Physics and Chemistry assistance please

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I know it is not a astronomy topic but I have exams coming next week and was wondering if somebody can help me find out what I am doing wrong and if there is any way to go about things the right way.

From the last two exams in my physics and chemistry high have done very well in the written and mathematical section with grades over 95%. But in all cases my Multiple-choice has done very miserably and I don't seem to be able to find a way around it. the main problem is that my overall averages for both of these subjects is now 70%, but I know that I can do a lot better. Both my teachers are also stumped.

Multiple-choice is designed around understanding the concept of what you are learning and I know the concepts very well but for some reason I am unable to read or interpret the questions correctly and I'm curious if anybody might know the best way to approach this.

One of the suggestions by my teacher was to carry out the written and mathematical sections first before proceeding to be multiple-choice. This I will definitely do but I am curious to know if there are any other ways to deal with this?

[RickS (Rick)]

Have you tried crossing out the answers that are obviously wrong to start with? You'll often end up with one or two options left after that...

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi Mal,

As a general comment, doing exams you should always

- read through the whole thing first. This is most important.
- allocate time according to the marks on each Q. Don't spend too long on any question.
- do the easiest ones first, the questions you feel are a gimme. This will give you confidence.
- then reallocate the time left. You should allow a little time for review at the end.

Now with multiple choice, the examiner will include choices which are referred to as "distractors". These are choices which are attractive but wrong. They will be close, but not quite correct.

Read the question part carefully and literally. If you know the material well, the correct answer should then leap out at you.

If unsure, you have to choose the most logical looking answer.

As with tennis, the best runup is practice. Try to get some old exams of this type and practice on them. You will get the idea then.

Cheers

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Thanks for the advise all, Will consider all the options on the day

Originally Posted by RickS

Have you tried crossing out the answers that are obviously wrong to start with? You'll often end up with one or two options left after that...

A good choice, I can mark the paper no probs.

Originally Posted by GeoffW1

Hi Mal,

As a general comment, doing exams you should always

- read through the whole thing first. This is most important.
- allocate time according to the marks on each Q. Don't spend too long on any question.
- do the easiest ones first, the questions you feel are a gimme. This will give you confidence.
- then reallocate the time left. You should allow a little time for review at the end.

Now with multiple choice, the examiner will include choices which are referred to as "distractors". These are choices which are attractive but wrong. They will be close, but not quite correct.

Read the question part carefully and literally. If you know the material well, the correct answer should then leap out at you.

If unsure, you have to choose the most logical looking answer.

As with tennis, the best runup is practice. Try to get some old exams of this type and practice on them. You will get the idea then.

Cheers

I may not be implementing the right approach as you have suggested here. Have talked to all the teachers about this and they have suggested to carry out the written one first before doing multiple choice. Doing the most obvious ones first is a really good idea and thank.

I must admit I have always followed an inline path to answering and should not be worried about going back later to answer the more complicated one. These will more than likely have the "distractors".

Prior to this I have not done any proper studies for about 30 years so getting back into the swing of things has been the most difficult.

[RickS (Rick)]

Check how they are marking the multiple choice too. If there's no penalty for a wrong answer then it's OK to guess if you're not sure or don't have time, but you don't want to do this if you lose marks for a wrong answer...

[michaellxv (Michael)]

If the multiple choice questions are anything like my IT cert exams (which I do very badly at BTW) the questions are designed to trick you into the wrong answer.

Read the question multiple times, there is usually one key word or phrase which identifies what the question is actually asking.

There are wrong answers, correct statement but the wrong answer and the correct answer to choose from.

Review past exams and look at the wording they use to ask the questions. It may seem all twisted when it comes to normal application but you have to get over that.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I must admit when i was in high School English was my worst subject. I suppose it still flows through me these days.

Important to read carefully!
About the best statement to solving this dilemma.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by RickS

Check how they are marking the multiple choice too. If there's no penalty for a wrong answer then it's OK to guess if you're not sure or don't have time, but you don't want to do this if you lose marks for a wrong answer...

Only one answer all the rest are wrong. No half hearted answers on these exams.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

I know it is not a astronomy topic but I have exams coming next week and was wondering if somebody can help me find out what I am doing wrong and if there is any way to go about things the right way.

From the last two exams in my physics and chemistry high have done very well in the written and mathematical section with grades over 95%. But in all cases my Multiple-choice has done very miserably and I don't seem to be able to find a way around it. the main problem is that my overall averages for both of these subjects is now 70%, but I know that I can do a lot better. Both my teachers are also stumped.

Multiple-choice is designed around understanding the concept of what you are learning and I know the concepts very well but for some reason I am unable to read or interpret the questions correctly and I'm curious if anybody might know the best way to approach this.

One of the suggestions by my teacher was to carry out the written and mathematical sections first before proceeding to be multiple-choice. This I will definitely do but I am curious to know if there are any other ways to deal with this?

How do you find reading a sentence or a paragraph??. Do the words flow into one another?? Meaning, do you see a sentence as if it was like one long word with little or no breaks between words??. Or do you see the first word, the last word and the rest in between seems blurred or like as if it's not there??

Do you have any other problems reading sentences??

[ChrisM]

Mal, one key technique that I used when doing physics and chemistry exams many years ago was to identify which specific element, of what I had been taught, was being queried in each question. Once I had latched onto that, it was definitely easier for me to determine the answer.

I hope that I've explained that sufficiently.

Chris

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Carl, I have not really self analysed myself on this at all, to me what ever I have been doing has been a part of my life for a long time (Time to teach an old dog new tricks :smile: ). I am assuming you are talking about Dyslexia or something similar although never been diagnosed with that. I know that when I type information I have to re-read my text over many time before i get it right so may need to look into this.

Chris, I will consider this as something to look into, after the exam I have a 5 week break where I wish to get my stuff organised including reducing business operations carefully. I unfortunately had shoulder surgery 1 week after starting studies and must admit was hell getting back into studies after the operation. I had to go back early too (1 week after the operation), so I was in substantial pain early in the studies. I hope to look into my study practices during the exam break to carefully self analyse my future in real Uni next year. Still have more enabling course studies next semester.

I must admit all the teachers have told me I will breeze it though but I think i would like to tackle this problem head on, I know I can do a lot better.

Thanks all for the help I will keep you updated on my results after the exam next week.

[CraigS]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Multiple-choice is designed around understanding the concept of what you are learning and I know the concepts very well but for some reason I am unable to read or interpret the questions correctly and I'm curious if anybody might know the best way to approach this.

A bit of straight-talk may be productive here, Malcolm ..

How do you know that you understand a concept "very well", if you are unable to interpret the conceptual questions ?

My suggestion, (although a little brutal), is that you face up to the evidence which leads to the conclusion that you may actually not understand the concepts sufficiently, to answer the questions.

'Getting' a concept, is not purely a matter of acquiring knowledge from a book/course material. Over the years, I've found that it takes time for unintuitive concepts to 'sink in'. Pondering the concept, having conversations with other people, (where I feel online courses may demonstrate significant weaknesses), working many, many examples of where the concept has applicability, and doing a lot of deep thinking about it, usually eventually results in 'getting it'. This takes time and good listening skills.

Letting go of the way you've always imagined it works, is the first step in removing the impediments for re-learning the real-world physical realities.

Unfortunately no 'cramming' or exam techniques, will overcome this in the short-term. The weakness will be exposed .. the guys who set the exams are masters of doing this .. the trick is to listen to the result, rather than denying it.

You'll find the multiple choice questions are testing your understanding .. not your knowledge acquistion skills.

More work is needed (tutorials/problems, reading … )
Ahhh .. the discipline of Science … no easy ways out, unfortunately.

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

He has trouble reading, Craig. That'll slow you down faster than anything. If he's getting 95% in the written and maths sections, he can understand the work. It's just that when it comes to reading multiple choice questions, his mind is wandering because he's having trouble associating the sequence of the answers with the questions he's been given. That's a problem with specific word association and comprehension. It's a form of dyslexia. If he has time to think about a question and write a lengthy reply to it, he has no trouble. But when he has to rapid fire answers given multiple choices, he can't make sense of it. I had a friend at school who was exactly the same. He had no trouble with the written section of any exam, but when it came to multiple choice, he just didn't cut the mustard. The written sections allowed him time to think about the questions and use his knowledge/understanding of the work to answer them, but he always felt pressured when it came to the multiple choice questions

Multiple choice questions are less about understanding than they are about rote learning. If you look at a sequence of multiple choice sections in years of exams, you'll find that in most cases, many of the questions repeat themselves in various guises. If you're smart, you can pick this and plan appropriately for answering the questions in the exams you do. Even if you don't know the work as well as you think, if you've followed the formula most lecturers stick to, you can get an average pass mark in most multiple choice sections of any exam. Unless you're totally hopeless or really haven't bothered to do some study, you won't necessarily fail. However, if you do understand your work well, you'll do better in the questions than you would otherwise.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

It's just that when it comes to reading multiple choice questions, his mind is wandering because he's having trouble associating the sequence of the answers with the questions he's been given. That's a problem with specific word association and comprehension. It's a form of dyslexia. If he has time to think about a question and write a lengthy reply to it, he has no trouble.

That is very interesting Carl, because I think you are right in a way and have had some time to think about it as well.

It is true that the exams are split into 3 section, one is Multiple Choice, another is written answer section (requires deep conceptual understanding) and the third is mathematical section. I usually ace 2 of of three section and Multiple choice is the only one that suffers.
I do read over a bit quick and I know that I have a few problems having to comprehend questions and need to read over a couple of times before understanding the question. Multiple choice is very quick and I maybe not brain trained enough to comprehend these questions fast enough to answer them properly.

I will keep you informed how I go.

Craig, I relation to understanding concept, I have been working in the sound and radio industry for nearly 30 years, and the concept of waves is quite basic in my opinion and even the teacher has recognised this too. The last exam was on Sound and waves. Even Astronomy 101 has given me a boost in understanding the concept of waves before doing the test so I think understanding the concept is a lot better than the result of the test say.

Not to say that everything you have mentioned is wrong, these are all opinions that I need to grasp and analyse carefully so that I can pass easily the next and all future tests. At least I care to admit there is something wrong.

[marki]

There is very much a formula to writing multichoice (objective) questions and how its done depends on the number of choices you are given (I have had up to 8 per question in one uni unit arrrggghhh). Nowdays 4 is the most common with 5 on the odd occassion. How do we write them? If there are 4 choices (A, B, C, D) then two will generally be absolute BS and it is best to find these and cross them off quickly but you need to go through each possible answer and either tick (where it may be correct) and cross those that are obviously wrong. Now you have narrowed it down to 2 choices look very carefully, use your conceptual knowledge to see if you can find the trick (there is usually one be it in the wording or numbers) that will standout as being the best choice. And that really is the trick as both physics and chemistry allow the last two choices to both be correct but one will be just that little bit more so (my students often struggle with this). Your teacher has given you good advice. The advantages of doing the objective questions last are twofold.

1. You are well warmed up and will have covered the theory elsewhere in the exam making it easier to spot the right answers (saves time).

2. If time is short you can at least have a punt on the answer with a 25% chance of lucking out (always choose C ).

Remember you have at least 1 minute to answer each question so take your time to make sure you get it right but you really do need to know your stuff to get 100% in this section. Hope that helps.

Mark

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by marki

There is very much a formula to writing multichoice (objective) questions and how its done depends on the number of choices you are given (I have had up to 8 per question in one uni unit arrrggghhh). Nowdays 4 is the most common with 5 on the odd occassion. How do we write them? If there are 4 choices (A, B, C, D) then two will generally be absolute BS and it is best to find these and cross them off quickly but you need to go through each possible answer and either tick (where it may be correct) and cross those that are obviously wrong. Now you have narrowed it down to 2 choices look very carefully, use your conceptual knowledge to see if you can find the trick (there is usually one be it in the wording or numbers) that will standout as being the best choice. And that really is the trick as both physics and chemistry allow the last two choices to both be correct but one will be just that little bit more so (my students often struggle with this). Your teacher has given you good advice. The advantages of doing the objective questions last are twofold.

1. You are well warmed up and will have covered the theory elsewhere in the exam making it easier to spot the right answers (saves time).

2. If time is short you can at least have a punt on the answer with a 25% chance of lucking out (always choose C ).

Remember you have at least 1 minute to answer each question so take your time to make sure you get it right but you really do need to know your stuff to get 100% in this section. Hope that helps.

Mark

There is two things I know immediately that I will implement that is crossing off the incorrect one first, and may come back to them last if they get a bit too tricky.
Doing the MC last is another one to implement this round. I half-heartedly did this with my physics one last exam but didn't put my whole heart and soul in this method, although got a better result than the first.

I will have to work on any tutoring regarding reading issue that I may have, but I will see how I go with this test first.

Chemistry is the one that will run close to time, only 60 mins for 20 written and 40 multiple choice So I believe I have less than a minute to cover each one.

I was surprised my Astronomy 101 exam this coming Monday comprises 25 MC, Maths section and a 500 word essay all in 90 minutes.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

I had to go back to Uni after 30 years of no schooling

I hated multiple choice. I'd never seen it before. We never had it in my school days, so after about the 3rd exam with them I found it easier to cover the multiple answers with my hand, read the question, answer it in my head, then move my hand and see if the answer I chose was listed. Usually it was, or very close in wording so I ticked that one.

This may not work for everyone, but it did for me and I passed top of my course with one lecturer giving me her first ever A+++ grading

Worth a try in practice.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

I hated multiple choice. I'd never seen it before. We never had it in my school days, so after about the 3rd exam with them I found it easier to cover the multiple answers with my hand, read the question, answer it in my head, then move my hand and see if the answer I chose was listed. Usually it was, or very close in wording so I ticked that one.

Impressive idea, never thought of that one, may try it. Need to find some practice multiple choice now

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Impressive idea, never thought of that one, may try it. Need to find some practice multiple choice now

Hi,

Not sure what level you need, but:

http://www4.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.a...icate/physics/

http://www4.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.a...ate/chemistry/

Google on "multiple choice physics chemistry" and there is a lot out there.

Actually you probably already did that never mind

Cheers

[marki]

Originally Posted by GeoffW1

Hi,

Not sure what level you need, but:

http://www4.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.a...icate/physics/

http://www4.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.a...ate/chemistry/

Google on "multiple choice physics chemistry" and there is a lot out there.

Actually you probably already did that never mind

Cheers

Thanks for that Geoff, a very useful resource.

Mark