1) do not overstudy or cram in a lot of practice the day or
night before the test...
you CANNOT learn anything new the night before a
test... you CAN reinforce what you already know
with practice...
but don't spend more than 1 hour studying physics the day
before a test
2) get to sleep early (midnight is the ABSOLUTE latest)... the
longer you
stay up, the worse you'll do on the test... i guarantee it!
if the test is early in the early morning, make sure
a) that you are up and walking around at least 1 hour and 15 minutes
before the test
(I guarantee of loss of 1 point for every minute you
stay in bed after that)
b) get at least 5 minutes of exercise early (walk/run up and down the
stairs a few times or take a few quick jogs/walks around your building
outside)... it will get your blood flowing ... to
your brain!
c) have an excellent breakfast... food for your brain!
d) have at least 3 intelligent conversations before the test (these
will also
get your brain working!)
e) be CONFIDENT/POSITIVE! if you fear the test -- trust me --
your wish will come true!
3) come to the test relaxed... don't forget your calculator and pencils (i have neither spare calculators nor batteries nor pencils)...
come early if you can...
i generally let post-lunch periods or 8 am classes start 5 min
early and let pre-lunch periods slop over 5 min into lunch......
(although on the first test, we may have to limit everyone to 50
minutes because some blocks have no slop-over time)
being late to settle in just means you have a few minutes less than
everyone else...in general, test will use the whole lab period
time
limit of exactly 1.5 hours, except for the first test which is only 50
minutes
4) there will most likely be a lab portion of the test (and on
every future test!) where you have to go to the lab and measure
something that you then use in a problem... we have only a few
lab set-ups, so try to get into the lab as soon as possible and thus
not get caught in a last-minute crunch... you may be expected to run
software and hardware used in a previous lab, so when doing an actual
lab, dont let your partner be always in control
COME DRESSED FOR LAB..... (and NO, you may not borrow shoes,
pencils, etc. from other people!)
5) all formulas we've been using [with the exceptions of the definitions (for example, displacement, average and instantaneous velocity, acceleration, etc etc, which you are expected to know)] will be on the front page of the test... this includes trig formulas and the quadratic formula
6) if you get stuck on a part, skip it and go on to the next...
if the next part requires the answer to the previous part, you
have three options:
a) leave the unknown answer just as a letter and finish
the problem as usual (you will lose some points for not having the
correct numerical answer)
b) make up a reasonable number for that part and use it
from then on
(write me a note that you are making a number up)
c) come and ask my advice as to what to do (but this
wastes time)
7) be aware of the time (adults POSESS and WEAR watches)...
dont get
bogged down in a problem and consequently not finish the test......
the MOST COMMON mistake BY FAR that students make on
the first test is is not finishing because they spend too much time
on one problem and dont leave themselves time for
the others!!!!
8) as on homework and labs, units, diagrams, labels of initial
and final, definition of +,
appropriate sig figs are all expected; their absence results in loss of
points... order and logic are also expected, as is not plugging
in numbers until you have solved for the unknown algebraically
first.... i do not award points for these things, but i do subtract
points if they are missing
one more thing about units... most all of you are now really
great about making sure that your numbers have them...but some of you
are STILL not checking that the units work out (or else i wouldnt have
so many people forgetting the square in 0.5 a t^2, because people
would be noticing that the units arent working)
ACTUALLY
CHECK THE UNITS TO SEE THAT THEY WORK out.... and DO THIS FIRST before
calculating the number that goes with it....
if you dont have the correct units, what's the point of wasting time
fiddling with the calculator??? the numbers cant possibly be correct
either !!
9) honesty.... we (will) have talked about it in class before
the test.... but you have also read and signed the PHYSICS HONESTY
POLICY....
you MAY NOT
share ANY information about the test with anybody who hasnt taken
it....
not the content, not the answers, not how many questions,
not
whether you finished or didnt, not whether it was easy or hard,
NOT ANYTHING
10) it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to imagine someone leaving a test
early; it is also the most supreme arrogance!
(the last perfect test score was in 1989); check over your work!
figure out different ways to do a problem to check
on
your answers; make sure that your answers are reasonable values...
write me a note if you know the answer cant be
correct.... silly answers lose far more points that simply wrong (but
not silly) answers
you wouldnt believe how many students left last
year's 1st test early (despite supposedly having read this) and
instead of going through and nailng down
explanations for everything
(including graphs, with explicit calculations of
slope
if, for example, a slope is asked for);
and of course these were the very same people who bitched
and moaned after the
test about how they didnt think explanations and
documenting how one arrived at answers were
important..... go figure!
ok, enough advice....
don't print this (unless you own your own printer ! and paper !!)
happy practicing!