Chemistry Exam Confusion

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I need some pointers as to where I can do better on my Chemistry exams.

I just don't understand where I'm going wrong. 3 exams I have taken now and I can't do better than an 80. Just this last exam last week I got a 76 but only because I got 10 points extra credit for voting in the prez election, which means I really got a 66. The most frustrating part about this is I got high A+s on both quizzes on the chapters covered on the exam!

How the heck did I get two As on the quizzes but bomb the exam?? This keeps happening, and it's weird because he allows us one page of notes as a "cheat sheet" for the exams and I still don't do well. I pulled all my cheat sheet info from the quizzes I got As on, power points, and the book. I didn't even get a cheat sheet for the quizzes and I did very well.

Help??

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Hey, I am in Tucson too, r u going to Pima? Have you asked the teacher to reccommend a tutor? I think hearing the material again from a different person helps....

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Hey, I am in Tucson too, r u going to Pima? Have you asked the teacher to reccommend a tutor? I think hearing the material again from a different person helps....

Yes, I am going to Pima. This class is at the DV campus. :)

I do have a tutor of sorts already. (my husband is a PhD Analytical Chemist :D)

Maybe I need to work with him more? My teacher isn't very good :( I am just stumped as to how I'm not doing well on the material in exam form when in quiz form I rock it.

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If u r doing well on quizzes but not on test then I think u have a mental block around tests in general. R U stressed about the tests and not studying well? Think about changing your study habits to see if that helps. Flash cards, cramming sessions, doing all the questions from the chapters instead of just what the teacher assigns, just changing the time of day when you study may help. I have a lot of people in my class that just totally stress about test, I mean they just harp on and on about how they think they are going to bomb and I know they know the material....They are just psyching themselves out before each test. R U doing that?

My chem teacher is ok, he knows a lot about chem but his teaching style is too laid back for me. Thank goodness there is only 1 chem requirement, I prefer bio anyway.

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Nope, no test anxiety here. I don't get it.:crying2:

Who's your instructor? PM if you don't want to say, maybe we have the same one?

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marshall at northwest

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Oh, ok. I have Kidd at Desert Vista. Bleh. You're right, at least it's only one class, I prefer Bio as well.

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Are you able to look at your tests and see where he has marked you wrong? If your prof. isn't passing back tests to the whole class, I would request that you get to see yours, if nothing else so you know where you need to improve for the final. Also, was it that you truly didn't understand what you were doing, or is he nit picking points away? Maybe you are transposing numbers in calculations, not putting a unit at the end of your answer (g, mg, mol, etc.), wrong significant figures, etc. I am just throwing out things that my professor might mark points off for.

I hope you get it figured out. Chemistry is hard enough on its own without having to fight for every single point.

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I have a tendency to make stupid math errors, like doing the wrong operations (seeing a dividing sign, knowing I need to divide, and then subtracting instead). Do you take the time to recheck your calculations?

Definitely meet with the professor- you're not grade grubbing, you honestly want to know how to do better! Once you know where you are going wrong you know what you can do to fix it. In my case I just make sure to do the math slowly and methodically and to go through and check things (and recheck if there is still time).

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It wasn't a problem with the math. I got the test back and the things I got wrong seemed to be things he didn't go over in class or in his notes, and also not in the quizzes so I didn't know them.

:madface:

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It wasn't a problem with the math. I got the test back and the things I got wrong seemed to be things he didn't go over in class or in his notes, and also not in the quizzes so I didn't know them.

:madface:

If that's the case, that is unfair of him. But be that as it may, you'll have to adapt to his testing style. Can you determine if the questions were at least in the textbook? If that's the case, then you know you have to read, study and outline (or make flashcards of) entire chapters of the book and not just depend on his notes or lectures. If the questions were *not* in the textbook, not in his notes or lectures and not on quizzes, that's just not fair. Unless they were the kind of question that asks you to take what you DO know and apply it in new ways. Still, under time pressure, that can be a rough kind of test.

Sorry you're having this problem!

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