| CPSC 327 | Data Structures and Algorithms | Spring 2026 |
Exam 4 is intended to take approximately an hour to an hour and a half, though you can use as much of the final exam time period as you would like. Any remaining time can be used for a second chance on the material covered by exams 1-3.
All questions on the second chance exam are optional. There is no penalty for any questions left blank, and there will not be time to complete the entire exam. For questions that you do answer, your score on the second chance will replace most or all of your score on similar questions/topics from exams 1-3 — whether that new score is higher or lower. The goal here is to credit mastery gained since the midterm exams and to encourage self-assessment: study strategically, focusing on areas where you have the most to gain, and prioritize questions where you can demonstrate that improvement, skipping questions where you already did well or are unlikely to meaningfully improve your score.
Other logistics —
You must turn in exam 4 before starting on the second chance exam. You may take a break (leave the room, etc) after handing in exam 4 — take care of any necessary business before starting on the second chance so that you do not need to leave the room during the exam.
The exam will be closed book, but you may use one page of notes (one side of an 8.5x11" piece of paper), which will be handed in with the exam. Note that this is a separate page of notes from exam 4. This page may be handwritten or typed and can contain whatever you would like, but it must be a hardcopy — on a piece of paper, not a laptop, tablet, phone, or other device — and must be personally prepared by you — you may not copy another student's page or hand out copies of yours to others. Creating your own notes is an essential part of the learning process — deciding what to include requires engagement with the material which reinforces understanding and improves long-term retention of the material, provides an opportunity for review in order to identify gaps in your knowledge in time to ask questions before the exam, increases confidence in what you do know, and encourages taking ownership of your own learning.
See the review guides from exams 1-3 for information on topics covered, types of questions, and what reference material will be provided. Also review exams 1-3 to identify where to focus your attention. While there will not necessarily be a question-for-question or topic-for-topic match, the types of questions and topics on exams 1-3 are a good place to start.