This is your Midterm 2 exam. Your exam is due by 11:59 pm on Fri Mar 27. Late submissions are allowed but will be assessed a penalty as described in Late Work on syllabus.

There are two questions on this exam. Both are Personal Essays so the same guidelines apply to these exam questions as we have been using for our Personal Essay assignments. Please review the Personal Essay guidelines before starting this exam to make sure you are clear on these policies and expectations. 

Each question is worth 10 points and will be graded as follows - 3 points for your Notes, 2 points for your Outline, and 5 points for your ESSAY. Grading of the ESSAY portion  will follow the Personal Essay grading rubric. NOTES and OUTLINE grading will be based on clarity, completeness, and adherence to the specifications given. If you are curious as to why the questions are structured this way please see the more detailed explanation at the bottom of this exam.

Please compose all of your answers entirely in a single Google Doc. Make sure that you have the Doc set so that anyone with the link is an editor. Your version history must show the complete evolution of your answers from start to finish (Notes first, Outline second, Essay third), so please do not start your answers somewhere else and then cut and paste them. Do not use tabs, links, etc. to separate different questions or different parts of a question. You will submit a single URL of your doc to Canvas.

If you have questions about the exam, please post those to this thread on the discussion list on Canvas so that  everyone gets the same information about the exam. Please allow up to 12 hours for a response.

You will see that both questions are based on podcasts - please simply take notes as you listen and do not attempt to automate that process with a note taking app of some kind (unless the use of such tools is a documented accommodation you have for note taking from Disability Resources). You can take notes directly into your Google Doc or you can take them by hand on paper and then type them into your Google Doc. In the latter case please also include photos of your notes after your essay for that question.

START OF MIDTERM 2 QUESTIONS : 

1. [10 points] Please listen to the 29 minute Podcast Mini computers : The Soul of an Old Machine

FYI : This podcast uses the term "firmware" - this is a synonym for microcode which was more commonly used in TSNM.

NOTES (3 points) : Take notes as you listen to the podcast. Your notes should be relatively detailed and cover the entire 29 minutes of the podcast. Your goal is not to create a transcript or a summary, simply record the points of information that arise in the podcast. Clearly indicate who is speaking. You can introduce a name one time (Carl Alsing) and then refer to that via initials (CA) thereafter. Please format these one point per line. Insert timestamps every 5 to 6 minutes (formatted like 05:00 to represent minute 5). You will have more content in your NOTES than you will use in your OUTLINE or ESSAY. This is deliberate and is meant to ensure careful engagement with the entire podcast and to allow you to carefully consider a range of possibilities before deciding on what to include in your outline and essay.

OUTLINE (2 points) : Once your notes are finished, make an outline by describing each element from the prompt below that you will need to address in your essay. Each item in your outline should be followed by the specific points you will make to address them. You should complete both your notes and outline before writing your essay. Please start  your essay after your notes and outline so that all are immediately visible in your submission. 

ESSAY (5 points) : In this essay please discuss the following : 

• Three stories from the podcast that were also described in The Soul of a New Machine. Retell the story in your own words, and point out the chapter and page numbers where it was discussed in TSNM. Make sure to name and briefly introduce whoever told the story in the podcast. What additional information did you learn about this story from the podcast? If you somehow have a version of TSNM that does not have page numbers please go to the UMD Library and check out the copy of TSNM that is on three hour reserve and use that as the source of your page numbers.

• Three stories from the podcast that were not included in the The Soul of a New Machine. Retell the story in your own words, and make sure to name and briefly introduce whoever told the story in the podcast. What did you learn about the Eagle project from this new information? How did it change your understanding of what you had read in TSNM? 

• Conclude your essay by describing what happened to the Eagle team after the machine was finished, and then what happened to Data General as a company over the next few years. This should be based on the content of the podcast. What specific and actionable lessons do we learn from each of these stories?

Do not simply list these items but rather create an essay where related ideas are discussed together. Identify any themes that link together the interesting points you have identified. Note that the content you discuss in this essay must specifically come from this podcast or TSNM. You should not have a summarizing introduction to your essay given its relatively short length (minimum 500 words).

INSERT PHOTOS OF NOTES (if taken on paper first and then entered above)

2. [10 points] Listen to the episode How Long Will Moore's Law Continue Boosting Computing Power (with Dr. Adam Becker) of the podcast Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe. There are (unfortunately) about 10 minutes of ads that you should skip as you listen. The length of actual non-ad content is about 60 minutes. This question has no direct connection to TSNM or Data General and Eagle, rather it is intended to help prepare us for our next unit on Quantum Computing. You will have more content in your NOTES than you will use in your OUTLINE or ESSAY. This is deliberate and is meant to ensure careful engagement with the entire podcast and to allow you to carefully consider a range of possibilities before deciding on what to include in your outline and essay.

NOTES (3 points) : Take notes as you listen to the podcast. Your notes should be relatively detailed and cover the entire podcast excluding ads. Your goal is not to create a transcript or a summary, simply record the points of information that arise in the video. Clearly indicate who is speaking. You can introduce a name one time (Daniel Whiteson) and then refer to that via initials (DW) thereafter. Please format these one point per line. Insert timestamps every 10 to 12 minutes (formatted like 07:00 to represent minute 7). 

OUTLINE (2 points) : Once your notes are finished, make an outline by describing each element from the prompt below that you will need to address in your essay. Each item in your outline should be followed by the specific points you will make to address them. You should complete both your notes and outline before writing your essay. Please start  your essay after your notes and outline so that all are immediately visible in your submission. 

ESSAY (5 points) : In this essay please discuss the following : 

• Three specific ideas relating to Moore's Law in computing discussed in the podcast that stood out to you and that you find personally interesting. Describe those ideas, explain their significance or impact, and why you find them interesting.

• Three specific ideas relating to Moore's Law applied outside of computing discussed in the podcast that stood out to you and that you find personally interesting. Describe those ideas, explain their significance or impact, and why you find them interesting.

• Conclude your essay by discussing the specific and actionable lessons we can take from Moore's Law when thinking about the limits of technology, the potential of future innovations, and the role of humans in shaping the future. This should be based on the content of this podcast.

Do not simply list these items but rather create an essay where related ideas are discussed together. Identify any themes that link together the interesting points you have identified. Note that the content you discuss in this essay must specifically come from this podcast. You should not have a summarizing introduction to your essay given its relatively short length (minimum 500 words).

INSERT PHOTOS OF NOTES (if taken on paper first and then entered above)

END OF MIDTERM 2 QUESTIONS

No Use of Automated Writing / AI Tools (from our Syllabus)

You may not use automated writing / AI tools like Gemini, CoPilot, ChatGPT, Grammarly, Claude, Jasper, DeepSeek, etc. at any point in developing any work for this class. 

I follow this same policy. I do not use AI in any aspect of this class. I do not use it to prepare for class. I do not use it to create lectures, discussion questions, or exams. I do not use it for any part of grading. 

What Automated Tools Can I use? (from Personal Essay guidelines)

If you would like to use a spelling or grammar checker, please do not use AI for this (it's overkill and incredibly wasteful). You should instead use the spelling and grammar checker available in Google Docs. Please do not use any other automated tools in preparing your notes, outline, or essay.

Why Do Personal Essays Require Notes, an Outline, AND an Essay? (from Personal Essay guidelines)

The Personal Essays that are assigned are designed to assess not only your final written essay, but also the information gathering, organizing, and thinking process that leads you there.

• The NOTES show that you actively and carefully engaged with the source material for the essay. 

• The OUTLINE ensures that your ideas are well organized and that you have a clear plan of how you will respond to each part of the essay prompt before you start writing.

• The ESSAY allows you to bring your ideas together and then interpret and reflect on them in a thoughtful and well-supported way using your own words and ideas.

The goal of these Personal Essays is to assess both your understanding of the material and the process by which you arrive at your conclusions, not just the final written essay. If you are unclear about any aspect of this process you are always welcome to consult with the UMD Writers Workshop about any aspect of creating your notes, outline, or essay.