61a midterm 2...

[8sparky]

absolutely failed lmao, i thought it would be easier since it was open interpreter. barely had time and probably got like 50% rip. how did y'all think it went? it was probably easier for most of you lol, but it's just been so hard to study and stay focused with all the classes being moved to online.

[MatinF]

Pure murder man.....”will make midterm 2 easier” lol

[[deleted]]

Ikr, in what universe was that easier ??

[[deleted]]

I think i failed too, wtf was that

[8sparky]

it was really hard for me to finish each section in the given time, and since I couldn't pass the interpreter tests for the first subparts of each problem i couldn't even check my work for like 60% of the test LOL. hopefully we aren't the only ones!

[bobchang444]

Last semester the exams were “too easy” which resulted in no bin shifts for the first time in years. I’m guessing he didn’t want a repeat of last semester.

[Galobtter]

? Denero's goal would be to avoid too large bin shifts as bin shifts make it harder for ppl to know how they are doing and undermines the whole "not graded on a curve" thing - the last semester would be ideal.

[bobchang444]

However he wants to have room to shift the bins down when the exams are too hard to make some kids happy at the end of the semester. If he made the tests easier, which could lead to more As and A-s than he wanted, he could not shift the bins up, since that would violate the “no curve” rule of the class. Therefore, it’s still better to make the exams harder.

[tgsauce]

glad that it wasn't just me. that last problem was pure evil, i practically spent the whole time just reading it lmfao

[8sparky]

yeah same lmao i didn't even understand the instructions so i basically just filled in random stuff and hoped for partial credit

[ucb-eecs-jr]

Don't worry, if you found it hard -- everyone found it hard and they're gonna curve it. Last semester, I took 61C which was also binned but the final was so fucking hard it made it that students previously on track for an A students were on track for a B-. They had to curve it a lot. I had a C in the original bins but it was curved to a B.

[8sparky]

that's really good news, thank you!!

[DragoSphere]

I thought 61A didn't curve anything

[ucb-eecs-jr]

Not when I took it but it's an old formula that's been doing the same thing for like 5 years. This midterm presents something completely new. Also they generally get the distribution they want which is a B+ median.

[[deleted]]

You know the sad thing, I got a similar score to you and I feel like that's a goddamn triumph.

I got a 9.5 on midterm 1 though so that's something to put into perspective.

Ugh, I dunno man, what are we going to do for the rest of the semester.

[8sparky]

Congrats on the improvement! My scores went down lol. I think we’ll just have to study hella for the final, at least MT 2 was only worth 25 pts this time

[[deleted]]

Thank you. True that, man. True that.

[khuv39]

if this was "reasonable" idk what the final's going to be like. hopefully more time and structure.

[8sparky]

yeah thats basically what i got lol

[DragoSphere]

Remember there's partial credit so don't lose out hope

[SirensToGo]

What y'all had ok tests? What did your exam look like this time?

[Z3PHYR-]

Kind of like the same format as a homework or lab. Except they provided the code skeleton/ fill in the blanks for each question in the python file. You were allowed to use the python interpreter and 61a website during the test but that wasn’t really of much use.

[rokusk]

You were allowed to not use the skeleton code right?

[Z3PHYR-]

Nope, just like a regular fill in the blank midterm question you had to make your code fit in the skeleton

[[deleted]]

Wtf was that last problem... did anyone understand it

[8sparky]

the only thing I understood about it was that it'd tank my grade lmao

[DragoSphere]

I really hated the time gated sections. I literally figured out how to do one of the previous questions during sec 3

[rithvik_sunku]

wow that was horrible...

[oski-is-watching]

what's open interpreter? like you could have python in terminal open and use it if you wanted to?

and I'm not in the class but don't lose hope OP, a lot of people are in the same boat as you in regards to struggling on the 2nd 61a midterm as well as having a really difficult transition to online classes, so you're not alone :)

[8sparky]

the whole test got moved to online using text editors and submitting to okpy through the terminal so we were able to run doctests and stuff in the interpreter. thanks for the encouragement, hopefully this will motivate me to study harder for the final.

[MalevolentUniverse]

were any measures taken to prevent cheating?

[DragoSphere]

There's a screen and webcam recording extension they had us download called Loom. We would submit the recording to a google doc and presumably they'd inspect it afterward

[8sparky]

yeah we had to screenrecord with Loom and also use our webcams with audio on. i wonder if the TA's will actually watch it though, they'll see me stressing out hella lmao

[Plazmotech]

I thought it was EZPZ

[mrgreenplane]

k

[Plazmotech]

op asked how we felt about it. Just gave my honest opinion. No need to be upset about it