The set-up of the Math 427L final exam is essentially the same as was
used for the second midterm.


This will be an open-book, open-notes, open-YouTube exam. However,
I insist that you not consult any living person for assistance,
neither in-person nor through any forum such as piazza or reddit.


There will be two parts to the exam. The 16 multiple choice questions
will be available through Quest at 9 am on Wednesday. That portion
of the exam will run like a homework problem set, but with the following
differences from the Quest HW:
  1. There will NOT be "one free try": you will submit just one answer
     per question (just like an in-person exam!)
  2. You may start the Quest exam as soon as it is published, or wait
     until you are ready, but there will be a FOUR-HOUR time limit.
     Your countdown timer starts whenever you start the Quest exam.
  3. Of course, you are to work alone.
Please note that Quest does not allow you to change your answer to
a question after you submit it, so you may want to work out all your
answers and write them down, then rest and come back later to actually
enter the answers.

I asked the Quest people to make individualized PDFs of all of your
questions but they said that feature was under construction. There may
be a link to such an option on your screen; I'm not certain.


The second part of the exam will be the free-response questions. They
are available at
   http://web.ma.utexas.edu/users/rusin/427L-20a/final.pdf
You may begin work on them whenever you want; you must submit your
answers to Canvas by 10pm Saturday evening (Austin time).

I encourage you to do your work on the free-response questions on
scrap paper; I don't need to see all your scribbles. When you are
ready to write up your solutions to the problems, please begin each
one on a separate piece of paper, and include your name and EID
with each problem.

Unless you want to type up your answers, you will have to scan your
answer sheets. What you did for Exam 2 worked fine, but please ensure
that your writing is clear and that it scans with sufficient contrast.
Please retain your copy of your answers, in case the files get lost in
the electronic transfers.

I would like you to submit your answer via Canvas; if you experience
technical difficulties that way, you may email me your work.
If you want to change your answers before Saturday evening, 
Canvas will let you replace your upload with another one until
the exam period ends.


Both portions of the exam must be completed by Saturday at 10pm. 
Give yourself enough time to think about the questions, time to
figure out your answers, time to write them up, AND time to submit them.
(Always plan on electronic glitches...)

There's always a chance that we will discover typos or whatever;
please check your email once or twice during the exam in case I
have to send you a correction.


After the final exams are graded I will determine semester grades for
you as described in the initial course syllabus. Please remember that
students will have the option of changing their enrollment in this
course to Pass/Fail until late May: if you get a low but passing grade
you can change it to "P", and you can change the grade to "Q" whether
you are passing or not. You should consult with an academic advisor
if you intend to make such a change, just to ensure that there would
be no unexpected consequences, but for most of you this should mean
you should feel little or no pressure about grades this term. As you
work on this exam, just relax and do your best.


Good luck!

dave