NATS 1870A: UNDERSTANDING COLOUR (SU 2025)
FINAL EXAM: FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS
When and Where:
• Friday, Aug. 1st, 9am-12pm (‘Toronto time’) (3 hours)
• In eClass, go to the new FINAL EXAM section at the top of the course home page. At the start of the exam, you will see two items:
o ‘Final Exam 一 Articles and Instructions’file, revealing the 3 articles to be used for this exam.
o ‘Final Exam 一 Submission of Answers’link, opening a TurnItIn assignment submission link for you to submit your typed responses into, within the exam time window above.
• Make sure you have the necessary technology (computer with stable internet connection) available exactly when you need it for this exam.
• Late penalty policy: any exams submitted after the original deadline will be deducted a late penalty of 1 mark (out of 30) for every 10 minutes past the deadline, within the first hour after the deadline; no further exams will be accepted after 1 hour past the original ending time.
Exam Format and Settings:
• This exam is based on Lessons 13-23 exclusively, with all connection points and questions to be made to concepts explicitly covered in these lessons.
• You will be presented with 3 (three) different media science news articles to read, each with a suitable word count range (around 1,000 words approximately, to maximize content opportunities for making multiple connection points to our lessons), from sources like www.ScienceDaily.com and https://phys.org/, published outside of our research project’s period.
• For each article, you will then complete a typed response (on your own computer) containing 2 connection points and 1 multiple-choice question, as follows:
o Two (2) connection points between the article and our lesson materials (lesson slides and/or readings, over single or multiple different lessons covered this term). Each connection point should:
Have a clear title given for the connection point, including the general scientific concept being connected between the article and the lesson (eg: Colour sensitivity ranges of human vision), and a specific reference to the lesson materials (eg: Lesson 3 slides (#19, 21))
Be written fully in your own words! Copying sentences, in part or in full, from the articles themselves and/or lesson materials constitutes plagiarism, as does copying/sharing answers between classmates; this in turn may result in deductions ranging in severity. Using other aides like Google Translator is highly discouraged, as it can lead to copied material being selected from the web, and resulting in plagiarized content submitted by the student. Instead, after reading each article and identifying the scientific concepts for your connections, try putting the articles away and writing your connection points completely on your own, with proper English grammar and writing style.
Demonstrate meaningful insight into the scientific material presented in the article and
covered in the lessons, by explaining clearly how your stated scientific concept in the connection point - as first explained in our lesson materials - is now also being investigated in the scientific research being reported in the assigned news article. Compare-and-contrast type analysis is a good technique to use here, by first comparing the similarities in the scientific concept (between the lesson materials and news article), and then contrasting any possible differences between them as well, such as new or unexpected or contradicting results discovered in the research compared to the previous knowledge on that topic (as covered in the lessons). Make sure there is adequate discussion of both the news article and textbook readings/lessons in each connection point.
Note: if using video documentaries (for lessons 19 or 23 onIy) for (Iesson materiaI’ for your
connection point, then you must specify the specific timing in the video itself where your
concepts are explained. (For all other lessons, use only the lesson slides for references, and not the recorded lesson videos.)
Be between 50-150 words long as a general guide. (Higher grades will be assigned for higher quality of connection points presented, and not simply for meeting the minimum word count.)
o One (1) multiple-choice question created based on the media article, following the same format as our short assignments (i.e. 4 possible answer options, with correct answer identified as well) . Higher grades will be given to questions more conceptual (than just factual) in their nature.
• Once you have completed all your responses, with 6 connection points and 3 multiple-choice questions created in total, you will then submit the Word file to the TurnItIn submission link, within the exam time period.
• All students will be expected to maintain full academic integrity in the exam by composing their own original
responses, which will in turn be reviewed for any possible plagiarism by the TurnItIn software (for example).
Although all students will be reading and responding to the same articles, their responses to them should still
nonetheless be individual and unique, just as they would be at an invigilated, paper-based exam on campus.
Each student is also expected to complete this exam individually and by themselves. TheSenate Policy on Academic Honestyis an affirmation and clarification for members of the University of the general obligation to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty. Any instances of plagiarism and/or other breaches of academic honesty policy may be subject to further investigation and possible consequences as outlined in this policy.