Thursday, December 16, 2010

APGEO: Midterm exam results and winter break study guidelines

Dear students and parents,

4th hour AP Human Geography midterm results have been posted on Gradelink.  To see yours, you need to look at the comment on the midterm assignment.  We are posting midterm grades this way to make sure they don't affect your 2nd marking period grade.

Average score: 88% (B+)
Median score: 92% (A-)
Top scorers: Lawton, Sydney, Caleb

A note on how the exam was graded: AP tests are extremely difficult; earning 50% of possible points is usually enough to earn a 3 and college credit, while earning 70% or more of possible points is often enough to earn the top score of 5.  Accordingly, I curved the multiple choice section of the midterm by 30% and the essay section by 32%, allowing the top student scorer in each section to earn 100% on that section.  I then calculated final grades using a weighted average: 67% of a student's grade was his/her curved multiple choice score; 33% of a student's grade was his/her curved essay score.  On the actual AP test, students will complete three FRQ essays instead of two, and the multiple choice and essay sections are each worth 50%.)

Students did very well on their first practice AP test, but there is also a lot of room for improvement. We will be very busy over the next few months as we finish the course curriculum and prepare for the AP Human Geography test.

Once again, I want to strongly encourage students to use at least some of their winter break to work on AP geography in the following ways:

-Review the first three units (Introduction to Human Geography, Population and Migration, and Cultural Geography) in a test prep book.
-Read about FRQ (free response question) strategy in a test prep book and online; this was a weaker spot on the exam for most students.
-Look ahead to the rest of the Cultural Geography unit (language and religion) and on to the next unit on Geopolitics and Political Geography using a test prep book and/or online sources.
-Study for upcoming map quizzes: South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
-Read/watch global news sources to strengthen your knowledge of current events.  Also, consider the extra credit projecthttp://wideawakehistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/all-economist-world-in-2011-extra.html.

Above all, Happy Holidays!  Thank you for a great first semester.
--Mr. M

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