[CHM 112] Lab NEXT WEEK and the ACS Exam

[Andrew J. Pounds]

Alright everyone -- we are getting close to the end.   If you look at 
your syllabus you will see that there are no labs next week.  For that 
reason I would like to schedule an additional hour of class on Tuesday 
at 1:00 pm to go over all of your tests.   On Wednesday at 1:00 I would 
like for us to take the ACS standardized exam.

The ACS exam is a TIMED 55 minute multiple choice EXAM (think back to 
the SAT) that covers all of General Chemistry (CHM 111 and CHM 112).  If 
I remember correctly, there are 50 questions on the exam. I am not 
allowed to give you any assistance during the exam.  We like for 
students to take the exam because it helps Mercer judge the 
effectiveness of our chemistry program (we typically do well compared to 
the national average).

Now, since I want you to have some incentive to prepare for this exam, I 
will do the following:

1. I will "scale" your ACS exam based on national percentiles.
2. We will include your ACS exam grade in with your other four exam 
grades and I will take the best three of the five exam grades (as 
opposed to just the best three out of four).  This is technically a 
change to the syllabus, but since it can only help you grade and in no 
way hinder your grade I think it is acceptable to make this change 
without a class vote.

Finally, since this type of test may be new to some of you, I have 
placed a sample ACS exam (albeit for a longer exam period) on the class 
website in the same place you find the solutions to the additional 
problems.  You will also find the solution key there. Over the next week 
take a look at the exam and try to give it to yourself in a one and a 
half hour time limit.  This will also be good review to help you get 
ready for your final.


-- 
Andrew J. Pounds, Ph.D.  (pounds_aj at mercer.edu)
Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science
Mercer University,  Macon, GA 31207   (478) 301-5627
http://faculty.mercer.edu/pounds_aj