Please pay attention to the information given in TISS, opens an external URL in a new window.

Script: 

There is a script for the lecture, which is available in the secretary's office from a date that will be announced in the lecture.

The assignments for the exercises can be downloaded from TUWEL. To a large extent, the exercises are similar or identical to the exercises in a collection of examples that can also be downloaded from TUWEL. This collection of examples also contains hints on how to solve the problems.

Structure of the course:

Lectures are held in blocks from the beginning of March to the end of April. The exercises are divided into large-group exercises and small-group exercises. You are expected to participate in both. In the large-group exercises, problems will be solved and explained by the instructor. Among other things, they serve as preparation for the small-group exercise that follows. For the small-group exercises the students have to solve problems which are thematically related to the preceding large-group exercise. The prepared problems are to be ticked via TUWEL, opens an external URL in a new window no later than midnight before the date of the exercise. For each problem, a participant who has ticked the problem in question will be asked to explain it to fellow students. An essential part of the exercises is solving further exercise problems individually as preparation for the exams, especially for the 2nd exam. In order to clarify any questions that may arise, additional question time will be offered before the 2nd exam (participation is voluntary).

The exercises will be managed via TUWEL. Please familiarize yourself with our TUWEL course as soon as it is accessible.

If it is necessary to switch to Distance Learning, you will be informed of the changed modalities in due time.

Exams:

There are 2 written exams to be taken. Since the number of no-shows has increased in recent years, registration via TISS, opens an external URL in a new window  is now required for each exam. The registration period is one week to 2 days before the exam. The 2nd exam can be repeated. No "excuse" is necessary for this, you can also repeat the exam to improve your grade. The only prerequisite for this is participation in the exercises in the current semester and that the oral exam has not yet been taken. If you take the retest, the result of the retest replaces the result of the 2nd exam. The material of the 2nd exam and the retest is the entire subject matter of the semester with emphasis on the second half.

Oral examination:

For the oral exam, a separate registration via TISS is required after completion of the exercise part. You may sit for the oral exam as soon as the results of the 2nd written exam (or if you take the retest, the retest) have been entered into TUWEL and the exercises have been positively graded. 

Grading:

The overall grade for the VU is composed of the performance in the exercises and that in the oral exam. In principle, the weighting is 1:2, but experience shows that in most cases the overall grade correlates strongly with the exercise grade.

The maximum number of points awarded for the individual parts of the exercises is as follows:

• for the small-group exercises 30 points (5 points per date).
• for the 1st written exam 30 points
• for the 2nd written exam 60 points

For admission to the oral examination a total of at least 60 points and at least 18 points for the 2nd written exam (or retest) must be obtained.

For the oral exam, the score from the exercises is known, e.g., 89 points is almost as good as 90. A certificate is issued only for the entire course.

Evaluation of the small-group exercises

We basically assume that you have prepared and understood the problems you have ticked. If your performance on the board is satisfactory, or in the rare case that you don't get to it all semester, each exercise will be credited with 5 points times the ratio of the number of ticked to the total number of problems in that exercise. The scores from the 6 exercises will be added together and rounded to whole points.

If your performance on the board is unsatisfactory one or more times, the small-group exercise score determined above will be weighted by a (total) devaluation factor. Here, each performance on the blackboard is weighted with a (single) devaluation factor between 0 and 1 (total failure ... 0, satisfactory ... 1). The total devaluation factor is formed as the average of the individual devaluation factors.

Attention: In your own interest, do not tick any examples that you have not prepared and understood, as you will then risk to get a devaluation factor of 0. If you are not called to the blackboard a second time, this means that the entire small-group part will be assessed with 0 points!

Consideration of missed appointments (small-group exercises or 1st exam):

In case of an excused absence, missed small-group exercises or the missed 1st exam will be rated with 0 points and the total number of points achieved will be weighted with a factor F equal to the ratio of the maximum number of points that can be achieved with and without the missed exercise units. Examples:

• 1 small-group exercise (=5 points) missed: F = 120/115
• 1st exam (=30 points) missed: F=120/90
• 2 small-group exercises (=2*5 points) and 1st exam (=30 points) missed: F=120/80
• exempted from small-group exercises (=6*5 points): F=120/90
• exempt from small-group exercises (=6*5 points) and missed the 1st exam (=30 points): F=120/60
• 2nd exam missed: retest mandatory

The upgrading factor F is not used to check the minimum number of points required for the 2nd exam, i.e. a minimum of 18 points must be achieved for the 2nd exam in any case.