AAS 253  Fall 2022
End of Semester Tests/Exam Schedule



Folks, go through these instructions super-carefully:
(1) FINAL GRADE FOR THIS COURSE
  • (a) All your updated test scores (that is, with bonus points where applicable) will be available via one of the links on this class home page, but NOT your final course GRADES.

  • (b) Course Grades will be available only through your HUB portal (NOT through the class home page).

(c) The formula for calculating your final course grade is in the syllabus.

  • (d) Once the grades are submitted, the school will NOT allow me to make changes to your grades. In other words, your grades will be written in stone. Therefore, I really urge you to take advantage of the two options below to improve your grade.

  • (e) Do not send me emails about your grades. You may not get a response.

  • (f) The school does not allow teachers to submit course grades on the basis of individual students, they have to be submitted for the entire class at one time. Why am I telling you this?


(2) PREPARING FOR TESTS/EXAM
Some of you, incredibly, still do not seem to know how to prepare for test/exams in this course even though a document on this topic was made available to you at the beginning of the semester via a link in one of the announcements--and despite a reminder about it in one of my emails to you not too long ago. This document is still available, and in fact it is also available via one of the links on this class home page. In light of the tests/exam coming up, it is not too late to go through that document (but do it with diligence). 


(3) TEST 5-Retake/Make-Up
  • (a) Available to anyone who wants to retake this test; however, not all questions will be the same. Therefore study the homework materials carefully this time around. Yes?

(b) If you are retaking this test then your previous test score will be dropped (even if your previous score turns about to be higher).

  • (c) Date/Time: On UBLearns on Monday, December 5, at 6:00 pm (not 1:00 pm).


(4) MULTI-PURPOSE / EXTRA-CREDIT TEST
  • (a) For those who want to improve their grade (despite all the breaks you have received in this course) you can do an Extra-credit and/or a Make-up Test. No, there is no retake for this test.

  • (b) You can use this "two-for-one" test to replace any TWO of your lowest scores from among these tests: Tests 1 through Test 4.

  • (c) This one test will cover these materials that you were assigned this semester:
  • (a) Homework assignments for Week 7 in the Homework/Test Schedule.
  • (b) Homework assignments for Week 8 in the Homework/Test Schedule.
(d) Date/Time: On UBLearns on Friday, December 9, at 6:00 pm (not 1:00 pm).

(e) Yes, for this test, the lowest two test scores will be dropped.


(5) FINAL EXAM
  • (a) Format: The same as the tests we have been doing this semester--unsupervised, online on Blackboard (UBLearns), and multiple-choice.

  • (b) There will be no retake for the final exam; however, you can choose to take it on any one of these two dates.

    • Wednesday, December 14, at 1:00 pm,
    • OR if this date is not convenient for you, then you can take it on
    • Friday, December 16, at 6: 00 pm (not 1:00 pm).

  • (c) What will the exam cover?

    • (1) Homework assignments for weeks 14 and 15 specified for the exam on the Homework/Tests Schedule.
    • (2) All the images that are on the class home page (scroll the page to see them all).
    • (3) The first 14 minutes of Part One of "Tragically Endless Lesson of the Rationality of Evil" (from Class Films List).
(d) Question: How much is the final exam worth? See the syllabus.

(6) HOMEWORK MATERIALS
  • (a) All homework materials indicated on this page are available via the usual click-path (Materials for Homework Assignments Depository on this class home page).

  • (b) If you consistently did not do as well as you would have liked this semester across different homework materials, then you need to think about changing your strategy (e.g. no texting or gossiping or talking to your pet lobster, when doing the homework).

  • (c) Most of you never figured out what the "lazy student rule" is, because you automatically assumed you knew what it is. I really, really urge you to look it up in the Test/Quiz Preparations document mentioned above.

(7) GOOD BYE
  • (a) To those of you who intend to register for my other classes next semester, please note that the class format will be more or less the same and a few of the films will be repeated (but not all, obviously). 

  • (b) To those of you who did all the homework in the way you were supposed to, I hope you learned something in this class that will stick with you for a very long time, and perhaps even motivate you to do more good in your life. I wish you all the best.

  • (c) To those of you who did not do as well as you wanted to, you can't say that I didn't give you many breaks in this class (more than most teachers). So, I did my part.

  • (d) Yes, its been a tough semester for me too (in addition to serious health issues, all the homework I have had to do for my classes--researching, writing, editing, and processing the material for downloading, constructing the tests, etc.--plus, my school-required research and other commitments; and so on). However, however, nothing that most of us are going through here compares to what others are facing elsewhere in the world--in Ukraine, Yemen, Burma, China, Palestine, and in other parts of the world--where there are massive human rights violations and even murders of thousands of innocent people, including children. As those of you who did all the homework diligently know, this class has been, in the final analysis, about promoting human decency; and one of the critical attributes of decency is the ability to empathize with the suffering of others.
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