Lesson learned from previous exams In general, students often fail to earn points because of incomplete responses or vague responses that can’t be interpreted for constructed response items. Students can improve their scores by: Answering the question completely or completing each task in the prompt Using the bullets as a checklist to make sure the response is complete.

Short Answer questions When answering short answer questions that have two bullets after an “in your description, be sure to” statement, students sometimes only answer the first bullet. These questions generally ask students to do the actions in both bullets twice as shown in the following APPB(1) example. ……Describe two constraints, other than cost, that scientists could encounter while trying to solve a problem. In your description be sure to: Identify two constraints other than cost Describe why each constraint is a limitation Students very often identify two constraints, but do not attempt the second bullet. They generally must at least attempt to address the second bullet to earn any points.

Conclusions—INQC(1) Students need to write more decisive conclusive statements like “as the volume of water increased the plant height increased.” A vague statement like “the amount of water does have an effect on the plant height” cannot be credited as a conclusive statement. Students should write a complete comparison, for example: The plant receiving 100 mL of water grew the tallest; The plant with 100 mL of water grew taller than the plants with 75 mL or 50 mL of water; The more water the plant had, the taller the plant grew. Include supporting data and/or descriptive text from the data table: You should quote appropriately from the data table just like you quote the text from a passage in reading. Numbers (data) should not be rounded or qualified with phrases like around or about.

New Procedures—INQB(1) and INQB(2) Students sometimes write conclusions or predictions instead of the steps for a procedure. Students sometimes miss the differences between controlled experiments and field studies when writing procedures. Many of those differences are defined by the bullets included with the item. For example, field studies include recording environmental conditions and describing the method for collecting data (e.g., a consistent sampling strategy). Students need to write procedures that use the manipulated (independent) and responding (dependent) variables given in the new experimental or field study question. Many students use the same responding variable as was used in the original scenario. A procedure that does not use the correct manipulated (independent) variable cannot answer the given investigative question and no points can be earned on the item.

New Procedures Continued The manipulated (independent) and responding (dependent) variables do not need to be specifically named or listed (e.g., Manipulated variable is water temperature) in order to receive credit for them; the variables just need to be used correctly in the procedure to be credited. Sometimes students switch the identities of the manipulated and responding variables and contradict their procedure. Students need to be very clear about what they are measuring. Many students write “record the data,” “measure the data,” or “watch what happens and record the measurements” without actually stating the responding variable. They should write things like “record the number of organisms in the sample area,” “measure the height of the plant,” or “measure the time for seeds to germinate” to earn credit for the responding variable. Students are expected to include at least three conditions of the manipulated/independent variable for both controlled experiments and field studies.

3 things to remember: You should make an attempt to answer every item in its entirety. There is no penalty for guessing on a multiple choice item. Partial credit can be earned on short answer items.