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Information about the
Database Course Exams during Distance Mode

The information about distance examinations given on this page is relevant for the following courses:

Table of Content

Exam Format

The exam will consist of two separate parts which will be done in two phases. While each of the two parts covers all topics, the first part in the first phase will consist of more basic questions for the topics, whereas the second part in the second phase will have some more advanced questions.

The overall exam time of 4 hours will be split as follows.

  • For the first part, you have a maximum of 2 hrs and 30 mins; hence, the time for the first part starts with the begin of the exam at 14:00 and the solutions have to be submitted latest at 16:30 (the submission system closes for part 1 at this time!).
  • The second part becomes available at 15:30 and has to be submitted at 18:00 (i.e., at the end of the overall exam time).
Notice that these two phases overlap by one hour, which should give additional time for students who need more time for the first part, while also allowing other students to start with the second part earlier. For students who have been granted a prolonged writing time, these times will be adjusted accordingly.

Grading

You can get up to 15 points for the first part of the exam and another 15 points for the second part, which together may give you an overall of max 30 points.

To pass the exam (grade 3 or E) you have to meet both of the following two conditions: First, you need to achieve at least 8 of the 15 points that can be achieved in the first part of the exam. Second, for both parts together, you need to achieve at least 15 of the 30 points that can be achieved overall. If you do not meet the first condition, your second part will not be considered for grading.

After fulfilling the aforementioned requirements to pass the exam, then for grade 4, you need at least 21 points (for both parts together), and for grade 5, you need at least 27 points. For courses that use the ECTS grading scale, the thresholds will be as follows: For grades D, C, B, and A, you need 19, 22, 25, and 28 points, respectively.

Handing-Out of Exam Questions and Submission of Solutions

We will use Lisam for distributing the exam questions and for collecting the solutions. More specifically, for each part of the exam, a document with the questions of that part will become available in the Submissions section of the Lisam course room at the start time of that part, and you have to upload your solutions before the end time of that part.

If you are registered for the exam, you will be added to the specific Lisam course room that will be used for your course, and a pointer to that room will be emailed to you.

If you have problems handing in via Lisam (and only then!), send your submission via email to the examiner latest 5 mins after the respective deadline (i.e., 5 mins after 15:30 and 5 mins after 18:00) and keep trying to upload afterwards. Handing in after these times will be considered as not handed in.

Submission Format

For each part of the exam, submit one main document with your answers for all questions. Additionally, you may submit supplementary files with images (for instance, if you have a diagram that is not directly included in the main document).

Your answers must be given in English.

The file name of the main document must begin with the word "main", and your answers in this document must be ordered in the order of the questions; i.e., begin the document with the answer for question 1, next the answer for question 2, and so on (and make sure to clearly indicate which question each answer belongs to). Not ordering your answers may result in the deduction of points!

If you submit supplementary files, make sure to use unambiguous file names for these supplementary files and clearly indicate in the main document which supplementary file belongs to which of your answers.

File formats: You are only allowed to submit PDF documents and image files in the following formats: jpg/jpeg, png, gif. Hence, you cannot submit text documents or Word documents or anything similar. So, if you are writing your solutions in a program such as Word or in a text editor, you need to export your document in PDF format for the submission. Similarly, if you use some program to draw figures or diagrams, you need to export to any of the aforementioned image formats. Talking about figures or diagrams, you can also draw them on a sheet of paper, take a picture of it (e.g., with the camera of your mobile phone), and then upload that picture (assuming it is in jpg/jpeg format). In this case, make sure that the lightning is okay and the drawing is clearly visible in the picture.

External Help and Plagiarism

You must work on the exam by yourself without asking anyone else for help! Hence, you are not allowed to communicate with others to exchange thoughts, ideas, or even solutions during the whole time of the exam. We will analyze your solutions using the Urkund system to have them checked for plagiarism.

The examiner may contact you afterwards with oral questions to make sure the exam is written by you.

Questions During the Exam

If you have clarification questions regarding some of the exercises in the exam (except for the information retrieval exercise in TDDD74), the examiner will be available in a Zoom meeting room throughout the whole time of the exam. The access details will be communicated to you via email. Notice that this Zoom meeting room will be set up using the waiting room feature of Zoom. Hence, when you enter, you will be put into the waiting room and, from there, you will then be moved to the meeting room to ask your question.

For questions on the information retrieval exercise in TDDD74, call Patrick Lambrix at 013-282605.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked question regarding the instruction given above will be posted here.

Question: Is it allowed to write all the solutions on paper, and then take pictures of the papers and convert them to PDF files for submission?
Answer: I would prefer to receive the answers written on a computer, but if you absolutely want to write them on paper, you can do it. In this case, I am expecting you to write clearly (things that I cannot read do not count). Also, make sure that the pictures of all your papers are added into a single PDF file, that they are okay to read in that PDF, and that they are in the right order!


Page responsible: Olaf Hartig
Last updated: 2021-03-12