Chapter 3 Quiz Results

Today everyone who completed the Chapter 3 Quiz was shown his or her results. Many individuals did quite well. Of the 29 quizzes scored, 6 (21% of tests) received a perfect score of 23 out of 23. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were way too many scores that were low D's and F's. Of the 29 quizzes scored, 8 (28% of tests) scored 61% or lower. This is not acceptable since this material is mostly review of material from the first year chemistry course taken as a pre-requisite for AP Chemistry.

Below is a summary of the statistics from the quiz. I have broken the values into three categories: (1) Overall results (2) Junior results and (3) Sophomore results. I want to discuss a disturbing trend that I saw, that is why the two classes (years) were separated.

________Overal results__ Junior results __Sophomore results
Average: __77.0% __________62.6% __________88.3%
Median:___ 82.6%_________ 60.9%___________87.0%

As you can see, the juniors in the class (13 of the 29 tests) underperformed by a large margin when compared to the sophomores (16 of the 29 tests). I can propose one reason for the disparityin the scores.

• For most of the sophomores, they took the pre-requisite course last year before entering AP Chemistry this year. For most of the juniors, they are one plus year removed from the pre-requisite course. This is a possible reason for the disparity, but not an excuse. There were a number of juniors that did very well on the test.

If you were an average freshman sitting in 1st year chemistry up at CU Boulder, most likely you would have taken high school chemistry your junior year of high school. Thus, the average freshman enrolled in first year chemistry at CU Boulder is also two years removed from the first time he or she was first introduced to chemistry. You may have to work a little harder at the review of the material because it is not fresh in your memory. You at one point were proficient at this material because you earned a good enough grade to take this course. You have shown in the past that you have the ability, you just need to sharpen those skills.

No matter how you did on the first assessment of the year, I would like you think about the following points and did you attempt the following during the chapter to be successful.

• Did you read the chapter, even though you were not specifically told to do so? This is a trait that is incredibly necessary for learning high level (college level) material like you are doing now.
• Did you download the PowerPoint file associated with Chapter 3 from the AP Chemistry calender associated with the AP Chemistry webpage? The PowerPoint is a good summary of the material covered in the chapter and offers good examples.
• Did you consistenly work on WebAssign throughout the chapter? The due date for WebAssign work is always one day after the unit assessment, but that does not mean that you should wait until the very end to do the homework. Your homework is your studying, and waiting till the very end to do the work to test proficiency is not productive at all. Worse yet, doing the majority of the work after the exam is really of no point, yet I had reports of students doing this.
• Did you look at my webpage and go to the Chapters section to view the Vodcasts made for the chapter? This could be of some help because both Vodcasts for the chapter covered major topics covered by the quiz.
• Did you go to the AP Chemistry calendar to download the solutions to the old AP Chemistry problems used as review for the quiz. We did go over the solutions in class, but did you study the problems and solutions outside of class?
• DID YOU SEEK OUT EXTRA HELP IF YOU DID NOT UNDERSTAND A CONCEPT? This is the most important and most effective intervention for yourself. It is your responsibility to insure that you know and understand the material. I will give you opportunities to assess you level of comprehension (homework and quizzes), but you need to seek out help if you do not understand the material. Coming in to see me on an off hour is not your only means of getting help. You can email me a question. If I get enough questions on the same subject or problem, I can address it in class for everyone or address it through a Vodcast. If it is a question specific only to you, I can email you back a response. I gave everyone my cell phone number and have had students text me a question. These are all means of getting help for yourself.

Since this was the first assessment of the semester and some of you were maybe taken by surprise in terms of the depth of the material covered and the fast pace of the course, I am going to offer you the opportunity to earn back one half (1/2) of the points that you missed on the quiz. To do so, you must complete a CHAPTER 3 REMEDIAL ASSIGNMENT on WebAssign. This will be due at midnight, Tuesday, September 7th, 2010. Second, from 2:25 pm to 3:15 pm, Tuesday, September 7th, 2010, you must attend a remedial session in room #327 to go over two new AP Chemistry free response questions. Therefore, if you need to make arrangements for a ride from school or make plans with a coach or sponsor to be late for practice or an event, please make the arrangement. This is a one time deal and no exceptions will be made.