©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Study Skills Topic 13 Preparing & Taking Exams PowerPoint by JoAnn Yaworski

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Studying for Exams  Preparing for Exams  Taking Objective Exams  Taking Essay Exams

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Finding Out about the Test  What skills does the test measure?  What types of questions are included?  How many questions will be on the exam?  Are there any time limits?  How will the test be scored?  Will it be essay, take-home, or objective?

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Organizing Your Time  Review at least one week in advance.  Make a list of all chapters, notes, and instructor’s handouts and divide the material by topics.  Plan a specific time to review each topic.  Reserve time the night before to do a complete review.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Will I Be Able to Learn From a Study Group?  Will a group study force me to become are involved with the course content?  Will discussing the material help me to learn?  Am I able to explain ideas to someone else?  Will I be able to prevent a study group from turning into a social event?  Will the people I choose to study with come to the group session prepared?

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Preparing for Exams  Attend the class before the review to receive additional information about the exam.  Attend review classes.  Determine what the exam will cover.  Condense course information into study sheets.  Use index cards.  Make up exam questions and answer them.  Review previous exams and quizzes.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Constructing Review Questions Include:  Knowledge and comprehension questions  Application Questions  Analysis questions  Synthesis questions  Evaluation questions

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. How to Prepare Study Sheets Summarize complex information such as:  Theories and principles.  Events with multiple causes and effects.  Controversial issues.  Philosophical issues.  Trends in ideas or data.  Groups of related facts.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. How to Test Yourself  Review each study sheet several times.  Ask questions at the various levels of thinking.  Mark information that you find difficult.  Predict which questions will be on the exam.  Verify your answers from the information in you text and notes.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Using Index Cards  You can write the names of terms, laws, principles, or concepts on the front of the card and facts/details on the back.  You can look at the front and try to recall what is on the back. Advantages of using index cards:  Writing helps you to learn.  Cards are more effective than lists of material.  You can sort or shuffle the cards to avoid memorizing information in a fixed order.  You can carry the cards with you and study them in spare moments.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Predicting Exam Questions  Look for major exam topics in your course syllabus or textbook’s table of contents and/or chapter divisions.  Group or categorize the information in your notes.  Look at previous exams for clues to important topics.  Make note of the instructor’s comments concerning the exam.  Predict possible essay questions and write out full answers in complete sentences.  Use key words to help you remember main ideas.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Preparing for Open-book & Take-home Exams  Create study sheets to organize your information.  Include both textbook and lecture notes.  Write page references from you textbook.  If there is only one question, your answer should be similar to a research paper.  Ask the instructor to clarify the length, format, and sources of the exam.

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Skills for Objective Exams  Pay close attention to the directions and follow them exactly.  Preview the exam and plan your time.  Answer every question if there are no penalties for incorrect responses.  Don’t change answers without a good reason.  Check over your answers before you turn in your exam.  On a true/false exam, qualifying words sometimes determine whether the statement is true or false.  Example: all, none, never, always, only

©2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. Answering Essay Questions  Analyze the question to make sure you understand what it is asking.  Identify the organizational pattern the question suggests (e.g., List four factors…; Summarize the techniques…; Compare and contrast…).  Write your key words for each question and construct an outline on a scrap piece of paper.  If a question has multiple parts, make sure to answer every part.  Write a clear thesis statement.  State and develop your main points.  Proofread your answer.

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