Math 213 F1

Midterm Exam 1 Information

Basic Information

Syllabus

The exam will cover Sections 2.1 - 2.4 and 4.1 - 4.2 of the Rosen text. As a general rule, anything that was covered in class or in the homework assignments (both the graded and non-graded problems) is fair game for the exam. If you are not sure, ask! Here is a more detailed syllabus:

Other information

Exam format: The exam will have 6 - 9 problems, usually with multiple parts; some may be in true/false, or multiple choice format. Some of the problems will be computational in nature (e.g., evaluate a sum or product), while others will ask for precise statements of definitions/formulas/theorems (e.g., De Morgan's Law). There will be two or three problems that require a full-fledged proof (such as the set theory proofs from the first week of class, or the induction proofs covered over the past few class hours).

Homework versus exams. While most of the exam problems will be at a level comparable to the homework problems, and reworking the homework problems is an excellent preparation for the exam, an exam is not just a scaled-down version of a homework assignment. Homework and exam serve different purposes, and there are some important differences between the two: First, questions asking to state a theorem, definition, formula, etc., would not make sense in homework assignments (where you could just look up the answer in the book), but are perfectly appropriate for an exam. Second, problems that require elaborate computations or which are highly non-routine would be inappropriate for an hour exam because of the limited amount of time available, but may be suitable as homework assignments.

Past Math 213 exams. Click on this link for some old Math 213 exams. This should give you some idea of the length and difficulty level of the exam. In terms of material covered, however, they are not representative since the old exams were based on a different syllabus, so it would not make much sense to use these exams to prepare for our exams.

Tips on preparing for the exam: Redo the homework problems (both the graded and non-graded hw). Review class notes and corresponding sections in the text, and study/rework examples there. Make up a "cheat sheet" of the key concepts and formulas and try to commit those to memory. Start studying early. Try to find someone, or a group, to study with. Lastly, take advantage of the Open House (see above).


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Last modified: Wed 15 Sep 2010 09:02:13 PM CDT A.J. Hildebrand