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Comment area for Week of March 27


Worst part? UML. In my opinion. Bleh.
~Jim
So....HW8 is due on April 14? No date changes here, right? I don't wanna panic like I did with HW7.
Yup – you're golden. April 14. Mark Guzdial

Concerning the final exam.......
I personally would like a take-home final. I really, really, really, really don't want to have to wait till Friday afternoon to take a final. My mind will not focus nearly as well as it could, since I will have a pretty large gap between this final and my other ones.

However.......
If taking a take-home final means making the test [insert a lot of reallys here] hard, then I might have to reconsider.
Especially with this test being so close to the end of the semester, and around the time a lot of other tests/projects I have, anything that would make the test a little easier on me would be great.

I'm kinda divided. I guess it depends on the difficulty of the final itself. A really hard take-home final does not seem better than a normal final I have to wait for.

A really hard take-home final does not seem better than a normal final I have to wait for.
I agree. I like the in-class tests just fine. I have other projects to work on and tests to study for; having this as a take-home simply adds work to the pile...
While it is late in the week, it's not like we have to memorize a bunch of stuff for it or anything–we just have to understand concepts, and apply them. If it were something like a math or physics test, where recalling formulas was imperative, I'd be all for take-home, even if it was harder.
As as much fun as going home early would be - That week is already set aside for finals. I dunno - the more it's discussed the more it seems better to just have it as scheduled.
Yay! Someone posted input about the final! Discussion time!

I knew some people last semester who were rushing, I mean rushing after Friday finals last semester to catch planes, buses, etc. I don't know if anyone in this class will have that problem, but I'm sure a take-home final could help in a situation like that.

I think the idea of a closed book closed note take home on our honor would be the best overall solution. People who wanted to get it done with and turn it in early could go ahead and do that, other people can just go to the scheduled exam period and take it like they would any other final. If Mark doesn't feel comfortable with that though, I still think it's a better idea to do a somewhat harder take home. People who it's going to be a big deal to are probably going to be studying extensively anyway and can just do the final as they study. Who wants to be one of the last 10 people on campus at the end of term?
:) I've been that guy every single semester @ Tech– That's seven in a row with last period, last day!
Seriously, though, If anyone's scheduled a flight on Friday at 6, that's just not good planning. I mean, look at your exam schedule!
Thanks for the input! (Feel free to send more!) A Take Home could be open book, but be broader, e.g., "Find an example on the Internet of the use of simulation in the real world. Explain how you might decompose that into agents and resources" and "Add a Doctor to the Disease Propagation simulation." I haven't made up my mind myself yet, but will have to soon... Mark Guzdial
Does anyone see where I have due dates for HW8 and HW9 wrong? Jacob mentioned that they were wrong somewhere, but I can't find it. (Maybe Manabu fixed them?) Thanks! Mark Guzdial
Nothing's wrong for hw8...
Hw7's wrong on webct. Says it's not due until this Friday.
They're all fine on the coweb :)
~Jim
Oh, right. That's okay. It's okay for a due date to be late if everyone got it in already. It's the reverse that's a problem. Thanks! Mark Guzdial

Sooo....how bout those midterm grades? Can you post the average and # of As, Bs, etc like last time. I wanna know if I should fear looking at the grade beforehand.
:D The grades were fantastic! There was 1 zero–I think someone didn't take it, so that skews the average to an 83. But without that grade, the average is about an 88. There were 9 A's! I think you'll be happy...



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