Chemistry Grade 12 SCH4U: Throughout this course students will:

Problem solve: by developing, selecting, applying, and adapting a variety of problem-solving strategies

Reason and prove: by developing and applying reasoning skills to make mathematical conjectures, assess conjectures, and justify conclusions, plan and construct mathematical arguments;

Reflect: by monitoring their thinking to help clarify understanding as they complete an investigation or problem;

Select tools and computational strategies: by selecting and using a variety of concrete, visual, and electronic learning tools and computational strategies;

Connect: by relating mathematical ideas to situations or phenomena drawn from other contexts;

Represent: by making representations (e.g. Numeric, geometric, algebraic, graphical, pictorial and onscreen);

Communicate: by thinking orally, visually and in writing using precise mathematical vocabulary and conventions. Teachers will employ guided exploration, visuals, model analysis, direct instruction, problem posing and self-assessment to enable these student strategies.

Assessment is a systematic process of collecting information or evidence about a student’s progress towards meeting the learning expectations. Assessment is embedded in the instructional activities throughout a unit. The expectations for the assessment tasks are clearly articulated and the learning activity is planned to make that demonstration possible. This process of beginning with the end in mind helps to keep focus on the expectations of the course. The purpose of assessment is to gather the data or evidence and to provide meaningful feedback to the student about how to improve or sustain the performance in the course. Scaled criteria designed as rubrics are often used to help the student to recognize their level of achievement and to provide guidance on how to achieve the next level. Although assessment information can be gathered from a number of sources (the student himself, the student’s course mates, the teacher), evaluation is the responsibility of only the teacher. For evaluation is the process of making a judgment about the assessment information and determining the percentage grade or level.

Since the over-riding aim of this course is to help students use the language of mathematics skillfully, confidently and flexibly, a wide variety of instructional strategies are used to provide learning opportunities to accommodate a variety of learning styles, interests and ability levels.

The assessment will be based on the following processes that take place in the classroom:

The evaluation of this course is based on the four Ministry of Education achievement categories of knowledge and understanding (25%), thinking (25%), communication (25%), and application (25%). The evaluation for this course is based on the student’s achievement of curriculum expectations and the demonstrated skills required for effective learning.

The percentage grade represents the quality of the student’s overall achievement of the expectations for the course and reflects the corresponding level of achievement as described in the achievement chart for the discipline.

A credit is granted and recorded for this course if the student’s grade is 50% or higher. The final grade for this course will be determined as follows:

• 80% of the grade will be based upon evaluations conducted throughout the course. This portion of the grade will reflect the student’s most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration will be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
• 20% of the grade will be based on a final exam administered at the end of the course. The exam will contain a summary of information from the course and will consist of well−formulated multiple-choice questions. These will be evaluated using a checklist.