Quizzes

General Information

See the syllabus for general information about quizzes.

Below you’ll find information about quiz corrections. Specific information about particular quizzes (eg, any exceptions to the above generalities) is noted further below.

Quiz 1

It’ll cover through 2.6. There’ll be 8 questions.

Quiz 2

It’ll cover through 2.14. There’ll be 8 questions.

Quiz 3

It’ll cover through 3.9. There’ll be 8 questions.

Quiz 4

It’ll cover through 4.5 (but no 3.10). There’ll be 8 questions. The last question on the quiz will be slightly peculiar in that it will require you do to some advance preparation. Please make sure to do the preparation described below in advance; during the quiz, you’ll be on your own and you won’t have access to technology!

Here is a plaintext file containing some ciphertext that was encrypted using a simple substitution:

q4-cipher.txt

The corresponding plaintext is known to contain OKLAHOMA. Decrypt this ciphertext. Once you’ve decrypted it, write down the decryption key on your sheet of notes. You may work with your classmates to decrypt this text, and if you do, you should also write down the names of everyone who you worked with and/or got help from on your sheet of notes.

You will use the information you’ve written down on your sheet of notes to answer Problem 8 on Quiz 4, which will begin as follows:

Problem 8. The next page contains some ciphertext that was encrypted using a simple substitution; it is the same ciphertext that was made available to you in the q4-cipher.txt file last week. Using the same key that decrypts that ciphertext…

You have permission to discuss this problem with each other on Zulip, but I request that you only give each other suggestions on Zulip; please don’t reveal the answer there outright. If you get help from your classmates through Zulip, please still make sure to write down the names of everyone who helped on your sheet of notes.

Quiz Corrections

After each quiz (but not the final exam), you will be able to do corrections to earn back some points that you missed. The maximum number of points you can earn back is capped at 10% of the total number of points on the quiz. You will earn back 0.5 points for each problem that you “correct,” where correcting a problem means writing up thorough responses to all of the following:

  1. What is the correct solution? (Write it out completely! Do not refer back to your quiz.)
  2. What specifically was incorrect about your solution on the quiz? What are the key concepts involved in this problem that you didn’t understand at the time?
  3. What resources did you use to help you get to the correct solution?

You can use any resources you like (classmates, instructor, TA, office hours, …) as long as you acknowledge them under item (c) as indicated above, but your responses to all of the questions should ultimately be written up in your own words.

Deadlines are indicated on the schedule. Submit your corrections through Gradescope. If you submit a single PDF, please make sure to correctly “assign pages” to your submission.

Final Exam

It’ll take place on Thu 6/13 at 8am, and you will have 3 hours (180 minutes). It’ll cover everything (except 3.10). There will be 16 problems, and 5 of them will involve concepts introduced in 4.6 onwards. The only resource you will be allowed is one two-sided handwritten sheet of notes.

In other words, you should expect roughly a “double quiz,” but the proportion of problems that cover strictly new material is less than has been typical of quizzes. Things you might study include: