Exam 2 is typically the most challenging exam of the semester, with the greatest time pressure, and the lowest median scores. Note that a hard exam and low median scores do not hurt your grade --- since the course median is curved at the end, only your performance relative to the class median determines your grade. Indeed an occasional hard test gives you more feedback about your performance and areas for further study --- important to the large portion of you who will go on to prepare for MCAT exams (particularly since I do provide you with detailed exam solutions). And even if your performance on this exam was poor relative to your peers, this exam is a mere 8% of your grade, and you will revisit this material on the final exam, which typically has a high median in my courses, as it examines a more superficial review of the entire course. And of course homework and lab scores tend to help grades as well.

With all that said, the tumultuous start to our exam seems to have frazzled many students, with many feeling that the time pressure affected different students unfairly and that what they were able to write on the test did not accurately reflect their mastery of these chapters. Although you were still given a full 60 minutes, I think there is some validity in this frustration.

Therefore, during the last 10 minutes of Monday's lecture (and 5 minutes into the intersession), there will be a remedial activity which will enable you to raise your test grade. This activity will enable you to raise your grade by a maximum of 20 points, and can only increase your test score. If everyone increased their score by 15 points, no change in grades would result (since only performance relative to the median affects your grade). However, I feel this will give everyone a second chance to show what they know, and feel satisfied that they were given a fair chance to do so. I also have designed it to most help those most harmed by time pressure during Exam 2.

In summary: come, and bring your calculators, to Monday's lecture!