Friday, May 11, 2007
AP: From the College Board's mouth...
Pay particular attention to the third change. That is potentially good news. Instead of 40 minutes of two questions (with calculator), you now get 55 minutes for THREE questions (with calculator). Then, instead of 40 minutes for the final 4 questions, you have 40 minutes for the final THREE questions. Also, note that the lab question may be mostly quantitative or mostly qualitative. Here's what the College Board states on their website:
Teachers and students should be aware that the AP Chemistry exam given in May 2007 will have a NEW FORMAT. It is important to note that the content covered by the exam will not change. The weighting of the two major parts of the exam will change slightly—Sections I and II will each contribute 50 percent toward the final grade. Section I (90 minutes) will not change and will still consist of 75 multiple-choice questions with broad coverage of chemistry topics. However, there will be three primary changes in the format of Section II of the 2007 exam.
The first change in Section II is that students will no longer be asked to choose between alternative questions. All students will do the same six questions: three problems, the first of which is an equilibrium problem; question 4 (reactions); and two free-response essay questions.
A second change in Section II relates to question 4, which assesses students' knowledge about chemical reactions. Currently students are asked to write chemical equations for five of eight given sets of reactants. In the new question 4 format, all students will write balanced chemical equations for three different sets of reactants and will answer a short question about each of the three reactions.
The third change in Section II relates to the timing of Part A (during which calculators are permitted) and Part B (when no calculators are permitted). In Part A, students will have 55 minutes to answer three problems; in Part B, students will have 40 minutes to answer question 4 and questions 5 and 6, the two essay questions.
In addition to the changes above, the laboratory-based question can now appear as either a quantitative problem in Part A or as an essay question in Part B.
Teachers and students should be aware that the AP Chemistry exam given in May 2007 will have a NEW FORMAT. It is important to note that the content covered by the exam will not change. The weighting of the two major parts of the exam will change slightly—Sections I and II will each contribute 50 percent toward the final grade. Section I (90 minutes) will not change and will still consist of 75 multiple-choice questions with broad coverage of chemistry topics. However, there will be three primary changes in the format of Section II of the 2007 exam.
The first change in Section II is that students will no longer be asked to choose between alternative questions. All students will do the same six questions: three problems, the first of which is an equilibrium problem; question 4 (reactions); and two free-response essay questions.
A second change in Section II relates to question 4, which assesses students' knowledge about chemical reactions. Currently students are asked to write chemical equations for five of eight given sets of reactants. In the new question 4 format, all students will write balanced chemical equations for three different sets of reactants and will answer a short question about each of the three reactions.
The third change in Section II relates to the timing of Part A (during which calculators are permitted) and Part B (when no calculators are permitted). In Part A, students will have 55 minutes to answer three problems; in Part B, students will have 40 minutes to answer question 4 and questions 5 and 6, the two essay questions.
In addition to the changes above, the laboratory-based question can now appear as either a quantitative problem in Part A or as an essay question in Part B.
# posted by C @ 3:05 PM 
