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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Sunday, March 20, 2011 In The News: It Is Now Advisable To Guess On Advanced Placement Exams When You Don't Know An Answer...It Won't Cost You Anything! Knowing what you need to know for a test is important. Knowing how to apply that knowledge on a test is important (particularly on a well-written exam). Perhaps just as important to successful testing....is knowing the ground rules. Well, a very important rule has changed in Advanced Placement testing. The change is to "right-only" scoring, meaning that credit is given for correct answers AND there is no deduction for wrong answers. So, it is now advisable for students to guess on AP exams. This change leaves the SAT as the only major standardized test that still deducts for incorrect answers (in an attempt to factor in for guessing probabilities of 20-25%). Students will no longer be deducted .25% for incorrect answers on Advanced Placement exams. This is a major change in ground rules (effective in May) that students must understand to do their best on Advanced Placement exams! I bet you know a teacher, parent, or student who should know about this change. In fact, all core secondary teachers will be better able to serve their students if they are aware of this significant change. So... Check It Out! Pass It On! Posted at 9:48 AM Keywords: In The News , Advanced Placement Testing , SAT Testing , Right-Only Scoring 5 Comments |
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Antonio said... Great post! I want to share a strategy that has eokrwd very well so far with my calculus classes.Before each exam, I write a practice test for my students. If I'm planning to ask a question where the format might seem unusual to students, I try to give a question with the same format on the practice test. This gives students a chance to get used to the instructions so that they don't have to focus on that part during the actual test they can focus on the content of the question (which will be quite different from what was on the practice test). I find that students are a little less nervous when they know what about half of the test will look like prior to taking it even though they are still working on problems that they've never seen before.For example, on an exam covering sequences and series, one of the questions will require students to read mock student solutions to some series convergence problems, and find the errors in the mock student's reasoning. Of course, you never run out of misconceptions about sequences and series, so there were plenty of errors for me to put a few on the practice test, and a different few on the real test.Of course, the practice tests help focus the students' efforts while studying, and they convey the message that the best way to prepare is to work on problems. They take quite a bit of time to prepare, but I think I'll find them very nice to have around when that magical time comes when I get to teach a course that I've taught before. =) Friday, March 2, 2012 8:30 AM |