AP Psychology Exam - Last Minute Items

With the AP Psychology Exam on Tuesday, many of us are reaching the end to a long journey that started last September. Below are some of the "last minute" items I tell my students.

General Information:

• Tuesday May 13, 2009 in the afternoon
• Bring pencils with erasers and blue or black pens
• Bring a watch that does not beep
• Do not wear any psychology related clothing
• Do not bring anything else: books, papers, calculators, cell phones, etc.
  

Multiple Choice Section:

• 100 multiple choice questions
• 70 minutes
• 2/3 of the overall grade
• A-E Answers
• Names, charts, graphs, drawings are all possible
• 1/4 point deduction for guessing
  

Free Response Section:

• 2 required Free Response (essay) Questions
• 50 minutes
• 1/3 of the overall grade - 1/6 of grade for each question
• Points are given for correct responses not taken away for incorrect material
• Points can only be removed if one part of an answer contradicts another part
  
• Read through both essays before doing anything else
• Think through the answer before starting to write
• Write an outline or notes in the test question booklet
• Don’t be afraid to cross something out, if needed
• Write in sentences - DO NOT OUTLINE OR BULLET YOUR ANSWER.
• Be as complete as possible, but keep to the point.
• Watch the time. Don’t get caught short on essay #2
• Structure the answer following the structure of the question

Test Security:

• Do not discuss the multiple-choice section with anyone
  
• Do not discuss the free response questions for 48 hours. The general rule of thumb is wait until the questions have been posted on the College Board website
• Do NOT post, text, email etc. anything about the exam on the Internet, especially on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks
  
• Do not come and visit me between the multiple choice section and free response section
  

If you have any questions on the above items, please contact me at kkorek@germantown.k12.wi.us Please feel free to leave any other ideas in the comments section below. Best of luck to everyone.

Share

The Alzheimer's Project

The Alzheimer's Project is a series of films that will air May 10-12 on HBO. In a New York Times review Alessandra Stanley calls it "a sober, deeply affecting" series that "seeks to comfort and encourage" with the message that "a breakthrough — in prevention and treatment, and even possibly a cure — is at hand."

The preview to the series is above. What's amazing is that all four of the films are available now online to view via streaming video. The four are:

The Memory Loss Tapes
Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?
Caregivers
Momentum in Science

This last program would seem to be of special interest to psychology teachers according to Stanley's review:

"State-of-the art diagnostic tools and experimental treatments are explored Monday and Tuesday in “Momentum in Science,” a comprehensive look at the research currently under way, including tests to see whether drugs or vaccines can combat the buildup of amyloid, which many scientists now believe to be a lead culprit in ravaging the brain. The focus of the segment is on encouraging developments and promising prospects, not recent setbacks in clinical trials."

Share

Guessing on the AP Psychology Exam Spreadsheet

One of the most difficult aspects of the AP Psychology Exam for some students to grasp is the penalty for guessing. This is especially true for students who take the ACT which has no penalty versus students who take the SAT which has the same penalty as the AP Psychology exam.

To help explain the guessing penalty I created a spreadsheet detailing how scores are adjusted due to the quarter point deduction for every wrong answer. The chart assumes the student answers all one hundred questions thereby not leaving any questions blank. If they do, they should add one quarter point to the adjusted score for each question they leave blank.

The first column of the chart depicts the number of correct questions a student receives on the AP Psychology Exam. The second column is the point deduction for guessing on all the remaining questions. The third and final column shows the adjusted score after the guessing deduction.

For a larger view of the chart, simply click on the above graphic. To download a PDF or Excel version, go to http://www.4shared.com/dir/10555367/29577282/sharing.html Please note, there are two versions of the Excel document, one for Excel 2007 (.xlsx) and one for early versions of Excel (.xls).

A curious side note, many SAT preparation books suggest the SAT does NOT have a penalty for guessing rather a wrong-answer penalty. While the end result is the exact same score, the difference in phraseology is interesting.

Share

WebAnatomy Website

Murray Jensen, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, developed the WebAnatomy site to help teach his anatomy and physiology students the various parts of the body. While the site is better suited for an AP Biology course, psychology and AP Psychology students should find the endocrine and nervous sections very useful.

Students have a variety of options including:

• Test Your Knowledge
• Race against the clock with timed tests
• Play Against Another - a multiplayer game
• Image Bank for
  
• Quiz Bowl
  

The site is located at http://msjensen.cehd.umn.edu/webanatomy/default.htm

Share

Psych in the news

[I'm guessing everyone is in AP mode, but in case you've got students who aren't taking the exam and are twiddling their thumbs, send 'em here! I'll post several a day over the next few days to clear out my bookmarks.]

• "Mr. Anecdote-Means-a-Trend" Malcolm Gladwell spins another amusing tale, this time about the strategies that underdogs use to win. Deadspin takes him to task on his lack of knowledge of basketball: "sooner or later you run into a Goliath who can dribble through a trap."
• New research may help unlock vegetative and minimally conscious patients.
• Why do poor kids have more trouble in school? Is it due to environment or biology? The answer, according to a new study, may be both.
• The perils of analyzing test scores by race. Plus, a follow-up.
• Relax. NBA players choke under pressure too.
• Does President Obama have the motivation to succeed?
• Bilingual infants have better mental control
• Is fatigue really just all in our heads?
• Yes, looks do matter. (Susan Boyle)
• Ear plugs to lasers: the science of concentration ("multitasking is a myth")
  

Share

Dealing with the sting of rejection

Former San Francisco psychology teacher extraordinaire (and current free-lance education journalist) Patrick Mattimore shared one way he helped seniors deal with the stress of college acceptance/rejection letters (the description of Patrick's activity starts about half way down, under the header "Share the Pain"). Getting a rejection letter can obviously be a very stressful event for an already stressed high school student, and Patrick's "rejection therapy" sessions sound very humane to me, and a very relevant way to introduce some concepts from the therapy/treatment chapter.

Share

Brain Briefings

The Society for Neuroscience (www.sfn.org) puts out a monthly publication called "Brain Briefings". The the short newsletter style briefings are designed to "explain how recent advances in basic neuroscience research are leading to clinical applications". Many times they include a variety of topics pertinent to psychology. The March edition discusses Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders.

Brain Briefing publications since 2006 can be found electronically at http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainbriefings_main or you can have future editions sent to your school by sending a request with your full mailing address to publicinfo@sfn.org

Share

Great source for social psych

I was looking for an example or two to illustrate a social psych concept when I stumbled upon this treasure trove. Wow! This site, Examples Illustrating Social Psychological Concepts, is edited by Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology at North Central College, Naperville, IL. There are seemingly endless links to examples of social psych concepts in many different formats. Need a bystander effect video clip? Another fundamental attribution error example? Cartoons? Audio clips? They're all here.

As I browsed around I realized this is a smaller part of an even bigger site, Resources for Teaching Social Psychology. Here is even more for your social psych teaching needs: activities, web projects, lectures, and much much more. I'm off to change my lesson plans for today! Be sure to post in the comments below how your liked this site and what lessons/example/activities worked for you.

UPDATE: I got an e-mail from Professor Mueller today and he would like me to share this as well:

"I just wanted to mention that I also send out a free, monthly email newsletter with the site in which I include new and newly discovered resources and ideas for teaching social psych and related topics. Your readers can subscribe at

https://lists.noctrl.edu/sympa/info/socialpsy-teach

You can also read previous issues there in the Archive.

Also, I have collected lots of links for my intro psych course here that you are welcome to browse and use

http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/100/100SCHED.HTM

Take care,

Jon"

Share

Make a Personal Psychology Review (MAPPR)

One of the very first postings on this blog included information on Michael A. Britt's www.thepsychfiles.com where, if you dig down deep enough, you will find what might possibly be a look at the next generation of concept maps.

While in the very early stages of development, the technique called "Make a Personal Psychology Review" (MAPPR), looks extremely promising. The method starts with a standard concept map of a typical unit in an introductory psychology course. Students can then click on any concept or number of concepts on the map and hear a definition and in some cases, an example for each of the terms.

To date, only the Research Methods unit and Learning unit have been mapped out. I am hoping in time, the other units will be added. For more information go to http://www.thepsychfiles.com/mappr/

Share

An Opportunity to Talk with a Textbook Author

Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Group is offering a unique opportunity for high school teachers to hear from authors of two of their popular textbooks through a teleconference phone call.

David Myers, author of many introductory psychology texts, will be available on May 7th and Charlie Blair-Broeker along with Randy Ernst, authors of Thinking About Psychology, will be teleconferencing on May 19th. As time permits, both calls will include questions from the audience.

To be part of one or both of these exciting events, you need to register by sending an email to nsheppard@bfwpub.com or contacting your BFW sales representative. Remember space is limited, so please sign up ASAP.

For the specific times or more information on the teleconference calls, simply click on the icon in the right corner of this posting or contact the email address listed above.

Share