Reflection on AP Chemistry Exam – 2015
About the AP Chem exam itself:
1. What did you do well? Why?
2. Were the MC questions easier/harder/about the same as expected?
3. How about the free response questions?
a) For which ones were you well-prepared?
b) Which ones threw you for a loop? Why? How did you respond?
Preparation for the AP Chem Exam:
1. Your personal preparation (with a view towards preparing for tests in college):
a) What did you do that prepared you well?
b) What would you change, and hope to put into action in college?
2. AP Chem Course
a) What aspects of the course prepared you well for the AP Chemistry exam?
Include comments about any or all of the following: use of class time, practice problems in and
out of class time, labs, textbook, order of topics, depth of topics, quizzes, tests, use of old AP Chem
test questions, study groups you formed and anything else you would like to add.
b) Tell me about your comfort level with particulate diagrams. In class we talked about them with
regard to precipitation reactions (S1), titrations, hydration shells around ions (just before the AP
Chem exam). What do you recommend for next year’s course?
e.g. I felt sufficiently prepared, or add gases, other aspects of solutions, equilibrium?
c) How well-prepared did you feel for the lab-related questions on the AP Chemistry Exam?
In addition to answering the question above: On a scale of 1 to 5 (1= irrelevant, 5 = tremendously
important), how important do you think increasing the number of guided-inquiry labs in the body of the
course would be for success on the AP Chemistry exam?
d) Recommendations for next year’s AP Chemistry course:
Include aspects that worked well and should be kept as well as changes you think would be helpful.
Keep time constraints in mind – prioritize additions.
e.g. order of topics, amount of depth and practice, how to approach material that is largely
review from first year Chem (e.g. atomic theory, periodic table, bonding, gases), use of lecture
vs. practice problems during class time, practice problems as HW, compulsory HW vs. HWoptional, quizzes, labs and lab quizzes, types of labs, use of old AP Chem test questions, and
anything else you would like to add which is not already included in b) and c).
e) How helpful was it for you to take a full practice test two weeks before the actual AP Chemistry
exam (on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = useless, 5 = tremendously important))? Why? How did the results of
the practice test affect how you used your time during the following week?
f) What advice would you like to give to next year’s AP Chem students?
Unit 1 – review with extensions from R and H Chem (Chapter 3)
Unit 2 – Solution Stoichiometry (Chapters 3 and 4) and Thermodynamics (Chapters 5 and 19)
Unit 3 – Kinetics (Chapter 14)
Unit 4 – Equilibrium (Chapters 15, 16, 17)
Unit 5 – Electrochemistry (Chapter 20)
Unit 6 – Atomic Theory, Periodic Trends, Chemical Bonding, Molecular Geometry (Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9)
Unit 7 – Gases, Intermolecular Forces , Solutions (Chapters 10, 11, 13)
Questions for Global Studies students:
This year was the first time in my experience that Global Studies students were still in Europe at the time of the
practice test/final exam.
What do you recommend for Global Studies students in the future?
Here are some options:

Take the full practice test (final exam) under true test conditions while in France/Spain at school or in the
hotel, close to the same time as your peers take the practice test in California.

Complete practice problems during the trip on your own time, no final exam in Europe, take the full practice
test (final exam) on the TTh upon return from Europe, the week before the AP Chemistry exam.

Complete practice problems during the trip on your own time, take a final exam during finals week.

No final exam at all - retroactively incorporate scores on the AP Chemistry exam into students’ final grade in
S2.
What is your preference? Suggestions for other options?
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