Here are some questions asked recently or asked commonly by 1122 students, and the answers to those questions.
1. What should I focus on for the exams?
I will make up the exams by going through my lectures and looking for things to ask about. I will also make exam questions from web-based readings assigned on the website; "What Is Science" and "The Land Ethic" are examples. I will not go through the textbook (Stanley & Lucasz) to generate questions.
2. How will creation stories be covered on exams?
They won't be covered at all on the two mid-term or hourly exams. They will be covered on the final exam, as follows. For the final exam, we will pick four stories for which you will be responsible. We will pick them after we discuss the last story, so you will have a couple of weeks to review just those four stories for the final exam. At present, all that's required is what has gotten us through class - having read each story well enough to summarize it briefly and to discuss it.
3. What parts of the lectures are material for exam questions?
Everything covered in lecture is material that may be the subject of a question on an exam, except material explicitly labeled "This slide is not exam material". We haven't been wasting lecture time on irrelevant material.
4. Will there be a study guide distributed before each exam?
No, because a study guide would have to recapitulate everything we've covered in lecture. Your lecture notes are your best study guide for the exam.
5. The text has a CD-ROM at the back. On exams, are we responsible for material on it?
No.
6. Are we responsible for reading assignments on the World Wide Web?
Yes. For the first exam, that includes the "What is Science?" readings.
7. Will Exam II be similar to Exam I?
In general, yes. Because Exam II covers fewer lectures, it may go into a little more detail than Exam I did. Remember that you have last year's Exam II available to you - see the link off the main 1122 page.
8. My course grade at this point is not too good. Are there any words of encouragement?
Yes: The final exam will probably improve your grade. The final exam will, in terms of points, be
50% material from the Part IV of the course;
25% an essay question that you already have available to you (see the main page for the link);
and 25% an essay question already available to you (see the main page for the link) over one of four creation stories (we'll choose the four creation stories after we're done reading all of them - se Item 2 above).
Many students almost automatically get all 50 of the 50 points on the essay questions because they're prepared for those questions. That means that a student who typically gets a 60 on the hourly exams can reasonably get an 80 on the final (50 from the essays + 0.60 x 50 from the "normal" exam).
9. What happens to our participation grade if we're never called on?
You get the full 5%. In essence, everyone starts with the full 5%. Only if someone is called upon and does not or can not respond do they lose that 5%.
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