Report to Schools June 2003

Transcription

1 Geology 12 Provincial Examination Report to Schools June 2003 Ministry of Education Assessment Department % of Students SCHOOL MARK A B C+ C C- F Letter Grade EXAM MARK % of Students A B C+ C C- F Letter Grade FINAL MARK % of Students A B C+ C C- F Letter Grade The summary information in this report provides schools and school districts with an overview of results from the June 2003 Geology 12 Provincial Examination. The information reported is based on the 1,821 students who wrote the June Provincial Examination. Description of the Examination Examination time: 2 hours, however, students may take up to 30 minutes of additional time to finish. Multiple-choice questions Written-response questions Total Provincial Averages School mark 1 70 % Exam mark 2 62 % Final mark 3 68 % 53 marks 45 marks 98 marks 1 School marks for all first time writers, including those who did not write the exam. 2 Exam marks for those students who wrote the exam in a session during the selected period. 3 Final marks are produced in each instance in which a student has both a valid school percentage and an exam percentage for any session in the selected period. 60% of the final mark is based on the school mark and 40% is based on the exam mark. * School marks and final marks for those students who were re-writing were excluded. Differences often exist between school and exam marks. School assessment measures curricular performance over time, whereas exams evaluate those curricular areas best measured in a final testing situation. Some students perform better on exams, others in the classroom. Thus, some differences between school and exam marks may be expected. Raw Score/Reported Score Conversion Exam Raw Score Reported Score * Numbers have been rounded to the nearest percent; therefore, graph totals will not necessarily add up to 100% A % B % C % C % C % F 0 49 % Geology 12 Examination -1- June 2003 Report to Schools

2 Multiple-Choice The following table provides the topic, cognitive level, correct response, and difficulty level (percentage of students who chose the correct response) for each multiple-choice question. For Topic: 1 refers to Earth Materials, 2 refers to Time and Fossil Record, 3 refers to Internal Structures and Processes, 4 refers to Surficial Processes, and 5 refers to Comparative Planetology. For Cognitive Level: K refers to Knowledge, U refers to Understanding and Application, and H refers to Higher Mental Processes. Ques. Top./ Key Dif./ Ques. Top./ Key Dif./ Ques. Top./ Key Dif./ Cog. P- value Cog. P- value Cog. P- value 1. 1U B H A U D K A U C H A U B U A U A H C U C H D U B U D U D U D U B U D H A K C U A U B U C K A U C U C U D K B K B U D U C U D K C U B K D H C *item deletion 32. 3U A U B H D U D U C U A U C U C U A H C U C *item deletion 36. 3U C K A K A U A H A U C *M-C 13,the picture is confusing; there seems to be more rounded clasts than angular, so 61% of students chose C. *M-C 17, only 6.8% of students chose the correct answer. The correct answer tephra is an Earth Science II term. Geology 12 Examination -2- June 2003 Report to Schools

3 Written-Response The following table provides the topic, cognitive level, maximum possible score, and mean score for each written-response question. Question Topic / Maximum Mean Question Topic / Maximum Mean Number Cognitive Possible Score Number Cognitive Possible Score Level Score Level Score 1. 1U U U U U U H H U H H H U U Raw Score Summary Multiple Choice Written Response Total Exam Maximum Possible Raw Score Maximum Achieved Score Mean Raw Score Standard Deviation Geology 12 Examination -3- June 2003 Report to Schools

4 Comments from the Markers Below are topic areas and skills in which students seemed to be well prepared (strengths) and those in which students need improvement (weaknesses) according to the examination markers. Unless otherwise stated, comments from the markers refer to the written response questions. Question No. Areas of Strength Areas of Weakness 1. A significant number of students made no attempt to answer the question. Students were unable to realize that the stream sand could have originated from the source of granite. A majority of students did not understand that the change in mineral percentages was a result of easily weathered and eroded minerals being removed by the water flow, leaving the other minerals behind. The fact that differences in properties of the minerals leads to differences in weathering was not well recognized. 2. Most students were able to relate the difference in crystal size to the difference in cooling rate. 3. Most students recognized the structure as being formed in a marine environment. Many responses cited ripple marks, and the few that referred to mud cracks explained well enough how the structure was formed. The map view of the dike was often mistaken for a side view of a sill. Some students thought that the zone of contact was a source of heat and pressure. There were students that believed points X and Y were within the zone of contact. Students identified the sedimentary structure by naming the rock. Students were not always clear that the water had to be moving. A few students identified the entire geologic map as a dome or basin. Some students thought that there was an original rock that was eroded to look like ripples, rather than sediments reshaped into ripples then solidified. Some students explained how the rock cracked by frost wedging. Geology 12 Examination -4- June 2003 Report to Schools

5 Question No. Areas of Strength Areas of Weakness 4a. Most students said swamp, bog, or Many students said forest, which tropical rainforest. doesn t imply wet, swamp like conditions. It was a common belief that plants and animals form coal. Many students read the graph to determine the environment. 4b. Some responses were outside the range. Poor use of units, for example, confusing km and m, or excluding units altogether. 4d. There was a good correlation with the metamorphic rocks. 4e. Many students correctly interpreted the cross-sections and utilized the scales. 4d. This part of the question was well answered. The students had no problems. 4. General Comments 5. Most students recognized the folding as a major event. 6. Most students recognized the shape of a decay curve and knew what half-life was. Rather than giving complete answers, the students tended to focus on only one part of the question. Graph reading was poorly done. Foliation was used instead of folding. Some students reversed the order of events. There were students that thought drill holes (vertical stripes in picture) were caused by glaciation! Students were not very precise when plotting the points. Some students had difficulty drawing a smooth curve through a set of points. Geology 12 Examination -5- June 2003 Report to Schools

6 Question No. Areas of Strength Areas of Weakness 7. The students seemed to have a pretty In part a), many students focused on good grasp of the conditions required for organism to be fossilized and the word living but usually came out with the correct answer despite this. why fossils are unlikely to be found In part b), most students said the fossil once formed. would be buried deeply, which is a fine answer, but it would have been nice to see the idea of the rock cycle destroying the fossils as well. 8. The two main reasons that were commonly identified were friction and weight. The students could clearly describe how water separates grain bonds by chemical weathering and that drawing out water reduces this. 9. Students knew the correct sequence of deposition and they knew about sorting processes. 10a. Most students understood quality vs. quantity. In general, the students were aware of pollution and contamination problems. 10b. The students were aware of water supply concerns. Incomplete answers were common: i.e. decreased porosity, reduced pressure, or more compact, with no elaboration on these points. Generally, answers were poorly worded, with little explanation. The fact that the bed load stops but doesn t drop was not clearly stated. Responses did not clearly indicate that the dissolved load stays dissolved and does not settle. Answers tended to be too general, i.e. pollution. It appeared that a number of students did not know the difference between or the definitions of: ground water, aquifers, and reservoir. Pollution of ground, air or water in general may not pollute groundwater. Leaching and filtering were often misunderstood. Again, answers were too general or repetitive, i.e. listed washing and showering as separate answers. Some students misread the question as how to solve the problem in part a). Pollution was sometimes given as an answer for quantity. Geology 12 Examination -6- June 2003 Report to Schools

7 Question No. Areas of Strength Areas of Weakness 11. Overall, the students understood the There was some confusion between the boundary types that occur at each feature. formation of shields and composite volcanoes. Frequently, instead of describing how a feature had formed, students would simply list the boundary type. 12b. Students had a good understanding of stability of bedrock vs. deltaic sediments. 12c. Students had a poor conception of what a hazard is. There was a tendency to give an explanation of the results of a hazard, and not a description of the hazard itself. Students often gave incomplete and careless answers. 12d. Good explanations of preparation for hazards were given. 13. The students did a good job of connecting contacts from cross section to map. 14. Stronger students were able to list a feature, put it in context and write a good description. Many students gave emergency preparedness as the preparation. A number of students gave impractical preparations such as moving the city or driving piles into bedrock 5km below! Some students had difficulty drawing the map. There were students that did not know what strike-dip was, or which layer would be the youngest. Some students referred to the data table but didn t follow it up with a good interpretation. The markers felt that the overall difficulty level of the exam was appropriate. The examination adequately represented the Examination Specifications in terms of topic weightings and cognitive levels. Geology 12 Examination -7- June 2003 Report to Schools

8 Geology 12 Examination -8- June 2003 Report to Schools