TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

September 11 , 2013

AIM AND HOMEWORK

Aim: What are TestTaking Strategies for the AP Statistics Exam? Contract due Thursday, Quiz 1 due Sunday, Supplies due Sunday

TIPS FOR BOTH SECTIONS OF THE EXAM Statistical tables and formulas will be provided to you in the exam booklets in both sections. Familiarize yourself with these tables! Use a graphing calculator with statistics capabilities on BOTH sections. Practice using ONE calculator. Bring spare batteries and know how to charge them.

CRACKING THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION

Section 1 consists of 40 multiple choice question which you will be given 90 minutes to complete. Thats 2.25 minutes per question. Think about common mistakes made on statistics exam and try to avoid them.

CRACKING THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION

USE ANSWER SHEET Dont just mark answers in your test booklet. Marks in your test booklet will not be graded. Check every 5 minutes to make sure you are bubbling in your answers.

CRACKING THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION

point off if you get the question wrong, 0 points for not answering Should you guess?

CRACKING THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION

Dont waste time on any single question. Two-Pass Strategy: One the first pass skip the question that is taking too long, go back to it at the end.

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Consists of five free response questions and an investigative task 90 minutes for each section, 60 minutes on the first part, 30 minutes on the second part Investigative task is worth twice as much as any free-response question.

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Graded by readers not by computers Explain and communicate your reasoning, justify every step of the answer like the grader has no knowledge of statistics. Be neat!

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Do not fill up all the space provided, the space given is usually more then enough. Why? Writing more will not earn you extra credit. Most students go overboard and make a mistake after writing the right answer.

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Answer all the subparts of the exam. The grader will not mark you wrong for Part B if it is correct based on assumptions for Part A. Use common sense there is a difference between small errors and large errors. Examples?

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Concepts vs. computations if you can justify your reasoning that is more important then a simple arithmetic mistake. Think about what kind of answer the grader is expecting (search college board for the examples.)

CRACKING THE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Spend time reading and planning your answer instead of writing right away. Picture the answer in your head to avoid dead-ends.

CONCLUSION
What did we learn today about test-taking strategies in AP Statistics?