| Final Exam Questions |
Q1. What is the purpose of this page?
A1. This page is a list of the most frequently asked questions (hence the name FAQ) received by the instructors and TAs. Before sending us an e-mail with a question, you should check this FAQ page to see if the question has already been answered.
Q2. Which is the format of the final?
A2. 60 multiple choice and 4 short answer questions.
Q3. Which chapters do I have to study most?
A3. 1/3 of the final exam will be on the chapters covered before the midterm. 2/3 will be on the material covered afterwards.
Q4. Does the final cover the assignments?
A4. Yes, there might be a question or two from the assignments, so take a look at both assignments again!
Q5. Which are the chapters covered?
A5. The list of the chapters covered is on the course webpage, in the course outline.
Q6. Where do I have to go for the exam?
A6.
Check the website
here
You can find the key to exam location codes at the website
here
Q7. When will the final exam be held?
A7. You must check the above link to confirm the date of the final.
Q8. Are there math questions?
A8. No! No formulas and no calculations!
Q9. Can I have the answers to past exams?
A9. No, we do not provide answers to past exams.
A special question relating to the style of exams in AST101 and the response:
Question: The questions on the midterm were sort of vague in asking for what are now known to be the desired responses. What's more, there was no break down on the midterm of what each part of the questions were worth, and therefore no possible way to know how many points should have been made in order to obtain full marks. This is particularily troublesome for me and the many other students who didn't do as well on the midterm as we thought we would, because it's as if we were expected to magically know how much was required for a full-mark answer. Basically it's like we were asked to write an answer to a question we only half knew - we lost marks for not including the right number of points, but only knew how many points were required after the midterm had already been marked and it was too late. This is extremely unfair to those students who are trying their best to do well in this course, and I expected more from U of T.
Response:
Thank you for your email. I'm sorry - and quite surprised - to hear that you found the midterm questions "vague". Could you be more specific as to which question(s) you find vague?
All four short-answer questions are very similar to questions we have used for several years on midterm and final exams for AST 101 and AST 201; you can see final exams from recent years for yourself in the U of T library (or through their web site). If you had, you wouldn't have been surprised by the format and nature of the questions. Plus, they are very similar to (even identical in some parts to) questions in a widely student-tested question bank. Thus, based on our own experience in recent years and the experience of other instructors teaching introductory astronomy courses with the same textbook, these questions have "worked" well.
Over 25% of the students in the class scored above 80% (i.e., got A or A-) in the midterm. Thus, it seems unlikely that there was widespread misunderstanding of the questions.
One specific criticism in your email is "there was no break down on the midterm of what each part of the questions were worth, and therefore no possible way to know how many points should have been made in order to obtain full marks." Well, a big part of what is being tested is the students' understanding and ability to determine what the relevant/important points are to include in the response: in other words, part of what we are trying to test is the JUDGEMENT of what constitutes a good scientific explanation based on what you have learned. Some of the questions in the test are extremely specific (e.g., "four fources of nature in order from weakest to strongest") while others ask for an explanation in your own words (e.g., "what causes synchronous rotation"), which is where the judgement comes in (i.e., "what are the essential points to make in explaining the cause of synchronous rotation").
We hope this offers some clarification.