ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, FORM M.B.
QUANTITATIVE Test . . . . . X Year.. . . . 1947 Parts. . . . 1-11 ~ ~ ~ . I :iR %W/4~ . II:$R - W/4) Score. . . . 120 Course. . . 1 sem. Schools.. . 7 Students.. 128
0
Y . 1950 1-11 I : R - W/4 II:Z(R - W/4) 120 1 sem.
G 1952 1-11 1:R - W/4 I I : W - W/4 120 1 sem. 1 sem.)
Reviewed b y
B. GONICK Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona
1.5
THIS test is intended for use as s. find examination for a. one semester course. Like the previous Form M, designed for the full year course, it contains 100 multiple-choice questions, but unlike Form M there is only one correct answer to each question. This is an improvement. The questionrr are grouped into two parts of equd length and difficulty. Either part may he used by itself, since each covers the entire course. More thorough sampling, however, is to he expected by use of the entire battery of one hundred items. The use of the entire test seems to be especially desirable for a subject as ramified as organic chemistry. It is also desirable because the use of a ~ m l l e rnumber of multiple-choice type of questions is less able to discriminate between the good student who can recognize the correct response among a limited number of presented alternatives and the superior student who can supply the correct answer without prompting. The questions are well thought out and well distributed over the range of subject mstter. Many of the items are quite penetrating, requiring the student to marshal all his knowledge of the particular area in order to come up with the correct choice. Some minor errors on the title page of the examination should he corrected in future printings. More serious is an error in the key. The holes for the last five items have been displaced about two inches upwards so that they do not fall on the right place on the answer sheet.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY, FORM L Reviewed b y SCOTT I. KITTSLEY Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
THIS examination
covers those topics ordinarily included in a. year's course in physical chemistry. The questions used were selected from those submitted by about 60 call~horators. All questions have been pretested in over 30 institutions to assess the difficulty and reliability of each. Tho examination is of the multiple ohoioe type. Relatively few questions me based on memory alone. Most involve reasoning and ingenuity to arrive a t the correct solution. Many of the more lengthy oalculations have been avoided either by having sample substitutions as alternatives or by asking only for the type of data needed for the solution. The necessity of using appropriate units is stressed. Most graphs and figures used will he found in d l standard textbooks but the questions posed are novel and challenging. Form L is superior to the old test on physical chemistry (Form W) in avoidance of possible ambiguities. The examirmtion is divided as follows: States of Matter and Solutions (25 minutes for 18 items); Thermodynamics, Equilibrium, and Electrochemistry (65 minutes for 29 items); Structure of Matter and Kinetics (20 minutes for 13 items). Thus, there are 60 questions to be answered in 110 minutes or an average of 1minute and 50 seconds far each. On the basis of the reviewer's experience it might he well to add 5 minutes each to Parts I1 and 111. The exam covers the material well and the rehtive emphasis on the various topics is in line with current practice. However, there are only two questions on solids, and one on colloids. Ionic equilibria might well receive better coverage. Although logarithm tables are provided a n the back of the test, the student would he wise to bring the recommended slide rule as a time saver. The reviewer suggests that the use of type symbols for A, 1, f =, and In would improve the format. The exam has been carefully checked and is practically free of errors. However, the discerning student will get a chuckle out of the reference to "discreet circular orbits."
0
GENERAL CHEMISTRY, FORM M Reviewed b y MORRIS M . OLDHAM U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
TEACHERS of general
chemistry everywhere will welcome this new test which follows the format of its immediate predecessor and consists of three parts: Recall of Information (20 minutes for 30 items); Application of Principles (50 minutes for 45 items); and Quantitative Application of Principles (35 minutes for 25 items). Dr. Wright and his 27-member subcommittee, together with the collaboration of 48 other general chemistry instructors, have made the test representative of what is taught in the course throughout the country. The questions are of the standard five-response, multiple choice type, with one correct response. Included are the favorite questions of many instructors. These questions were 6rst worked over by the subcommittee and the collsborstors before appearing in the Form M test. No student can get a good score on this examination using memory alone. The degree to which choice of answer depends upon analyticd thinking is very gratifying to note. This farm has now been given enough times to establish reliable norms. The test is thorough and of reasonable difficulty and should lend itself well to the purposes so capably ~ervedby its predecessors. A student taking Form M might well criticize the photooffset reproduction of ordinary pica typewritten copy in which the hand-drswn parts are not very expertly done, but after finishing it he should conclude that his knowledge of, and accomplishment in, general chemistry was well measured by the job he did on the examination. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
