Tutorial quizzes
Twelve five-minute quizzes, one at the end of every tutorial. Each asks for the number you just measured. Best ten count, 2% each.
Due: 27 May 2027 · Weight: 20%
The brief#
Write the number down on the day, before you have decided what it means.
Every tutorial ends with the same three questions on one sheet: what did you measure today, what was the number with its unit and its run count, and what did you expect it to be before you started. Five minutes, then you leave.
They are marked on completeness and not on results, for a reason. A record that only holds the measurements that went well is an advertisement. The week your metric turned out to be saturated is worth exactly as much as the week everything worked.
What two marks, one mark and none look like#
Week 4 asks for the run count you will quote from now on, and the smallest difference you will claim with it.
- Two. “51 runs. From 51 to 501 my median moved 4.5 s, and a second set of 51 seeds moved it 7 s, so I will not claim a difference under 7 s. I expected it to stop moving by 15.” A number with its unit and run count, and what was expected.
- One. “51 runs, median 78.2 s.” The number is complete. There is no sentence about what you expected, so nobody can tell whether it surprised you.
- None. “About 50 should be enough.” No unit, no run count behind it, and nothing that was measured.
What you submit#
Nothing outside the room. The sheet is handed in at the end of each tutorial and handed back, marked, the week after. The two lowest of the twelve are dropped, so two missed weeks cost nothing.
What it feeds#
At your defence, any number you quote can be checked against the quiz it was first written on.
The spec
What has to be in it. The marker goes down this list before reading anything else, and every line is something a classmate could check without asking you.
- one quiz in every tutorial from week 1 to week 12, sat in the room on the day
- every quiz asks for a number with a unit and the number of runs behind it
- the week 10 quiz is the raw list written while playing, unedited
How it is marked
Each quiz is marked out of 2. One mark for the number, with its unit and its run count. One mark for the sentence that says what you expected before you measured. The two lowest quizzes are dropped. A quiz is not marked on whether the number was good news.