Sat, 3 March 2021, 1:55

My students,

Our first midterm is coming up next Wednesday, from 5pm to 6:30pm.
I thought you might find the following useful.

First, Lab 3 is due Sunday night.  I was disappointed in the attendance
in discussion sections this week.  I hope it means you have Lab 3 well in
hand, and did not need any interaction with my TAS to ensure getting it 
done by Sunday evening.

My midterm exams usually cover everything we have studied up to the start
of Monday's lecture, the week of the exam.  This semester, I have told you 
that there will be nothing on the exam dealing with physical memory.  Many 
of you had questions about unaligned accesses and interleaving.  These will 
not be on the exam.  I will spend some time on them after the exam, and we 
can deal with those questions then.

On Monday, Professor Erez will finish the material on Physical Memory during
the regular class period.  There will be a review session after class that
my TAs will conduct.  My intent of the review session is that my TAs will
answer questions as long as you have questions.  Feel free to attend the 
review session for as much or as little as you wish.  I have been having
these review sessions for years, and I have found that some students benefit
by just attending, listening to other students' questions and then hearing
the answers.  Other students ask lots of questions.  Your call whether you 
attend and for how long.

The exam is closed book except you are welcome to use the following files
from the course webpage listed under Handouts: the .ppt presentations, the
LC-3b handouts, the files listed under "Other handouts," and the "Spring 2021 
Exam 1 Buzzwords."

The Spring 2021 buzzwords contain terms Professor Erez and I have used 
in class this semester to remind you of items you should be solid on.  
The Buzzwords for the first midterm exam have been posted.  

Any questions, do not hesitate to ask me or my TAs.  

Good luck on the first midterm and on the rest of the course.

Yale Patt