Midterm 1 Exam
The exam will be from 8-10:10 PM Monday, September 10.
Please arrive by 8:00 PM. We will start promptly at 8:10 PM.
The midterm exam will be held at many locations across campus. We will email your room and seating assignment for the exam to your CalCentral email address Wednesday night before the exam.
If you do not receive your seating assignment by Monday morning, please make a private post on Piazza to let us know.
Materials
You do not need to bring anything except for a writing utensil and UC Berkeley student ID. The exam is closed book, closed notes, closed computer, and closed calculator. You may not use any electronic devices.
You are, however, allowed to bring one sheet of notes (front and back) that you create yourself. This sheet must be handwritten, and you must write it yourself.
The Midterm 1 Study Guide will also be provided along with the exam. Familiarize yourself with the study guide so you know where to find information and how to apply each rule during the exam.
Scratch paper will be provided, but we will not grade your scratch work. You will write your answers on the exam itself.
Topics Covered
The exam will cover all course topics through Chapter 1.7 of Composing Programs, except for Newton's method (1.6.5), decorators (1.6.9), tree recursion (1.7.4), and count partitions (1.7.5).
Particular emphasis will be given to user-defined functions, assignment, iteration, higher-order functions, and environment diagrams. (The most challenging recursion questions in the course don't appear until Midterm 2.)
Preparation
The best way to study for the midterm is to work through practice problems. The course staff has put together the following resources.
- Resources page for past exams, midterm 1 resources, advice and tailored resources.
- Studying Guide for learning strategies and problem-solving tips
- Python Tutor for drawing environment diagrams
Office hours are a great way to get drop-in help from the course staff
Past Exams
See resources page for past exams, solutions, and video walkthroughs.
HKN Midterm 1 Review Session
12-3 PM Saturday September 8 in HP Auditorium
The format will be slides reviewing the concepts, followed by example questions.
CSM Midterm 1 Review Session
3-6 PM Saturday September 8 in GPB 100
The format will be slides reviewing the concepts, followed by example questions.
Seating Request
If you have a seating request, fill out the exam seating request form by Friday 9/7 @ 11:59 PM.
Alternates
If you have DSP accommodations, you will receive an email to schedule your exam.
If you have any other conflicts, please email cs61a@berkeley.edu. As stated in the policies, we will not be giving alternate exams for any other reason, but if you have a valid excuse, we will excuse you from the exam and use only your Midterm 2 and Final Exam scores to give you a final course grade.