Tag: ap physics (Page 3 of 3)

Flipping Physics: My Favorite AP Physics 1 Resource

May 19, 2017 / dinacav

Good quality AP Physics resources can be hard to find. I searched for review materials and videos but was overall disappointed by the quality of the content I found. Enter Flipping Physics.

So, I’m not actually a big proponent of flipped classrooms. I don’t believe any teaching strategy should be used all the time. However, the flipped model is an excellent one when used in addition to other strategies. These would fit perfectly in a blended learning classroom (I even used one in a personalized learned menu, shown as an example in this post).

When I was looking for great review videos, I stumbled across Mr. Palmer by accident. I don’t know how I didn’t find him sooner – he was exactly what I was looking for. His mission is to “Make the world a better place through real, fun, and free physics education,” which is exactly what his videos do. The humorous, lecture-discussion style of video is a great addition to a blended learning classroom.

Students sometimes find the videos cheesy, but I find using these to reinforce ideas has been a great tool. Some of my students re-watched every video before the National Exam and said it tremendously helped them remember concepts! They also loved the lecture notes associated with the videos. Additionally, he has slowly been adding more videos to cover every topic in Physics.

If you are looking for an excellent video resource, Flipping Physics is the best out there. He even has videos explaining some of the released FRQs. My only complaint is that he doesn’t have Physics 2!

http://www.flippingphysics.com

Here is one of my favorite videos to show right before the National Exam, his reflections on the 2015 exam. It has some excellent tips to remember. I show this every year before the National Exam.

5 Tips for tackling the AP Physics FRQs

May 16, 2017 / dinacav

The free-response questions on the AP Physics 1 and 2 exams can be daunting. Students tend to not be used to writing in science classes, and the AP Physics B exam had a lot more calculations and a lot fewer explanations. These FRQs require careful thought and deep knowledge of physics concepts. Here are my top tips for tackling the AP Physics FRQs.

1. Support your answer.

This is my biggest pet peeve with student responses. If a question says to refer to a graph or has to analyze a student’s statement or uses any sort of source, directly refer back to that source.

For example, question #2 on the 2016 AP Physics 1 exam was an experimental design question that referenced a student’s hypothesis. The experiment outlined should directly address this, not just generally discuss the overarching concept.

Make sure that explanations are not generally statements, but directly refer back to the question at hand.

2. Do not just write equations into words.

The qualitative/quantitative translation question will frequently include parts that say “explain without the use of equations.” This does not mean to write out “Well, force equals mass times acceleration…” Be sure to explain, and make reference to the law or principle you are explaining. The AP Physics FRQs are looking for students’ mastery of the content – not reciting equations.

2017 AP Physics 1 question #3 is a great example of qualitative/quantitative translation AP Physics FRQs. — 2017 AP Physics 1 FRQ #1 demonstrates how students need to be able to explain without using equations.

3. Know when to explain and when to not.

Sometimes, a question says things like “State…” or “Determine…” These types of questions are looking for an answer, not a long winded explanation. Read the first word of the question to clue in to what type of answer is needed. Take a look at this document to help with what different exam words mean.

4. Use the given symbols.

If a problem has you solve something symbolically, use the given symbols. For example, a question might read, “Solve for the acceleration in terms of m, θ, and physical constants.” This means your answer should not have tension, friction, normal force, or any other variables in it.

5. Be clear and concise.

Most answers are designed that a simple sentence or two can explain what you need, except of course the paragraph-length response. Even for the paragraph, however, it is important to get to the point. Writing a diatribe about an unrelated concept shows that you do not truly know the principle at hand. For example, I posted about the 2017 AP Physics 1 paragraph-length question here.

Grading in AP Physics

May 7, 2017 / dinacav

Grading in AP Physics was one of my biggest initial challenges when I began teaching the course. I got ideas from a lot of AP teachers, but I tried to come up with my own system based on their feedback.

I try to give my students only AP style quizzes and tests. They between using released questions, old AP Physics B questions, and questions I wrote. I get asked a lot how to grade these. Basically, my rationale is that a student’s test average should be indicative of their performance on the AP national exam.

Here is the data I know: when grading AP Physics 1 and 2, the 2015 and 2016 IPE have composite score ranges. However this is from the released exams only, and I feel these score ranges are fairly low compared to the operational exam.

AP Physics 1:

Score	2015 Range	2016 Range
5	51-80	57-80
4	39-50	43-56
3	29-38	31-42
2	20-28	20-30
1	0-19	0-19

AP Physics 2:

Score	2015 Range	2016 Range
5	59-80	54-80
4	49-58	44-53
3	34-48	30-43
2	19-33	18-29
1	0-18	0-17

As you see, this does vary from year to year and exam to exam. I err on the high side. I extrapolate their grades from a graph, correlating an A to a 5, B to a 4, and so on. However, note that this is for their summative assessments only – students can still earn a higher grade from things like homework, labs, etc.

When looking online, I found several websites with their own score calculator. Albert.io is one resource that has this. It’s hard to know the accuracy of these resources, but it is good to get a general idea. However, I love Albert.io’s practice questions – check out my review of them here.

When it comes to actually grading tests, I try my best to score similar to the AP exam – no “just because you wrote something” points and MC/FRQ equally weighted on tests. I feel that this gives students realistic expectations.

Reviewing for the AP Physics exam

May 4, 2017 / dinacav

My AP Physics 1 and 2 students took the National Exam last week. I think I am just as worn out as they are. I decided to try something new this year while reviewing for the AP Physics exam. Instead of giving my students a ton of practice questions, as usual, we tried a diverse and personalized review. My students felt prepared, so I am hoping this review style really reinforced their learning.

First, we did Multiple Choice Monday and FRQ Friday every week for the two months before the exam. We used a score tracker (which I wrote about later here!) to help students visualize how they were performing and where they needed improvement.

Second, the month before the exam I gave my students a practice test and scored them on each topic. Then, they had a Canvas module to review. I like to call this a “personalized menu,” or sometimes it is called a playlist. Students chose from 20-30 different assignments, encompassing all the topics on the exam. Assignments varied from multiple choice questions, FRQs, virtual labs, review videos, review lecture notes, etc. Students chose assignments based on their needs and preferred learning style, with a goal of earning 100 points however they see fit.

Here is a sample of some of the options available for the review:

reviewmodule1

This style of reviewing for the AP Physics exam was much more targeted and personalized than other things I have tried. I got to work with students in small groups on specific learning objectives they struggled with. We will see how their scores reflect this enhanced review opportunity! I will definitely try this style of review in the future.

I gave them the 2016 exam as practice last week. 100% passed. I hope that is reflective of their performance this year!

Test day reflections

May 3, 2017 / dinacav

Yesterday was the AP Physics 1 national exam, and today is the day for AP Physics 2. I haven’t heard much from my students yet, but tomorrow the FRQs will be released. My students have only said so far that they thought they did well.

I love the day the FRQs come out. I read through them all quickly and do an assessment of how well we covered that topic in class. Then, I solve them and share the solutions with my students. We discuss thoughts and pitfalls. It’s great to get immediate feedback on their performance, even though the scores are not released until July.

Here’s to solving those FRQs tomorrow!

Tag: ap physics (Page 3 of 3)

Flipping Physics: My Favorite AP Physics 1 Resource