Term tests Augh

October 7, 2014

This week was the day of the first term test. When I was studying for the test, I used previous CSC165 term tests that I could find (2013). These tests had exercises that covered the material evenly. However, I felt there was not enough available exercises to practice with. I was still unsure as to what I did and did not understand 

Larry later sent out an e-mail with the previous term test. This was formatted differently, and covered the material in a different way than I have previously seen. Specifically, question #2 threw me off. There was a symbolized statement, and we had to prove which was correct, the initial statement or its negation. This was to test the understanding of quantifier sequences (e.g. difference between ∀ x, ∃ y versus there ∃ y, ∀ x). Sorting the logic out for this was confusing, so I decided to pop in for office hours. 

On Monday, there was a pleasant number of people who showed up, and proceeded like a mini classroom. Everyone had brought questions, and Larry explained to all of us the details of those answers. It helped me clarify a lot of different topics, and was very productive for me. 

When it came to actually writing the test, it had the same format as the term test Larry had sent out. This was when I was truly grateful I went to office hours. Had I worked on the old test alone, it would have been devastating, as my understanding was only vague. I tried to complete the test quickly, but I got stuck on the last question. It was hard to logically work through it, as the time was slowly running out. Only in the last five minutes I had figured out the answer. I quickly wrote an explanation, and before I can give an example, time had run out. Looking back, I realize, I did not give examples for most questions. I had explained in words; I really hope that is sufficient.

This week’s material followed the test, which was more or less about proofs. The first proof was very straightforward (infinite number of odd numbers), however, when Larry started with the infinite prime numbers proof, it started getting confusing. He was spewing on and on about P and Ks and factors. Ultimately, I was able to understand how the proof followed, however, if I am not confident I can solve a proof yet, if it was given to me to work through. Hopefully by next week, I will have a “Halleluah” moment, or maybe there’s more to proof than I think.

Hasta la vista,

Maya.