Fri, 30 September 2016, 17:39

A student writes:


> Hi Dr. Patt,
>
> When you say that everything on the 3 sheets of paper has to be your own
> handwriting, does that mean no part of the sheets can be typed up and
> printed, or just that no part of the sheet be in someone else's handwriting?
>
> I think it means that everything has to be written by hand, but I didn't
> want to make more work for myself if I didn't have to.
>
> Thanks,
> <<name withheld to protect the student who would rather type than write>>


Yes, everything in your own handwriting.  My reason for the three pages:
I absolutely do not want you wasting time memorizing stuff that in the real
world you would never memorize, but instead would simply look up in a book
(or what is more likely today, Google!).

So, some time ago, I established the constraint: the exam is closed book
except for the three pages you are allowed to bring in.  Pages can be as large
as you want, writing can be as small as you want.  BUT, it has to be in your
own handwriting.

Why your own handwriting?  If it is typed, I can not tell who did the typing,
and my objective is to help you not have to memorize; it is not to have you
bring in three pages prepared by someone else, who decides for you what you
should and should not memorize.

Incidentally, I will provide you with the LC-3b's state machine, data path,
and instruction format for each instruction, so you do not need to copy those
items on your three pages.

Good luck on the exam.


YNP