Exam Guidelines

The oral exam takes place on the 2nd of June. The examiners are Lene Monrad Favrholdt and Marco Chiarandini and the censor Gerth Stølting Brodal

Structure of the Exam

The examination lasts approximately 25 minutes. Your goal is to convince the examiners and external examiner (“censor” in Danish) that you have a thorough understanding of the contents of the course.

You will be asked questions by the examiners in a proportion of about 3:1 between the approximation algorithms part and the projects including the general aspects of heuristics. Aim for a reasonably high pace and focus on the most interesting material related to the questions you get. You are not supposed to use note material, textbooks, transparencies, etc.

We will start by asking relatively general and trivial questions. Then we will increase the level of difficulty of the questions adapting them to your ongoing performance. Hence, you should not panic for a difficult question as that might indicate that you are on the path to a good grade. In any case, you should try to answer concisely and to the point. To make the presentation of your answer precise it may be a good idea to use handwritten mathematical symbols and drawings, but generally avoid spending time writing full sentences, which can instead be expressed orally.

You can speak Danish or English. Choose the language you are most comfortable with.

Details about the Tools for the Online Setting

We will follow the official SDU guidelines.

We will use Zoom. You will be given an address in due time. We will follow a schedule that will be communicated a few days before the exam and that will be updated online in case of delays. You will have to log into a meeting room 5 minutes before your time and you will be moved to a breakout room when your time arrives.

It is the student’s responsibility to have a working setup by the time of the exam and to have gained experience with the system. Test it with your peers.

You must have the video active and the main camera should have focus on your face, that must always be visible online at anytime during the examination. If you find it intrusive to reveal your personal surroundings, you can use a virtual background, available in Zoom – see the arrow next to the video icon. However, you should discuss and test this possibility earlier with the examiners in the trial on May 27.

You might need to produce and show drawing and handwriting. For this, you should consider the solutions listed below:

• Using a tablet or touch screen or digital pen

  • sharing in zoom a tablet or a touch screen.

  • sharing in zoom Explain Everything together with any marker (eg, digital pen).

• Using your smartphone

  • Using the app Zoom installed in your Smartphone. Log into the zoom room of the conference, use the camera of the smartphone to cast the handwriting. Make sure the battery of the mobile phone is fully charged before the exam.

  • Using the app: IP Webcam installed in your Smartphone. Start the App and press “Start server” (the last option in the main menu). When the camera starts you see an IP address, type that address in the browser of your computer. Share the screen of your computer via, eg, Zoom, thus you can share yourself and your handwriting at once. Be creative in placing your smartphone in such a way that the camera can see your writings. It is possible to mirror, flip, pan or rotate the image from the browser: select “Advanced settings” and then “Orientation” or “Mirror and Flip”.

Grade and Feedback

After the examination the examiners will convene in a breakout room to discuss the grade while you will be waiting in the main Zoom room. They will then get back to you to give you the grade and feedback on your performance. Afterwards you will be asked to leave the room.

Before the Exam

• Make sure you have read this document

• Have ready paper, pen and a glass of water

• Have ready both your two projects, either physically or in your computer. Be ready to share the screen on those.

During the Exam

• Remember that you can ask the examiners to repeat, re-phrase or change a question.

• The examiners will support you to do your best.