Warning: this is still the Fall 2015 edition of this page. There may be drastic revisions for Fall 2017!.

Number and Format

We have two exams scheduled, a midterm and a final.  Each will likely be 10-12 questions each, including a variety of question types -- matching, short answer, long answer, figure labeling, map analysis, and interpretation.

Honest disclaimer: in the past students have told me that my exams are too long, so I'm working on it!  You may be given the option to choose any 8 out of 10 questions, or something like that.  We'll talk about the exact format in class.

The Questions

The exams will consist of different types of questions:

1. Factual knowledge and scientific vocabulary.  I will test your knowledge of scientific vocabulary, variables, equations, and their uses, by asking you to select the definition of a term in a multiple choice list.

2. Conceptual understanding.  A somewhat harder kind of question tests your understanding of a concept.  For example, I might give a term or its definition, and you will have to recognize and pick out the correct or appropriate example that applies to this term.  Or vice versa: I give an example, and you pick out the correct term or definition.

3. Solving problems.  I will also require you to use the information that you have learned in a new or different way to show that you can solve problems.  For example, as air temperature goes down overnight, dew will often form on the grass and on car windows.  To show that you really understand how this works, I might ask you to figure out how the temperature and dewpoint of the air are related to each other as the night goes by.

Logistics and Missed Exams

All exams will be held in the usual classroom.  Make-up exams are permitted only after written documentation (note from the clinic, approved University absence, etc.) and may be substantially different from the exam given at the usual class time (one possibility: a 75-minute oral exam standing in front of the whiteboard).  The final exam cannot be given early, and final exam absences will follow IU policy.