It’s that time of year again! It’s that magical moment when every student has the chance to show, in written form, how much they have learned this semester in physics. Well, that’s the theory at least… So, let’s move on to the details.
- The exam will cover all topics from first semester, (see the course textbook.)
- Questions will be drawn from the first six sections of the practice problems in the textbook.
- You may be required to use a school-issued calculator (please bring your calculator)
- The exam will be worth 8% of your semester grade
- You will be asked to show your work fully so please follow the model shown in class
- You will be given the formula sheet from the course
The Five Question Topics on the Final Exam (in the order asked)
- Conservation of Energy
- Newton’s Laws
- 2-D Motion
- Vector Addition
- Conservation of Momentum
The final exam in Physics Honors is Tuesday, May 31st at 9:00 am. The exam will be structured as follows:
- The exam will cover only material from the second semester. While there will be some overlap with the core first-semester topics (energy conservation, motion, Newton’s Laws), they will not be the focus of the questions.
- The chapters in the textbook (Serway & Vuille: College Physics) that match this material are:
- 9.6 (Buoyancy)
- 13.1 – 13.10 (except 13.6, 13.9, 13.10)
- 14.1 – 14.12 (except 14.5)
- 15.1 – 15.6
- 16.1, 16.4
- 17.1 – 17.6 (except 17.2, 17.5)
- 18.1 – 18.4
- There will be no multiple-choice questions on the exam. The exam will have FIVE “work-em-out” questions drawn from second-semester topics: waves, sound, periodic motion, electrostatics, electric energy, circuit analysis, buoyancy.
- There will be no graphing calculators allowed during this exam. Students must bring a scientific calculator for all calculations.
- There will be a formula sheet provided for the exam, the same as that used throughout the year. No student-generated note sheets of any type will be allowed during this test.
- We will review in class for the three days prior to the exam (W-R-F) so please bring your questions and materials with you to class.
In order to support your efforts, here are some review materials to help you study for the exam.
- Khan Academy - this site has countless videos that explain the full breadth of physics topics. I would suggest taking a look here as a start for those topics that you feel “lost” and unable to know where to start.
- Dropbox: I have made quite a few documents available for you to use in your preparation for the exam and to access them you will have to send me an email asking for permission to use a shared folder on a cloud drive. So, if you send me an email I will send you an invitation – it’s that simple. NOTE: When you receive the invitation you will be asked if you wish to sign up (you will need to do so) and then you will be asked if you wish to install something (you do not need to do so). Just create a free account and access all of the files on the web from any computer or handheld device.
- Textbook: How old-fashioned that I suggest using the textbook! Yet there are a great many materials you can use there. First, isolate the sections of the text we have covered. Then, go to the back of the chapter and try to work problems associated with the assigned sections. The answers are posted in the “Dropbox” as well as online at the school’s SharePoint site.
- Office Hours: Drop on by and we could chat about your favorite subject. It can’t hurt, can it?
Over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on what is appropriate to include on the final exam for physics honors this semester. It might surprise you to know that teachers often circle back to what seem to be basic questions. As I have moved through my career I notice that it is easy to become the teacher that I saw in front of me when I was a student: to teach as I was taught provides me with an instant justification for anything that I do. So then the answer to any question about pedagogy could become: because that’s what works. But how do I really know what works?
It is within this context that I take on the question about final exams. It seems as though I catch myself in a sort of logic trap pondering what is appropriate and fair. On the one hand, the course – by its nature – is cumulative, with ideas from the first semester setting up and supporting those included in the second semester. Therefore, shouldn’t the exam cover material from both semesters of the course? Yet this view ignores the reality of being a student and creates the sort of unnecessary stress and panic that undermines whatever lofty I goal I think I am trying to achieve. Who am I kidding? My students didn’t leisurely choose this course because they have a love of science: it follows chemistry.
So let’s go back to the beginning: what is the intent of a final exam? To be honest, I have answered this question differently throughout the years. It has been the “test to end all tests,” with questions that include everything from Kinematics and Newton’s Laws to Optics and General Relativity. It has been the exam that evaluates just the final topic covered in the course, supplanting a unit exam for a given topic. I have used a variety of formats ranging from pure multiple choice (Scantron!) to those using only work-em-out questions. Heck, one year I recall that I gave a final exam that had 50 true-false questions! To be honest, that was a low point in my career in terms of testing and although I am not proud at all of the decision, it always brings me back to the question at hand: what is the goal of this test?
So let’s go with this idea: The goal of this exam is to provide an opportunity for students to show what they have learned this year in the course. Written this way, the task doesn’t seem so daunting – written this way, I can support my students in their efforts to be successful – written this way, the exam might not look like a punishment for taking a challenging class.
