Resource 2.5 Preparing and Taking Exams

Assessment Tips

How to Prepare for Exams

HOW TO PREPARE FOR EXAMS

Complete and review all assignments.
Review the learning objectives; make sure you can accomplish them.
Be prepared to explain any key terms and concepts.
Review all the lessons, exercises, and study questions.
Review any feedback and/or comments on your assignments and previous exams; look up answers to any questions you missed.
Take the exam review, use the study guide (Links to an external site.)to help you self-evaluate your readiness and prepare for the exam.

Download the Exam Review and Study Guide (Links to an external site.)

Tips for taking Objective (Multiple-choice) Exams

What is an "objective examination?"

Objective means that there IS a right answer (or answers), and you either get things right or wrong. An example is a multiple-choice quiz or exam. This section is here to provide you with tips on how to take objective examinations, or "exams."

Many people worry about how to do well when taking objective examinations. What does What follows are some simple suggestions that should help you to do your best.

What do you do when you know the answer? Silly question, right? You mark it!

What do you do when you don’t know the answer? This is what you want to hear!

First, you need to remember that our quizzes and exams are based on the number of right answers out of the total possible. So you should answer every question, even if it’s a guess. There are four answer choices, so your odds when you guess are 1 in 4. That is, on average, you should get 1 out of every 4 guesses correct.
How do you narrow the odds, to make them more in your favor? If you are able to eliminate one or more of the answers as definitely wrong, you have done just that. When you are guessing which answer is correct out of 3, then you could get one-third of your guesses correct. When you are guessing between two, you could get half of them right.
What if you see an answer choice that you absolutely have never seen before? There is a very good chance it is a wrong answer, and you can eliminate it. Remember, you’ve read over and studied the material. Most of the time you will know if something doesn’t belong.
Does the answer make sense? A correct answer always makes sense. Incorrect choices may, or may not. So if a choice does not make sense in relation to the question, it is probably a wrong answer.
Do not spend a lot of time on a question that is giving you trouble. Move on, and come back to it later. Many times, you will find something in a later question or answer choice that helps you to select the answer to a question you skipped over. This is known as making the test work FOR YOU.
Above all, relax! You have been over the material. It is all in your head. Just take a deep breath and go at it. YOU CAN DO IT!

Many students develop their own tricks to help themselves on objective tests. What you see above can assist you. But you may also rely on whatever works for you.

Tips for taking Essay Exams

What!? I’m going to have to write!?

It is not unusual for people to be nervous about taking an essay exam. You will have to decide what the question means, search through the memory banks of your brain, recall information that relates to the question, and then write something that is well organized and clear. What follows are some tips that just might make this process a little less scary.

Let’s start with an essay question.

An essay question may be fairly short, perhaps only one paragraph. They may also be longer, requiring several paragraphs to answer. No matter how short, or long, the essay needs to be, the process is the same. As an example, we’ll use a topic that is “medium.”

The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President. This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win election. Agree or disagree.

Great! Now what?

This may seem pretty long. But you need to remember that you do not have to deal with everything in the statement. The first thing you need to do is identify what you have to answer, and what you can ignore. The question statement is reproduced below, with the parts you have to consider highlighted.

The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President. This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win the election. Agree or disagree.

While everything else in the question is relevant to the topic, you are being asked to support the Electoral College system (indirect election) or the popular vote (direct election).

Next?

Write down a brief outline of what you need to do. It would be best if you did this in order.

Introduction: State your position. Do you agree or disagree. Give a preview of why you have chosen your position.
Body Paragraph: Explain your first reason for your position. You might also want to state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Body Paragraph: Explain your second reason for your position. Again, you could state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Body Paragraph: Explain your third reason, if you have one, along with why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Conclusion: Restate your reasons for your position. This is when you drive your arguments home.

What are we saying here?

There is a very simple way to look at essay writing. No matter if the essay is one paragraph, or five, or ten. You do the same three things.

Tell the readers what you are going to tell them (introduction).
Tell them (body).
Tell the readers what you told them (conclusion).

And in conclusion….

This process can be very helpful. You need to remember: you are probably not going to be expected to respond to every word in the essay topic. That’s why it’s important to identify what you need to consider. While essays from different classes will look different, the approach to them is pretty much the same. You can even practice this skill on your own, creating topics on things with which you are familiar. The more you practice, the easier it becomes.

Good luck!