What the exams cover

There are two exams in this course, a mid-semester exam and a final. The first exam covers all material discussed in class and covered in the readings up to the class period preceding the exam. The second exam covers the material from the remainder of the course.

There is, however, one exception to this rule. Conceptual material covered in the first part of the course may be included in the final exam. For example, the idea of latitude and longitude are covered in the first part of the semester, but I will assume that you understand and can use map coordinates for the purposes of the final exam.

Most of the questions in the exams will focus on your understanding of the ideas and principles you have learned you have learned in class and from the text, rather than questions which simply test your knowledge of factual details. In putting together exam questions, however, I will assume that you have read and are familiar with the material in the textbook, whether or not we have covered it in class. Usually, 10 - 20 percent of the material in the exam will be taken solely from the text (which means that you probably won't be able to answer these questions unless you are familiar with the material in the text.)

Exams may either by in-class or on Blackboard. Please bear in mind that you may use your atlas in the exam, so be sure to bring it with you to an in-class exam. Blackboard administered exams will be open book, but you may not discuss the questions with anyone else in the class.

A good way to study for the exams is to look at these sample questions from previous exams (Please note that in past years, there was a different textbook for the course, so some of the questions listed here might cover materials not in the current text. So please regard these as examples of the kind of questions you might find on the exam rather than a list of study questions.) Another excellent way to study is to look over the questions from quizzes. They are usually very similar to the kind of questions you will find on exams.

You can find out more about the exams on the FAQ page on this site.

Exam format

Unfortunately, because of the numbers of students enrolled in the course, both exams will usually consist entirely of multiple choice questions. This is an imperfect means of examining understanding, but it is the only means practical in a class of this size.

Exam materials

You may bring your Goode's World Atlas with you to in class exams, and I encourage you to make use of it. Please make sure that you don't have any notes written in your atlas: if you do, let me know ahead of time and I will arrange to lend you an atlas.

Exam dates

Check the course calendar for the date of the midterm exam, and the UMW exam dates page for the date of the final exam.

Grade breakdown

Exams will usually count half of the final grade in the course. Combined quiz scores will make up the other fifty percent.