ability to convert automatically between decimal and binary. Use of any calculator or calculator mode with native support for binary, octal, or hexadecimal numbers will be considered academic malpractice.
You will be given rough paper and a physical copy of this reference sheet and the test paper (both the practical part and the theory part). Do not bring your own rough paper or reference sheet into the test room. The reference sheet contains:
- A table of SI units.
- A reference for behaviour of the Hack ALU.
- The formula introduced in lectures for calculating base-2 logarithms from base-10 or base-e logarithms.
During the test, an invigilator may briefly interrupt you and ask to see all the applications you have open. This is typically nothing to worry about - we will be carrying out these checks randomly throughout the test to prevent cheating, and they only take a few seconds.
Results and feedback will be made available no later than 2-3 weeks after the test, accompanied by a Blackboard announcement.
In-class test 1 examinability
By default, all material covered in lecture slides and in assignments is examinable, and all material covered only in live sessions or in recommended reading is non-examinable. (Material covered in e.g. both the lecture slides and live sessions is of course examinable.)
Over the course of the weekly assignments, you’re expected to have become familiar with Logisim components for circuits we’ve covered explicitly (e.g. counters, registers, flip-flops etc.) in the lecture slides. You’re not expected to have become familiar with Logisim components for circuits we haven’t covered (e.g. shift registers, comparators etc.) It’s also worth remembering that in the exam, you can always hover over a pin of a Logisim component to get a quick reminder of what it does, so you don’t have to memorise anything.
Some material is non-examinable despite appearing in lecture slides or assignments - this is usually flagged at the time. Closer to the test date, we will add a detailed list to this section for easy reference.