The final day of the 3 day workshop began with a look at the 2011 exam, my draft answers (since the rubrics have not yet officially been released by the College Board), and look at some notes from the reading. The notes from the reading proved to be very interesting, since the we had access to the latest updates from the CB on the new exam. We compared documents from June 2008 and much more recent, which tracked the discussions that have been taking place on the revised exam.
The questions from the 2011 exam provoked lots of detailed conversation, including the concern over some apparent grading inconsistencies.
Karen then showed as a super little demo/lab involving some old-fashioned flash bulbs and the calculation of the enthalpy of combustion of zirconium! Not something that is particularly common to say the least! Everyone was fascinated by it – great stuff.
We then tidied up Kinetics (the fourth of ‘The Big Five‘) with a look at the ’09 question that asked for a fractional rate, and the discussions made me think about the question in a new light! THAT’S what professional development is all about – the exchange of ideas.
We then moved on to the final topic in ‘The Big Five‘, Electrochemistry. Another simulation was on the table.
An early lunch was followed by a look at a Periodic Table activity and the deconstruction of the ’08 Practice Exam.
A three day workshop that I enjoyed immensely, and it’s my sincere hop that that attendees felt the same way, but also took away some tremendously useful stuff from the meeting.
Thanks to all for coming, and thanks to Andrea and Bob for facilitating – already looking forward to next year!
cftapchem2011 
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