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Artist's depiction of an exoplanetary system, SSC Astronomy 141:
Life in the Universe
Prof. Richard Pogge, MTWThF 12:30

In-Class Quizzes, Study Guides & Results

In-Class Quizzes Schedule

There will be four in-class quizzes in addition to the Final Exam. The schedule of quizzes is below. See the Course Syllabus for a description of the quizzes and the course grading and makeup policy.
In-Class Quiz 1: Friday, January 20
In-Class Quiz 2: Friday, February 3
In-Class Quiz 3: Friday, February 17
In-Class Quiz 4: Friday, March 2

Final Exam: Tuesday, March 13, 11:30-1:18

All in-class quizzes are held at the normal class time, 12:30-1:18 in 0020 Page Hall. You will have the entire class time to take the quizzes. The Final Exam is in the same classroom, but it is at an earlier time (11:30am) and will last two class periods.


Quiz Study Guides

The study guides list the topics that will be covered by each of the four in-class quizzes and the last weeks of class following Quiz 4. Taken together they constitute the study guide for the Final Exam, so no separate final exam study guide needs to be provided.
Quiz 1 Study Guide [Printer Friendly Version]
Quiz 2 Study Guide [Printer Friendly Version]
Quiz 3 Study Guide [Printer Friendly Version]
Quiz 4 Study Guide [Printer Friendly Version]

End-of-Quarter Study Guide [Printer Friendly Version]

How do you use these study guides? See How To Study for the Quizzes, which is some general advice that past students of mine have found useful.


Quiz Results

Below are statistical summaries of the results of the in-class quizzes, and copies of the grade histograms. Letter grade ranges are not divided into +/- grade boundaries (although +/- grades will be computed and reckoned as part of the final grading). In general, the top quarter of each range is +, and the bottom quarter is -, but this can vary a little from quiz-to-quiz.

Federal Law requires that all individual students records be kept confidential, and as such individual test scores are not available electronically or by phone. Please see the professor or the TA in-person to retrieve your quiz and score sheets and so learn your grade. Your grades will also be available on Carmen.

For those of you wondering what all of the numbers mean, how the divisions among scores was derived, and how your grade is actually computed, see these additional pages:


Quiz 1: Friday, January 20

50 Questions, multiple-choice
Statistics [Raw (Percent out of 50)]:
Mean: 38.27 (76.54%)
Median: 40 (80%)
Spread: 6.83 (13.7%)

Grade Cutoffs [Raw (Percent out of 50)]
A: 43-50 (86-100%)
B: 37-42 (74-84%)
C: 31-36 (62-72%)
D: 26-30 (52-60%)
E: 0-25 (0-50%)

Grade Curve Plot
The red arrow shows the median score and the green arrow shows the mean score. Note that 1 question is worth 2% points.

Quiz 2: Friday, February 3

49 Questions, multiple-choice, 1 question dropped (computer oops)
Statistics [Raw (Percent out of 49)]:
Mean: 38.83 (79.24%)
Median: 40 (81.6%)
Spread: 5.67 (11.6%)

Grade Cutoffs [Raw (Percent out of 49)]
A: 43-49 (87-100%)
B: 37-42 (75-86%)
C: 31-36 (63-73%)
D: 26-30 (53-61%)
E: 0-25 (0-51%)

Grade Curve Plot
The red arrow indicates the median score. Note that 1 question is worth 2.04% because I dropped the question that was misprinted when the test was generated, so the percent score is out of 49 points instead of 50.

Quiz 3: Friday, February 17

50 Questions, multiple-choice
Statistics [Raw (Percent out of 50)]:
Mean: 36.48 (72.96%)
Median: 37.5 (75%)
Spread: 6.55 (13.1%)

Grade Cutoffs [Raw (Percent out of 50)]
A: 42-50 (84-100%)
B: 36-41 (72-82%)
C: 30-35 (60-70%)
D: 25-29 (50-58%)
E: 0-24 (0-48%)

Grade Curve Plot
The red arrow indicates the median score, the green arrow indicates the mean score. One question is worth 2%.

Quiz 4: Friday, March 2

50 Questions, multiple-choice

Statistics [Raw (Percent out of 50)]:
Mean: 35.77 (71.54%)
Median: 37 (74%)
Spread: 7.07 (14.14%)

Grade Cutoffs [Raw (Percent out of 50)]
A: 42-50 (84-100%)
B: 36-41 (72-82%)
C: 30-35 (60-70%)
D: 25-29 (50-58%)
E: 0-24 (0-48%)

Grade Curve Plot
The red arrow indicates the median score, green indicates the mean. One question is worth 2%.

Legal Statement

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) prohibits me from posting any individual's results to the web. Instead, you will need to pick up your quiz results in-person after class during the week following them quiz. Graded tests will be brought to class every day for the week after, starting on Tuesday, and then will only be available by request during office hours, or during the following in-class quiz.


Return to: Astronomy 141 Homepage
Updated: 2012 March 3
Copyright © Richard W. Pogge, All Rights Reserved.