G51MC2 Feedback 2005

This module went very well. The module average increased again from 48% to 56%. Module feedback highlighted there was a problem with the quality of tutors that were used, with some appearing "not to care" however it is difficult to see how this could be addressed.

The Exam

Question 1

This was a compulsory short answer question covering the entire syllabus. The average mark was 14.4/25. Showing a generally sound grasp of the basic techniques.

Question 2.

General Proof and Number Theory. 32 students attempted this question and performance was OK with an average of 12.9 for the question.

Question 3

Matrices. This was the most popular on the paper. 72 students attempted the question and the average mark was 14.4.

Question 4.

Program Correctness. 20 students attempted this question and the average mark was 11. On the whole this was not unexpected as questions involving proof generally have a bi-polar distribution with a lot of firsts (9 in this case) and a lot of hard fails (14) and this was no exception.

Question 5.

Graph Theory. 53 students attempted this question with an average mark of 15.2.

Question 4.

Probability. 59 students attempted this question and averaged 12.6. This surprisingly low for a non-proof based question. I suspect many student attempt this on the strength of the combinatorics they did at high school without appreciating the need to grasp the more general formulas presented in the module.