Exam Information for Math 125

Spring 2007

As it says on the course syllabus, there are two midterms and a final in MAT125, which count for 25%, 25%, and 35% of your grade, respectively. No Make-up exams will be given. If you miss an exam due to a documented medical or family reason, that score will be replaced by the grade on the balance of the course. If you miss more than one exam for such reasons, you should probably withdraw from the course.

First Midterm: 8:30 pm on Monday, February 19, 2007

Bring a photo ID. No calculators.

The midterm covers sections 1.1 through 1.6, Appendix C, and sections 2.1 through 2.5 of the text.
Doing all of the homework problems (including HW 04, which isn't due until after the exam) prior to the exam is a very good idea. Doing additional problems from the test can be helpful.

You should be able to do all the problems on these practice exams from previous semesters: practice-1, practice-2, practice-3. Also, here is an exam I gave a few years ago.
The solutions are also available, but please work the problems out for yourself before looking at them, or you won't learn anything. Here are the solutions to practice-1, solutions to practice-2, solutions to practice-3, and solutions to the old exam.

The questions on the exam will cover roughly the same topics but will, of course, be different. Some of these exams don't include limits involving infinity-- ours will.

Results: While there were a couple of tricky problems on the exam, the majority of the problems were quite standard, and similar both to the homework and the sample exams. Nevertheless, many people did terribly. I gave a fairly generous curve, but still a significant fraction of the class failed the exam. Below is a graph of the score distribution on the exam.
low score: 4 mean: 32.9 median: 32 high score: 73 possible score: 81
range letter grade
60-81 A-, A
40-59 B-, B, B+
30-39 C, C+
25-29 C-
15-24 D, D+
0-14 F

You can check your grade here.

There were two different versions of the exam. Here is Version A, and the Solutions to version A. You might prefer Version B and the Solutions to version B. They are pretty similar, though.

Second Midterm: 8:30 pm on Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The second midterm will cover the material we have covered since the first exam: sections 2.6 through 3.5.

Here are some sample problems you can work on to help yourself prepare. Here are the solutions; please do the problems before reading the solutions. There is also an Extra Credit assignment online which covers the same material as the midterm. It stops being available a few hours before the exam.

Results: Sadly, a lot of people did quite badly on the exam. This is not because the exam was hard (I'm sorry, but it wasn't much different from the homeworks), but because a lot of people still haven't mastered the material. If you got a low grade, you'll have to change how you approach the material if you hope to pass the class.

Below is a graph of the score distribution on the exam.
low score: 0 mean: 41.4 median: 41 high score: 90 possible score: 90
range letter grade
70-90 A-, A
50-69 B-, B, B+
35-49 C, C+
25-29 C-
15-24 D, D+
0-14 F

You can check your grade here.

There were three rather similar versions of the exam: Version 1 (solution), Version 2 (solution), and Version 3 (solution).

Final Exam: 2 pm on Monday, May 14, 2007

The final exam for all sections will be in the Gym.

The final will be cumulative, covering everything that we have done in the class. However, about half of the exam will be on material since the second midterm (Sections 3.6 through the end of chapter 4).

It is much more important that you know understand how to do calculus than memorize a bunch of formulae. So, I will let you bring a single sheet of notes with you to the exam. This note sheet must be handwritten, not a xerox or a printout. It can be written only on one side of the page, the page can be no larger than a standard sheet of letter paper (8.5" by 11"), and the sheet must be turned in along with your exam. Students using notes which don't fit this guideline will be charged with academic dishonesty. Note that you can write whatever you think will be helpful on your notes: formulae, examples, or the lyrics to your favorite song.

In order to study, you should do lots of problems. While doing the Extra Credit assignment on iLrn will help, it isn't sufficient unless you are already well-prepared. I have posted printable versions of all the iLrn assignments, with answers. The numbers in the problems are probably somewhat different from the ones you had.

Here is a practice final from last fall, and one from last spring. Finally, here are some review problems I wrote in 2004 (minor update made on May 5). Here are the solutions: Fall 06, Spring 06, and 2004 problems. Please work the problems before reading the solutions, or they won't do you any good.

There will be a problem/review session held in Harriman 137 on Tuesday, May 8 from 11-1. Another will be held on Friday, May 11 from 12-2 in Math P-131. However, keep in mind that room P-131 only holds about 60 people and this review is primarily intended for students in Hrant's lecture (ELC 90). Students not in this lecture are welcome to attend, as long as not too many people show up.

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Page last modified on Wednesday, 9 May 2007.