$$ \newcommand{\RR}{\mathbb{R}} \newcommand{\QQ}{\mathbb{Q}} \newcommand{\CC}{\mathbb{C}} \newcommand{\NN}{\mathbb{N}} \newcommand{\ZZ}{\mathbb{Z}} \newcommand{\EE}{\mathbb{E}} \newcommand{\HH}{\mathbb{H}} \newcommand{\SO}{\operatorname{SO}} \newcommand{\dist}{\operatorname{dist}} \newcommand{\length}{\operatorname{length}} \newcommand{\uppersum}[1]{{\textstyle\sum^+_{#1}}} \newcommand{\lowersum}[1]{{\textstyle\sum^-_{#1}}} \newcommand{\upperint}[1]{{\textstyle\smallint^+_{#1}}} \newcommand{\lowerint}[1]{{\textstyle\smallint^-_{#1}}} \newcommand{\rsum}[1]{{\textstyle\sum_{#1}}} \newcommand{\partitions}[1]{\mathcal{P}_{#1}} \newcommand{\erf}{\operatorname{erf}} \newcommand{\ihat}{\hat{\imath}} \newcommand{\jhat}{\hat{\jmath}} \newcommand{\khat}{\hat{k}} \newcommand{\pmat}[1]{\begin{pmatrix}#1\end{pmatrix}} \newcommand{\smat}[1]{\left(\begin{smallmatrix}#1\end{smallmatrix}\right)} $$

Reflection I

The goal of a college course is always learning - with homework, exams, and other assignments all just vehicles (and motivation) to help learning occur. Thus, my main goal from this exam is to help you all learn where you currently stand in the course, and to set yourself up for success going forward\(.\)

Now, we are at the post-exam-period where we try to use the test to learn from our pasts. To really get set up on the right path requires some work, so there will be a two opportunities to earn points here as motivation. One is the extra credit exam correction, posted as separate assignment and available to all. The second is to write an exam reflection as part of the hold-me-accountable grading system. Remember this grading system gives weight to other assignments like this, and in the process lowers the amount that exams count towards your final grade.

Reflect on the the first part of the semester, focusing on your studying techniques, your exam performance, and suggestions to your future self. Your submission should be neatly hand written or typed and in full paragraphs with complete sentences. It should not be a rough draft, or an outline (bullet-point list of thoughts, etc). There are no wrong answers, but only submissions showing real work at introspection will receive credit: remember, this is an (optional) opportunity for you to think about what works best for you

How did the exam go? While it is still fresh on your mind, think about the exam itself. How did you do compared to how you expected to do (after studying, but before the exam itself)? After getting feedback, how did the exam go relative to how you felt after taking it? Did you do better or worse than you felt you had (after leaving the exam, but before getting feedback).
If you did well - what were the big contributions to that success for you? If you hoped to have done better, what were some factors that may have affected your performance (these include comfort level with the material, but also things like not sleeping enough the day before, or time pressure etc).

What were your study strategies? How did you go about preparing for this exam? Did you redo homework problems? Re-read lecture notes? Go back through the chapters in the book? Did you study for the exam with friends, or alone? How did you use the practice exam? Of the things you did do, what felt like it had the most payoff? Did any of your studying feel unproductive for you (as in, you put a lot of time into a particular concept or strategy, but in the end still struggled with that)?

How did you learn outside of class? Do you do practice problems beyond the homework? And if so, how do you decide what topics you need more problems for?
If not, how can you begin to use the homework to your advantage, as a means of helping you identify what the most difficult points in a given week are? When reviewing a new concept, do you spend time reading the book chapters that accompany lecture, or watching internet videos on these topics (or both, or neither)? Does the amount of time you spend on this class match its relative difficulty? (ie are you spending alot of time because its one of your hardest classes, or little time because its easy? This would mean it does match. If you are spending not much time but its one of your harder classes, this would not match.) This is a four credit course - the university expects students to spend eight hours outside of classtime studying for the course.
Reflect on what you can do each week going forward to ensure that you are using the homework to your advantage: are you not finishing problems and so wish you could find a bigger study group to work with? Are you relying too much on friends and coming away from problems with an incomplete understanding (even though you get them correct)?

What are some recommendations for your future self? If you could help your past self set up a strategy to leverage your own strengths (and efficiently identify your points of struggle) for the first third of this class, what would you do? What parts of your current strategy will you keep, and what would you have changed? Be realistic (ie don’t just say “I would study X hours more” if adding X hours to your current plan leaves you with an unsustainable work balance across your classes), and take what you have learned about yourself in the above questions to build a reasonable plan.