Mid-term

Format:
About 35 multiple choice and true or false questions.
About 8 of these questions will use arithmetic.
About 5-8 of these questions will be slide images. (Black and white versions of colour images shown in class.)

Final Exam

Format:
About 65 multiple choice and true or false questions.
About 9 of these questions will use arithmetic.
About 10 of these questions will be slide images.
(Black and white versions of colour images shown in class.)

General Information for Mid-term and Exam

• No textbooks allowed.
• No calculators.
• Cell phones, pagers, PDAs, MP3 units or electronic translators are explicitly listed as unauthorized materials, and must not be present during tests or examinations.
• Bring pencils.

Math Questions:
Equations will not be provided on the test/exam and are required knowledge. You cannot bring a list of equations. (See tips below.) If constants are needed they will be given. Exact characteristics (radii, distances, masses) will be given if needed. However approximate scales of classes of objects should be known. Also, for example, one should know the conversion between metres and kilometres and the definitions of giga- and mega, as well as the the conversion between parsec and light-years.

Range of Questions:
Although there is overlap with the lab material, questions will be selected from lecture material and from specific readings that have been requested by the instructor (e.g. specified sections, diagrams, tables from either the textbook or the supplemental resources website). For example, the lectures do not emphasize history so dates and scientists' names will not be required.

Image Slide Questions:
Slides questions of astronomy images will not ask for the specific name of the object but will test for astronomy information, e.g. the class of objects, and concepts, e.g. how the image is relevant to our studies of, say, gravity or what processes produce the kind of emission shown in the image.

Answer Forms and Question Sheets:
Answer Forms (i.e. Bubble Sheets) must be filled out according to the instructions on the sheet. ONLY USE PENCIL. These will be read by a machine so try to be tidy to ensure that you get the correct mark. Fill these in at least five minutes before the end of the test time period. You must write down your name, student number, your faculty, the class number (Phys 1810) and section, and the instructor's name.
Question sheets, as well as bubble sheets, will be returned to the instructor at the end of the test. They will be retained for 1 week after the marks are posted so that you may discuss them individually with the instructor. Therefore do your work on the question sheets and put your name on them. Leave at least 5 minutes for transferring your answers to the bubble sheet before the end of the test. Marks will be posted, about 4 days after the test, outside the Dr. English's door (Allen Building 514).

Tips for Review and Practise:

• A review is provided at the end of each chapter of 1st year textbooks. One is not assigned for PHYS 1830. However if you are supplement your learning with textbooks you can do reviews using the sections called things like Summary, Review and Discussion, and Conceptual Self-Test. Look up the Key Terms in the Glossarys. Also redoing the Preview part of the PQRST study method provides a good review.
  
  
• While reading your notes from class, look up the topic that you are reading about using the text's subject index for the appropriate pages. Read the pages associated with the relevant chapter.
  
  
• Review all the questions posed in class and all the exercises done in class, especially those done with your fellow students during class.
  
  
• Bring specific questions to the instructor during tutorial hour (announced in class) or make an appointment via email. The room is Allen 514 (a note will be on the door if we move to a larger room).
  
  
• You are responsible for knowing the equations used in class. Making your own list will help you learn them. Mnemonics are also helpful for memorizing these.
  
  
• It is good practice to re-do all the mathematical examples done in class. Make up some of your own questions by re-arranging the equations.
  
  
• To increase your skill for multiple choice questions, one can use a first year textbook of your choice. Do the conceptual self-test multiple choice questions for those topics covered in class. Also do those multiple choice questions which are relevant to the lecture material at e.g. the Mastering Astronomy website associated with Astronomy Today. Your access code is in the front of the textbook. (The class does not have a Mastering Astronomy lecture/class website.)
  
  

Tips for the test: During the test, it is recommended that the whole test is read first in order to rank the questions as "easy", "challenging", and "difficult". It is best to do the easiest questions first and the difficult questions last so that as many questions as possible are answered before the time runs out.

After reading the question, without looking at the multiple choice answers, state to yourself what you think the answer is. Then look for it amongst the multiple choices.

Updated: Jan. 4, 2015