I will try to be …

I will try to be available next week (do not hesitate e-mailing!). However, Mathematics 3 has its exam on Monday, and requests from Mathematics 3 students will be given priority until then.

A few practical exam hints for Mathematics 2 and Mathematics 3:

  • It is usually a good idea to start on a new sheet of paper for each problem (even for each letter point) -- then if you make any critical error, you can tear that sheet of paper apart (that prevents you from mixing ?good? and ?bad?) and start anew without having to copy too much text. Save a tree by skipping giftwrap on Xmas presents instead :-o

  • Remember that the exam in this course is an open book exam, meaning that you are allowed to bring both your textbooks and any other printed or written material. Pocket calculators are also allowed (but no mobile phones, computers etc.).

  • I was asked whether you are expected to cite results you use. It is often convenient to refer to, say, ?the extreme value theorem?, but you are not expected to cite theorems source or enumeration -- we do not require you to open the book unless you want to. Neither are you expected to spend your time copying the problem statement before answering it.

  • But you are supposed to write legibly. In order to achieve credit for an answer, it must be clear what you have written.

  • It never hurts to read the problem thoroughly to see what you are actually asked for. If for example a problem says ?sketch?, then your time might be spent better than on drawing beautiful diagrams. And an ?explain? requires less than a ?prove? (never more! A proof is a good enough explanation.) And an ?is there a solution? does not mean you are required to calculate it.

Published Dec. 7, 2011 9:15 PM - Last modified Dec. 14, 2011 2:05 PM