Have you ever marked a student’s paper that was too illegible for you to grade?
On the second day of my work at the school, a senior teacher handed over a bunch of papers and asked me to evaluate them. III-B it said. I was excited to start off finally as a real teacher.But the real issue started when I started reading them. Even though it was hard to understand most of the papers, I couldn't get a clue about even the name or question numbers written in one specific paper.Being new to work I feared somebody would crosscheck my grades. So I needed to be extra careful. Taking a lot of time, reading line by line and word by word, I completed it all. It had got a one digit score.I went to their classroom and started distributing the papers. With wows and oohs the kids collected theirs. Then it was time for handing this anonymous paper.I showed the paper to the class and asked the owner to come forward. A little boy with naughty hair and dirty shirt came forward, looking down. The whole class burst into laughter. I asked him to practice writing and handed over the paper.Then, since everybody laughed at him, I wanted to give his ego a boost. And I had to meet a senior teacher too. So I asked him to note down the names of whoever talks, while I take a break of 10 minutes.On returning, I was surprised to see the names written by him in readable fine manner. I almost doubted if somebody else had done the job for him. But he was standing right there with a proud smile.That day, when the hour got over, I called him outside the classroom and asked him to use his real hand writing while taking exams. I don’t know what made him confess this to me. But with a cunning smile, he said he takes exams with crippled handwriting intentionally, so that teachers find it difficult to check his answers which he knows are wrong, beforehand. And that way he could manage to escape several times from being put on spot.“I'm brilliant, ma’am..” he said giggling, pointing at himself,and ran back to his seat.Lesson learnt: Children are underrated big time. They are not clueless. They think, understand, have plans and execute them too.
Will you get marked down on an English literature exam if you incorrectly identify a poetic device?
Usually, but how much will depend upon how important it is to the answer you give and what the instructor is looking for. If the rest of your answer is absolutely brilliant, then the mistake might be a minor error. But if the essay’s whole thrust is dependent upon the literary device, or if the whole point of the exam is to test your knowledge of literary devices, then the penalty will be greater. And in anything, when in doubt, ask the instructor.
What happens if I don't pass my AP exam?
Generally, very little. College credit is out of the question, of course, but most high schools I know of do not consider your exam score in your course grade. So, say you got a 2 on the AP Calculus AB exam but an A in the course, you would still receive your A, which will probably be weighted on a 5.0 scale due to it being AP. You will not be eligible anywhere for college credit from the exam (even a 3 may not qualify you, or a 4, or a 5, depending on the school). You will, however, still have to pay for the exam, assuming you had to pay in the first place.Too note that it is your choice to send your scores to colleges. Although, you will not be able to see your score if you cancel your scores, which is the only way you can stop colleges from seeing them if you signed up to have them sent before the exam.I'm not entirely sure how colleges actually look at bad scores on AP exams. It's good that one takes such exams and provides the student some prior knowledge of the topic when coming into the course in college, but it is still a failed grade, which is perhaps just as negative as the former point is positive.
Have you ever scored AP exams? What is the process like?
The AP Board invites experienced teachers in each subject to apply to become graders. If selected, the teacher travels to whatever city hosts their subject, often bunking in university dorm rooms that are empty for summer. I graded AP World History in Lincoln, NE.The nature of each exam dictates how itis graded but I imagine all written sections follow somewhat similar patterns.Teachers are divided into teams and given a set of exams. There is no way to tell where it came from or who wrote it.Each question, or ‘prompt’ has been assigned a clear rubric, or list of specific points, which MUST be mentioned in an appropriate response. Literally, we would check off each rubric point on a list attached to each exam. If any part of the question was not addressed, that section would receive a zero. There was a provision for additional points ifthe student mentioned additional specifics in accurate context- students would often ‘brain dump’ anything they knew and Ha time to get on paper about a subject. It was not unusual to see someone do an average job on specifics of a question but really excel in their depth of knowledge, and this would improve their scores. Conversely, total BS aggravated every single one of us and NEVER helped anybody. No one wants to mow through that when the stack of paperwork is taller then most of the teachers.After hours of grading, the stacks of exams are exchanged. Then the entire process repeats itself. Multiple graders score each exam. We cannot see what other graders marked so there is zero room for shortcuts or sandbagging.After my first year as a grader, I always spent time teaching how to break down the questions into rubrics and then how to address each point, as well as what might be appropriate ‘extra’ worth adding.It is a remarkable process, unbiased and in depth. Long, grueling hours with breaks to hang out with people who shared my passion (Trust me- if this was not a passion, NO one would grade these).It was an incredible opportunity and one every AP teacher should experience!
If I mark all answers 'C' in an MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) exam, what is the probability of passing the exam?
This question touches on the over-all strategy of “testmanship,” which applies a generic answer strategy in addition to whatever knowledge of the subject matter you actually have.This assumes the MCQ you face is relevant to some course of study you are involved with, or some area of knowledge with which you have a working familiarity -but no special expertise.Here’s the over-all approach:Before you start answering, scan the whole test to get an indication of the questioning strategy. Do not assume you must answer the questions in order -unless that’s a test condition.Go ahead and answer the questions where you have a good degree of confidence that you know the answer. Those are your “gimmies.” Let us say that this gives you 25% of the test.Now scan the questions for choices which you know or strongly suspect to be wrong. The more questions with wrong answers, the better, because your actual odds of a correct answer will be between the “possible” answers. If you’ve narrowed it down to two, then your odds on a sheer guess or coin flip are 50–50. Let us suppose that such questions account for half of the test. If so, you pick up another 25% or thereabouts. But don’t guess randomly -make an effort to determine which choice is more probably correct. That give you a slight edge.That leaves 25% of the test which have few or no known wrong answers. In a 4 choice test, your odds on a guess are 25%. Again, use what you DO know to get an edge.Watch out for answers such as “neither A nor D” or “Both C and B.” Hit the BOTH answers first, for any question where you have ruled out at least one answer.Be aware that the wording of some questions may give you a strong clue as to the answer to a subsequent question.Ignore suspicious patterns to answers, such as “all the answers are “B.”In general, apply the above instructions in the order they are given. The idea is to grab the low-hanging fruit first, then work your way up the “tree,” to more difficult material.This website: General knowledge quizzes has many MCQ’s in various areas where you may practice. In a general knowledge test I just took, I scored 9 out of 10 correct, using the strategies above. There were 2 questions which included known wrong answers, improving my odds on a “guess.” There were 2 on which I was completely clueless.Bottom line: some knowledge of subject matter is essential, but knowing how to take the test can be critical.Hope that helps.
Do significant figures matter on the AP Physics exams?
Yes and no. Yes, in that you may lose some points if you don't put the correct number of significant figures. No, in that if you do, it won't be many points. It's more important to show your work and what led to your answer. From the AP Physics B Scoring Guidelines: "Strict rules regarding significant digits are usually not applied to numerical answers. However, in some cases answers containing too many digits may be penalized. In general, two to four significant digits are acceptable. Numerical answers that differ from the published answer due to differences in rounding throughout the question typically earn full credit. Exceptions to these guidelines usually occur when rounding makes a difference in obtaining a reasonable answer. For example, suppose a solution requires subtracting two numbers that should have five significant figures and that differ starting with the fourth digit (e.g., 20.295 and 20.278). Rounding to three digits will lose the accuracy required to determine the difference in the numbers, and some credit may be lost."
Do you get marked off points for putting a false fact on the AP world history long essay question?
I believe that you cannot get marked off in the essay, but rather the graders look for ways to give you points.
Ap world history exam tomorrow i dont know ANYTHING?
i have an AP world history exam tomorrow nad ive been studying for the past week, i took a practice test and i dont know anythign. my family is expecting me to get a 5 and i cry everytime i try to study because i know i can't do it. I think i am going to get a 2. i hate myself. i'm so stupid. what should i do. im crying as i write this message