Quizzes
What do the quizzes cover?
There are two kinds of quizzes in this course: Map Quizzes, and In-class Quizzes.
Map Quizzes
For the map quizzes, you will need to be able to identify all independent countries, their capital cities, and the physical features listed on this site. There will be five map quizzes during the semester, each for a different region (or combination of regions).
For each map quiz, I will give you a map (or maps) showing countries, capital cities, and selected physical features of the region. Your job will be to identify these various features. So, for example, on the map quiz covering Australia and the Pacific, you might be asked to identify a number of national capital cities (Wellington or Canberra, perhaps), a river (e.g. the Darling River), and a country (which might be Nauru, New Zealand, or any other independent country in the region. I won’t ask you to identify colonies or dependent territories, such as New Caledonia, a French dependency.) Nor will I ask you to identify the states or provinces that are part of an independent country so, for example, you won’t need to be able to identify Tasmania or New South Wales.) Similarly, in the quiz on North America I won’t ask you to identify Puerto Rico, Alaska, or Alberta.
I will not provide a list of names for you to choose from; you will need to remember them.
Independent countries are those labeled “A” in the Political Information Table in Goode’s World Atlas. National capital cities are also listed in the World Political Information Table in Goode’s. In National Geographic’s College Atlas of the World, independent countries are listed in the World Facts section (beginning on page 258); note that places listed as ‘Territories and areas of Special Status’ are not independent countries. If, after looking at either of these sources, you are still in doubt whether a territory is independent, check the CIA World Factbook, or the BBC Country Profiles pages.
If there is any conflict between the information in your atlas and information you find anywhere else, the atlas will prevail.
To find out which specific countries are included in each map quiz, check your textbook and the atlas. So, for example, the first quiz (on Europe and Russia) will cover all of the countries covered in the Europe and Russia chapters in de Blij, Muller, and Winkler Prins’s The World Today (Chapters 1 and 2.) The Americas quiz likewise includes all countries covered in the textbook chapters on North America, Middle America, and South America.
The five quizzes cover
- Europe and Russia (the countries included in the Europe and Russia chapters in the text.)
- The Americas (including islands)
- Africa (the whole continent, including North Africa and the island states)
- Asia (again, the whole continent)
- The Austral and Pacific Realms
The order in which the quizzes will take place will vary from semester to semester, so check the Course Calendar for details.
- To find out which physical features you need to know for the map quizzes, see the list at the bottom of this page.
- To find downloadable blank maps, visit the Geography Department website. For regions not covered by maps on the Geography site, I will use maps from the National Geographic Xpeditions site.
- For the dates of the map quizzes, please check the Course Calendar page on this site. Dates of map quizzes will not change even if we fall behind or get ahead of schedule.
In-class Quizzes
There will be three kinds of questions in these quizzes. All quizzes will be multiple-choice format.
News questions will cover the main stories from the region scheduled for discussion in class on the day of the quiz. By this, I mean the kind of story that would appear in the World News section of the New York Times, or on the front page of one of the regional sections listed in the black menu bar under the word ‘News’ on the BBC News website. A news question will cover only those stories appearing during the week preceding the quiz. So, for example, if a quiz is held on a Thursday, it will cover the news from the preceding Friday until the Wednesday before the quiz. A news quiz will not cover any news from the day the quiz is held. I won’t try to trip you up on the details of any news story, but I will ask questions designed to make sure that you are following major stories in the news.
Readings questions will cover the text and other assigned readings listed on the course calendar. Make sure that you read the regional text chapter before the day on which we are scheduled to begin our class discussion of that region. If we are scheduled to begin a discussion of Europe, for example, I might give you a quiz on the Europe chapter in the text on the day our discussion of Europe is scheduled to begin. I will never give you any notice of a Readings Quiz, so expect one at any time!
Geographic detective work questions will ask you to figure out the answer to a question using your understanding of geography and the information in the atlas. (So, for example, I might as you which city on a multiple choice list has a climate most similar to that of San Francisco.)
You will usually be allowed to use your atlas in in-class quizzes (but, for obvious reasons, not in map quizzes.)
VERY IMPORTANT. There are no make-ups for In-class or Map Quizzes unless you have a bona fide medical excuse or personal emergency. If you miss a quiz for any other reason, you will receive a score of zero for the quiz.
Study tips for map quizzes
One of the best ways to study for the quiz is to get yourself a black outline map of the region you are learning about, and, using your atlas as a guide, fill in the names of the countries, capital cities, and physical features you need to know. To help you study for the quizzes, you may download blank outline maps from National Geographic and the Geography Department web sites. I will use maps from both of these sources as base maps for the quizzes.
Memorizing maps is something that seems to come easily to some people, but not to others. This isn’t necessarily an indication of your intelligence or your aptitude for geography; it may simply be a result of the way you process information. In the past, students who have struggled with the map quizzes have come up with some suggestions that may help you. Here are a few:
- Start studying early. Preparing for the map quizzes takes a lot of work. There are over 50 countries in Africa, for example, as well as numerous physical features which you will need to be able to identify. If you wait until the day before the map quiz to start studying, you will have a hard time learning the material. But if you study, say, three countries a day for the two weeks preceding the quiz, your task will be a lot easier.
- Draw the map. This may sound crazy, but it works! Instead of studying by downloading the blank outline map and filling in the names of the countries, capitals, and physical features, try tracing the outlines of the countries onto a sheet of blank paper, then filling in the information. For some people, this little trick has produced miraculous results!
- Map games. Several web sites (such as this one) contain map games designed to help you learn country names, capitals, and physical features. You may find that they help you learn. A word of warning about these sites, though. Don’t assume that the information they provide is reliable or up-to-date. Goode’s World Atlas is the definitive source of information for this course, so if you use another source, verify information with the atlas.
Grading and returning of quizzes
I will do my best to grade quizzes quickly and get them back to you in as short a time as possible. You will identify yourself on your quiz using your Banner ID number, not your name. In this way, students’ anonymity will be preserved. (No Banner ID number = a score of zero.)
After the quizzes have been graded, I will enter your grades on Blackboard. I will then put all quizzes in a box outside my office, so that you can collect your quiz. I will leave quizzes there for two weeks from the date of the quiz. If you don’t pick up your quiz during this period, I will assume you don’t want it and I will recycle it. I strongly advise you to pick up your quiz, though, so that you can make sure that it has been properly graded and that the grade entered on Blackboard is correct.
If you object to your quiz being left in a publicly accessible place, please let me know and I will keep it for you in my office.
Donald N. Rallis
Associate Professor
