Assessments

Assessments are cumuluative. That is, there may be any question covering any topics covered up until the day of the assessment.

• On the day of a coding assessment
  • Bring your fully-charged laptop and a laptop charger. You will not be provided extra time nor a makeup exam if your laptop runs out of battery.
  • You may bring a single standard sized 3x5 index card with handwritten notes on either side.
  • Open your laptop to pull up only one tab of Thonny with an initially empty file in full-screen mode.
  • Disable WiFi.
  • The above will be verified before you can begin the exam. You will not be provided extra time if you are not ready at the start of class.
• Keep only one (initially empty) tab of Thonny open, in full-screen mode. No calculators, no books, no phones, no other tabs open, no browsers nor browser extensions/plug-ins, no other programs, applications, extensions, or processes – this includes no search bar, Cortana, Siri Spotlight search, or any other operating system functionality. Thonny is the only program that can be open and running. WiFi must be disabled at all times. Only your single sheet of one-sided handwritten notes may be on your desk. A violation of any of these policies will result in an F on the exam.
• When you are ready to submit the exam, call over the TA/instructor. Do not do anything until they arrive. Once they are present and give the OK, the TA/instructor will supervise as you enable WiFi, submit to Moodle, and they will timestamp your submission.
• You will print your name to commit to the Wooster Ethic

These instructions will also be summarized on the exam, as follows.

On coding assessments, there will be 4-5 programming problems. Each one is worth equal points.

• half points: correct results are output, free of syntax errors
• half points: correct implementation (function definition matches number of parameters, using print or return as described, uses for loop, turtle functions, if statement, etc.)

Assessment 1 (Coding)

Topics include:

• definition of computer science and applications
• Python interpreter, Python prompt, shell vs. file editor
• comments
• primitive types: integers, floating point numbers, complex numbers, strings
• naming objects, assignment statements, variables, expressions, keywords
• mathematical operators: +, -, *, /, //, %, **
• using modules and functions provided by Python
  • print
  • turtle module: how to import, create turtle, use functions on turtle forward, goto, right/left, position, dot, up, down
• constructor, dereferencing and dot operator
• functions (function signature, function definition, parameters, how to call/invoke a function, return values from a function vs. printing from a function)
• for loops, 3 ways to call range, loop variable, accumulator pattern

Assessment 2 (Coding)

Topics include everything we have covered since the start of the semester, as well as:

• using new modules and functions provided by Python
  • math module: how to import, use sin, radians, sqrt and constant pi.
  • random module: generating a random number between 0-1 with random
  • turtle module: use functions setworldcoordinates, bgcolor
• selection statement (if, elif, else structure), boolean expressions, logical operators
• approximating Pi with Archimedes, Leibniz, Wallis, Monte Carlo
• using multiple accumulator patterns within a for loop

Assessment 3 (Multiple choice + fill-in)

This assessment will be on paper; no laptops, no books, only one index card of handwritten notes. Some problems are worth more points depending on their level of difficulty and number of subproblems. Review your answers before you submit. Questions have the following form:

• Multiple choice / true false / select matching. For example,
  • Given a few lines of code which manipulate a variable, what is the value of a variable after all lines are executed?
  • Select ALL of the code choices below which would result in the value 5.
  • Select ALL of the statements below which are True.
  • Which of the following lines of code will compute the product of all numbers in a list?
  • Using the following terms, complete this definition.
• Fill-in. For example,
  • What is the value of a variable after all lines are executed?
  • What will the following lines of code print out or return?
  • Write a few lines of code to solve a problem.

Topics include everything we have covered since the start of the semester, as well as:

• operators and functions on strings
• encryption/decryption: transposition cipher, substitution cipher, caesar cipher
• operators and functions on lists

Assessment 4 (Coding)

Topics include everything we have covered since the start of the semester, as well as:

• operators and functions on dictionaries

Assessment 5 (Coding)

Topics include everything we have covered since the start of the semester, as well as:

• reading and writing to files
• string formatting
• reading data from the internet
• while loops
• list comprehensions