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Ten Lessons Learned in 10+ Years as an AP Statistics Exam Reader

This resource provides ten valuable lessons learned by Daren Starnes, an experienced AP Statistics Exam Reader, including tips for test-taking, the wise use of technology, the 4-step inference process, and more.

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Ten Lessons Learned in 10+ Years as an AP Statistics Exam Reader

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  1. Ten Lessons Learned in 10+ Years as an AP Statistics Exam Reader Daren Starnes The Lawrenceville School dstarnes@lawrenceville.org BFW Publishers May 3, 2011

  2. #10: Be a smart test taker! • General • Get a good night’s sleep • Eat a healthy lunch • Multiple choice section • Answer all the questions (no guessing penalty) • Cover up answers while reading the stem • Free response section • Don’t run out of time before Question 6!! • Start with questions you feel confident about • Use bullets and outlines rather than complete sentences whenever possible

  3. #9: Use technology wisely • Don’t type in data just because it’s there! • On inference questions, use STAT TESTS, but…show formulas with values subbed in for partial credit • Calculator speak = no full credit (1) Binompdf(12,.2,3) = no full credit Better: P(X = 3) = (12C3)(0.2)3(0.8)9 OK: binompdf with n = 12, p = .2, k = 3 (2) Normalcdf(90,105,100,5) = no full credit Better: draw, label, shade Normal curve OK: normalcdf with low bound = 90, high bound = 1-5, mean = 100, std. dev. = 5

  4. #8: Follow the 4-step inference process Starting in 2010, partial credit is available on 4-step rubrics.

  5. #8: Follow the 4-step inference process 2010 Question #5: Fish tales Remember: Don’t just start typing in the data unless you have a reason to do so!!

  6. #8: Follow the 4-step inference process 2010 Question #5: Fish tales

  7. #8: Follow the 4-step inference process 2010 Question #5: Fish tales

  8. #7: Know your inference methods

  9. #7: Know your inference methods A helpful resource

  10. #6: Don’t shoot yourself in the foot! • Misuse of term or notation  mandatory deduction • Putting statistics instead of parameters in hypotheses • Saying there’s confounding when there isn’t • Using experiment language in an observational study Blocking vs. stratified sampling; experiment vs. survey • Advice: • Only use terms and symbols you know • It’s better to explain in your own words than to use a term incorrectly • If you’re unsure about notation, use words instead of symbols

  11. #5: Naked answer = no credit Directions: Show all your work. Indicate clearly the methods you use, because you will be graded on the correctness of your methods as well as on the accuracy and completeness of your results and explanations. 2009, Question #2

  12. #5: Naked answer = no credit 2009, Question #2(a): 70th percentile of stopping distances

  13. #5: Naked answer = no credit 2009, Question #2(b): P(at least 2 out of 5 stop)

  14. #5: Naked answer = no credit 2009, Question #2(c): P(mean at least 130 feet)

  15. #4: If you can’t answer part of a question, don’t assume you can’t answer other parts 2010 Question #4 If needed, make up a reasonable answer for the part you can’t answer…

  16. #3: Know what distribution you’re talking about! 2010 Question #2 • Distribution of sample data (lengths of 40 songs) • Population distribution (lengths of all rock-and-roll songs the station plays) • Sampling distribution of statistic (e.g. sample mean song length)

  17. #3: Know what distribution you’re talking about! 2010 Question #2

  18. #2: Don’t write too much • Answer the question, then shut up! • Space provided is more than enough • Remember the mandatory deduction rule

  19. #1:RTQ & ATQ!! 2008 AP Exam, Free Response Question 1 To determine the amount of sugar in a typical serving of breakfast cereal, a student randomly selected 60 boxes of different types of cereal from the shelves of a large grocery store. The student noticed that the side panels of some of the cereal boxes showed sugar content based on one-cup servings, while others showed sugar content based on three-quarter-cup servings. Many of the cereal boxes with side panels that showed three-quarter-cup servings were ones that appealed to young children, and the student wondered whether there might be some difference in the sugar content of the cereals that showed different-size servings on their side panels.

  20. #1:RTQ & ATQ!! 2008 AP Exam, Free Response Question 1 To investigate the question, the data were separated into two groups. One group consisted of 29 cereals that showed one-cup serving sizes; the other group consisted of 31 cereals that showed three-quarter-cup serving sizes. The boxplots display sugar content (in grams) per serving of the cereals for each of the two serving sizes.

  21. #1:RTQ & ATQ!! 2008 AP Exam, Free Response Question 1 (a) Write a few sentences to compare the distributions of sugar content per serving for the two serving sizes of cereals.

  22. Ten Lessons Learned: Recap #10: Be a smart test taker! #9: Use technology wisely #8: Follow the 4-step inference process #7: Know your inference methods #6: Don’t shoot yourself in the foot! #5: Naked answer = no credit #4: If you can’t answer part of a question, don’t assume you can’t answer other parts #3: Know what distribution you’re talking about! #2: Don’t write too much! #1:RTQ & ATQ!!

  23. Questions? Email me: dstarnes@lawrenceville.org

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