I'm scheduled to take this test on Wednesday. I've read the book by Weeks, but is there any area I should be paying close attention to? Has any taken this test? Thanks, Mark
World Population is a very easy test, I did not read any book, I downloaded the pdf and went to google.com, searched for the few terms I knew I needed reviewing, just a couple hours, and passed with A. Pay attention mostly to terms and definitions, and especially to measures of fertility and their meaning, and lastly, current and future poplation trends and stats.
I looked at the sample questions and the course appears to be a close relative of the Dick and Jane English courses for engineers. As an Arts student my English skills were OK but science tended to be a problem. For my lab science we sat around and rapped about ecology. For my senior science we had a junior high science course nicknamed "Jolly Rockets." At my wife's school it was nicknamed "Rocks and Stars." These courses serve two purposes. They make for a well rounded student and determine whether he has a pulse. Not every course has to be difficult.
According to the Pass rates... According to the Pass Rates listed in a military site, this exam IS rather easy--bear in mind that the subject population for these stats are the US military. The source for these numbers is http://www.voled.doded.mil/dantes/exam/index.htm Type Title Score Credits Volume Pass Rate ECE World Population C 3/U 915 81% (ranked 7th easiest) --Orson
gmohdez gives the correct advice. Ensure you understand the meaning of common demographic terms and the differences between terms, such as "birth rate" and "fertility rate", "crude birth rate", "total fertility rate", etc. Understand the differences in the population age distributions of developed and underdeveloped nations. Otherwise apply common sense - in general poorer nations - high birth rate - high death rate - pyramid shaped distribution. Rich nations low birth rate - low death rate - longer life spans - population distribution skews top heavy - more old people - bulges in the middle or is like inverted pyramid. Underdeveloped nations still show marked population growth. Developed nations show little or no population growth, or declining population (exception - USA where immigration and immigrant birth rates high, maintaining population expansion). Questions about largest populations - China, India - projections indicate India overtaking China by 2050. Limiting factors to population growth - famine, disease (AIDS - particularly its effect in Africa), affluence. Pay attention to the practice exam content outline. Reference - use CIA world fact book - available free on the internet. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ If you have not already done so, do the ECE practice exam for World Population. There are, if I remember correctly, 25 or so questions. Your score on this mock exam will be a useful proxy for your performance in the actual exam. The actual exam had, as I remember it, 120 questions, though the exam book suggests there are 160 questions, I don't remember it that way. A direct link to exam PDF file is available on the main menu of my web site (see bottom of this note) under the heading ECE PRACTICE EXAMS, subheading, "World Population". Of the 14 CLEP, 10 DANTES, 13 ECE, and 2 GRE exams I passed over the course of two bachelor's degrees, the ECE World Population was the easiest. However, one note on pass rates - as I remember it the DANTES statistics for ECE exam pass rates are generally higher than for CLEP or DANTES (DSST) exams. This I think is likely due to the much higher motivation and caliber of the average ECE test candidate, rather than any significant inherent ease in the ECE exams relative to the CLEP or DSST exams. Lawrie Miller BA in 4 Weeks - a non commercial resource for adult learners http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks/ .
Thanks everybody, I took this in May... ...and did receive an A, however it didn't seem as easy as I expected. Lawrie I've loved going to your site. It's really helped me get off my butt and finish. I'm down to 3 units and if I can get Excelsior to answer my emails and update my status reports, I'll finish up this month.
Re: Thanks everybody, I took this in May... But you scored the "A", nevertheless. Congratulations. Cool! Hope you will let us know when you have completed requirements and submitted the paperwork for degree conferral. A brief rundown at that time of your experience would inspire many, I am sure. You're nearly there - outstanding. Lawrie Miller BA in 4 Weeks http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks/ .
Lawrie, I must echo the sentiment. I have referred many a person to your site as well...nicely done! Thanks!