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I've created this section to give you a bit of an insight into how a subject looks from the lecturer's perspective. The reason for this is that if you understand how the lecturer ticks, you'll be able to generate the work that he or she wants to see from you.
What Lecturers Do
Mark Exams. Hmmm. This is why all students (whatever they might say) ultimately dread saying or doing the wrong thing to a lecturer. They might get a bad mark as a result! 
But I would have to say that a lecturer who ever behaved this way would be acting most unprofessionally, and if you think you have been treated like this, you should complain to somebody. Like the Associate Dean (Teaching), or (Associate) Head of School
Set Exams. Lecturers have to set exams, because the university is in the business of accrediting students, through the process of issuing degrees, which in turn are legal documents. Employers expect a degree to mean that a graduate has acquired various skills (although people may disagree about exactly which skills)! Examinations are part of that formal process.
But you need to understand that assessment comes in two flavours: summative and formative. Summative assessment is the form you probably think of when you think of assessment: it is about determining whether you have met the accreditation level that allows you to continue, and allows you to graduate. Formative assessment is about giving you feedback about how well you are doing, what parts you understand, what parts you don't. Clearly formative assessment is far more valuable in your learning process.
Obviously there are situations where there are elements of both types of assesment in the one task. But if you keep in mind the need for both types, you will understand better what is required of you in sitting exams and completing the tasks that your lecturer sets for you.
Explain things. Well, you would hope they would do this, wouldn't you? While there are some lecturers who might give the impression that they are not very much interested in this, that's probably because they have never had the adrenalin hit of seeing a student grasp a key idea, a fundamental concept.
Explaining things is a two-way process. It requires discipline on both sides: the lecturer needs to have patience, the student needs to have diligence. Learning hard things requires hard work. When that hard work pays off, feeding back a little of the joy and excitement (yes, learning can be exciting!) to the other party will make both student and teacher work more diligently, more patiently, the next time something has to be explained.
Things You Can Do
Of course, it is also very helpful for lecturers to understand what makes a student tick as well! You can help do this in a variety of ways:
Ask questions. Lecturers understand the material they are talking about (most of the time! 
), that's why they are there. But they don't always understand why others don't understand it as well as they do. Asking questions helps to lecturer see what parts of the subject are difficult for you, and allows them to spend more time on the bits that are difficult for you.
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Participate in the Discussion Group. This is a bit like asking questions, but it can be more inviting for a student than approaching a grey-beard ! Particularly if the discussion group allows for anonymous questions, there should be no reason for a student not to participate. You have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.
Talk with your Friends. Your friends (whether they are doing this subject or not) can often help if you are having problems. Obviously, if they are doing this subject with you, they might be more helpful than some who are not! But even if they are not, they might know various useful pieces of information (like who are the people to see in the faculty or school office about something), or they might just read through some work that you've written, to check it for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and the like. But be careful! Do not rely upon the technical knowledge of your friends! They might not understand it properly, even if they think they do. If there is something you don't understand, it's always a good idea to discuss it with your tutor, or perhaps use the anonymous feedback page to check it out.
Things You Must Do!
Here is a summary of what is formally required from you, and how it all adds up.
- Examination
- The exam is the major component of assessment in terms of marks. It will be a 3 hour exam, worth 70% of the final assessment mark/grade.
- Assignments
- There are two assignments that you have to hand in, each worth 15% of the final assessment. They will be based upon the lab work.
- Laboratory work
- (Also known as prac classes) There are 6 lab sessions in all. You must attend all 6 sessions! If you are ill, and can produce a medical certificate to prove it, you will be excused one only of the sessions. After that, further labs missed must be made up. To pass the subject, you must gain a "satisfactory" lab mark for four of the six sessions. Sessions missed due to illness if not made up are regarded as unsatisfactory. Bear in mind also that each lab builds upon the work of previous ones, so if you miss a lab, you will need to catch up, either through completing a "make up" session, or by preparing the material you have missed. Non-attendance at any lab will not be accepted as an excuse for unsatisfactory work in a subsequent session.
The way the results are added up is like this. If you get more than 50% weighted sum, 4 or more satisfactory lab sessions, and at least 40% in the exam, you will pass the subject.
- If your weighted sum is less than 50%, that will be your final mark, and you will receive a fail grade. (But see also the faculty rules on NP grades.)
- If you get less than 40% in the exam, your assessment mark will be weighted at 20% (instead of 30%), and your final mark will be 48 or less.
- If you get only k satisfactory lab grades, k<4, you will get your weighted sum multiplied by k/5 as your final mark.
Students taking the 4 credit point subject CSC2020 do only a 2 hour examination, worth 100%, but must pass the same laboratory session hurdle (4 out of 6). They are not required to hand in the assignments.
