About Exams

A student may pass the Fundamentals of Signal Processing course in two ways, via continuous assesment and via comprehensive exams. Scoring and grading procedures for both ways are described on the couse home page while this page contains the instructions for different exams types.

The course contains both written and oral exams.

Written Exams

There are three types of written exams:

  1. Midterm is held at the end of the first half of the semester and covers only material taught in that part.
  2. Final exam is held at the end of the semester and covers the entire course with an emphasis on the material taught in the second half of the semester.
  3. Comprehensive exam is held at prescribed examination dates and covers the entire course.

The duration of all exams is 150 minutes (2.5 hours), unless stated otherwise in the exam notice.

Please obey the exam instructions which are listed below and which are same for all written exams. Any violation of the exam rules and any use of illicit materials during the exam may result in immediate removal from the exam and/or in a report on the infraction to the disciplinary committe.

Allowed Utensils

You may bring to any written exam from Fundamentals of Signal Processing:

  1. Writing utensils.
  2. Empty A4 paper sheets to work out the problems.

    Please bring a sufficient quantity of empty paper sheets to work out the problems. Note that the provided folders to store your sheets are A4 therefore bring A4 or folded A3 sheets.

  3. Calculator void of course notes.

    A simple scientific calculator which provides square roots, trigonometric, and exponential functions is sufficient to solve the exam.

  4. Official reference card.

    The reference card may be found under Files. Please print the reference card on A4 paper without any alterations.

  5. A watch.

    Please note that A MOBILE PHONE IS NOT A WATCH! If you have a mobile phone then please slience it/turn it off and STORE it in your backpack/bag together with any other electronic devices except a calculator and a watch and put it ASIDE.

Instructions for Written Exams

Please obey the following instructions during the exam:

  1. Write legibly.

    Illegible solutions cannot be evaluated nor graded.

  2. Write your name, surname and student ID number on each sheet and on the provided folder.

    We recommend to write your name, surname and student ID number in the upper right corner of your empty paper sheets in advance (sheets marked in this way are stil considered empty for the purpose of the exam).

  3. Highlight the beginning of each problem.

    If possible solve each problem using a separate sheet of paper. If that is not possible then clearly mark the beginning of each problem, e.g. by circling it, by underlining it, or by using a different colour. If a solution to a problem spans several sheets then clearly indicate the problem number on each of those sheets.

  4. Highligh the final solutions of each problem.

    Clearly mark all final solutions to given problems, e.g. by circiling them, by underlining them, or by using a different colour.

  5. Sort your sheets in the provided folder

    Before submitting the exam sort all the sheets you used in the ascending order of problem numbers and only then place them in the provided folder. If there is sufficient time remaining until the end of the exam then please also mark down page numbers, e.g. by writing down 3/7 at the bottom of the third sheet of seven.

  6. Satisfy your physiological needs before the exam starts.

    Leaving the room during the exam is in general prohibited unless you submit your solutions. Therefore please use the toilet before the exam starts. Similarly, if you are hungry or thirsty then eat and drink a small amout of food and liquids before the exam starts.

  7. If you have a question then silently raise your hand.

    Questions may be asked by silently rasing your hand. Only if the exam proctor does not notice you then you may say "I have a question." Note that we can only give answers which clarify the text of the exam problems. Questions about the correctness of your answers or about solving procedures will not be answered. In rare cases when exam proctors are not teachers engaged on this course a designated teacher will visit a room where the exam is held at least two times; please ask you questions then.

Oral Exams

Oral exams are scheduled after all appeals about grading of the written exams are settled.

The oral exam is conducted by lectures and associated lecturers only.

Students are typically randomly assigned to examiners. In the case of more than one exam slot and a larger number of students a web application may be used to assign students to slots.

Although the details of the oral exam depend on the examiner, in general you will randomly draw about three questions followed by a short time period to prepare your answers. Only paper and pencil may be used when preparing the draft answers. After the preparation period ends you orally answer the drawn questions.

To aid you in the preparation for the oral exam we have assembled a short list of the most important questions on Fundamental of Signal Processing which are available under Files.