Online end of year exam
Saturday 30 May 2020
Normally my students do their end of year exams in a line this year they did it online. The exam is here Year 1 exam but you should be aware of certain factors if you are thinking of using it.
- All the questions are either fill in the blanks or multiple choice. Students need to take extra care filling in numerical answers with the correct significant figures.
- Decimal point is full stop not comma.
- It can be done in 1 hour but I gave my students 1 and a 1/2.
- 70% is a 7.
- 30% can be ok. There are quite a few questions where, if you get the first part wrong you get the rest wrong. You can check for error carried forward on individual answers after the exam but it takes time.
- There is no way to set a start and finish time (yet). You have to start it by assigning the exam at the start time then check all students finish after the allocated time.
- The questions are IB, "apply your knowledge to a novel situation" type questions. I let my students use books and internet. I couldn't control this anyway.
- The student access system provides stats on individual questions and questions, this is useful for assessing performance.
- Make sure that the exam isn't available to your students before the exam. Check this in student access page manager.
- The topics covered are:
conservation of energy
KE and PE
elastic PE
sig figs
free body diagrams
definition of SHM
ideal gas equation
PV graphs
names of gas laws
KE =3/2nRT
phase
v =f λ
properties of a standing wave
components of velocity
suvat equations
absolute and percentage uncertainty
when multiplying values add % uncertainty
when adding values add absolute uncertainty
the kettle experiment for specific heat cap and latent heat of vaporisation
gravitational field and PE near a large spherical mass
I'm not totally satisfied with the exam, there are too many pitfalls but it did the trick in that it motivated my students to review the year. It isn't a particularly good indicator of ability but it is a useful tool for estimating predicted grades when combined with IA, online quizzes and course engagement.
Before the exam give students access to Mini Year 1 exam - for practice so they can see the sort of questions.
Studyib has many similar questions, suggest your students get an account which at the moment is free.
After the exam give students access to Year 1 exam - for feedback lesson so they can see the correct answers and explanations.
So, not perfect but use it if you want. At least the marking is easy ;-)