Exam Info

The midterm will be held in-person on Tuesday, October 19th, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM PT.

The final will be held in-person on Monday, December 13th, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM PT.

Final

If you would like to request an online exam for any reason or cannot make this time, please fill out the final accommodations form. If you want to request an adjustment for your exam, such as a left-handed desk or room near Southside, please also let us know through the form.

The questions on the exam will be ordered approximately by their position within the course, with earlier questions testing information taught earlier in the semester. In particular, questions whose topics were covered on the midterm will generally require a higher level of understanding than questions whose topics were covered after the midterm, so you may find later questions to be easier than earlier ones.

Final Scope

The final covers the following topics:

In particular, Lectures 26 and 27, and information only covered in the textbook, are NOT considered within scope.

Final Resources

The exam is closed-book, closed-note, closed-internet, with the following exceptions:

  • Students may prepare and use up to 20 two-sided cheat sheets (40 sides) for the final. You may reuse your cheat sheets from the midterm for the final.
  • Cheat sheets must be handwritten. Digitally handwritten notes may be printed and used. If you're taking the exam online and have digitally handwritten notes but no printer access, let us know in a private post on Piazza.
  • On the exam, you will be provided with an appendix packet containing the RISC-V Card. Questions that refer to the RISC-V CPU will include relevant diagrams.
Temporarily collapsed midterm info for the final

Midterm

If you would like to request an online exam for any reason or cannot make this time, please fill out the midterm accommodations form. If you want to request an adjustment for your exam, such as a left-handed desk or room near Southside, please also let us know through the form.

Midterm Scope

The midterm covers the following topics:

  • All lectures up to the CALL lecture (Lecture on Monday 9/27)
  • Discussions up to Discussion 5 (RISC-V Procedures, CALL)
  • Labs up to Lab 4 (RISC-V Functions)
  • Homework up to HW 4 (RISC-V)
  • Projects 1 and 2A

Midterm Resources

The exam is closed-book, closed-note, closed-internet, with the following exceptions:

  • Students may prepare and use up to 10 two-sided cheat sheets (20 sides) for the midterm. You may reuse your cheat sheets on the midterm for the final.
  • Cheat sheets must be handwritten. Digitally handwritten notes may be printed and used. If you're taking the exam online and have digitally handwritten notes but no printer access, let us know in a private post on Piazza.
  • On the exam, you will be provided with an appendix packet containing the RISC-V Card and an ASCII table.

In-Person Exam Logistics

  • In-person exams will be conducted in assigned exam rooms. You will receive confirmation of your exam room and seat number the night before the exam. Here's a screenshot of the seating tool.
    • For the final, seats will be assigned in a checkerboard pattern:
      X.X.X.X
.X.X.X.
X.X.X.X
.X.X.X.

On the Day of the Exam

  • If you're not feeling well, please submit the midterm accommodation form ASAP so we can move you to an online exam.
  • Please bring:
    • Mask
    • Pencil/erasers or pen (black or blue ink)
    • Student ID card
    • Cheat sheets (if you have any)
  • Please try to get to your room around 6:50 PM, so that we can start at 7:10 PM and finish on time.
  • We'll give you a paper copy of the exam on which you can write your answers, and a separate appendix packet.

During the Exam

  • First in-person exam? Don't worry, proctors will announce everything you will need to do.
  • If you finish before the last 10 minutes of the exam, you can turn your exam in and leave early.

Online Exam Logistics

  • Online exams will use group Zoom proctoring. Students will receive a Zoom link in the days leading up to the exam.
    • Each room will have a proctor and several students.
    • If you want to know who your proctor is, please reach out to course staff.
    • Everyone will be muted.
  • If you'd prefer to have a recorded Zoom room without other students, please let us know on the accommodations form.
  • If you feel uncomfortable with proctoring, please reach out so you can discuss alternatives with an instructor.
  • Dry run logistics will be announced later this week on Piazza.

Before the Exam

Download Zoom on your smartphone and experiment with a video recording setup (see below). You can see examples of setups from course staff here. Please reach out privately on Piazza if you are having setup difficulties.

On the Day of the Exam

  • Join the Zoom meeting
    • If you have (default) group proctoring:
      • Join on your smartphone, and position it so that we can clearly see your computer/tablet screen, and if possible, both of your hands.
      • Mute your microphone and speakers. Proctoring will not use audio.
    • If you have individual recorded proctoring:
      • Join on the computer you will be using, share your screen, and make sure that your webcam is on and showing your face.
      • Un-mute your microphone. We will not need to speak to you.
  • On your computer, open up Examtool and select your exam (e.g. cs61c-fa21-final-7pm) from the drop-down list (the selection will appear a few hours before the exam).
  • The decryption password will be posted on Examtool at 7:10 PM.
    • If your dry run or real exam on Examtool ends in -alt (e.g. cs61c-fa21-final-alt), we will send you the password through email, not through Examtool.

During the Exam

  • Only the 61A Examtool page should be on your computer screen.
  • Submit clarification requests through the 61A Examtool. If your question is answered, it will be displayed as an announcement. Please check the announcements periodically during the exam.
  • When you're done, feel free to just leave the call.

Technical Issues

  • Don't worry if your video feed disconnects briefly during the exam.
  • If you encounter significant technical problems, don't worry about video proctoring and focus on finishing the exam.
  • We may ask some students to take a short verbal exam after the exam and explain how to solve one or more problems that are similar to an exam question they got right.
  • If you encounter Internet problems, write your answers locally and send them to cs61c@berkeley.edu as soon as the exam is over.
  • If you need to use the bathroom, just leave the video feed on while you're away.

Privacy Policy

  • Unless you have requested recorded proctoring, course staff will not save any images or recordings from the proctoring session after the exam is over.
  • Course staff will respect your privacy and not disclose any information from the proctoring session after the exam, except in cases of academic dishonesty.
  • Every case of potential academic dishonesty will be manually reviewed, and you'll be able to discuss the situation with the instructor.
  • You have the option to join the meeting with your SID as your display name for anonymity.
  • We will tell you who your proctor is before the exam. You have the option to switch proctors for any reason: please reach out privately before the exam if you would like to switch proctors.