1. Writing examination answers FMS MRes Dr Helen Webster Writing Development Centre

2. Your questions? On a post-it note, write down your question about writing for exams ?

3. Today’s session:  What exams really test  Implications for revision:  Revising for memory  Revising for understanding  In the exam:  Time management  Question analysis  Quick planning and structure  Writing and editing  Checking  After the exam

4. What exams really assess

5. What examiners want:  We want you to pass and show your best We want to give you marks. We want to see what you know, not what you don’t know We have realistic expectations of what can be done in an exam We want you to answer the question we set you We’re not trying to catch you out We want to be fair and unbiased

6. What do exams test? Bloom’s Taxonomy Knowledge Understanding Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

7. 7 Coursework writing vs exam writing: Working knowledge 7

8. Marking Criteria

9. Implications for Revision

10. How do you revise? What are your own strategies for revision?

11. The Revision Process select break down Learn revisit test Practise apply synthesise Organise rework evaluate/select

12. “I can’t learn everything - How do I know what to revise?”  Module handbooks, etc: course aims and objectives.  Lecture notes : Listen for hints about what is core knowledge and what is there for illustration only.  Text books : Compare with lecture notes to establish the overlap; this is core knowledge.  Past papers : what would you need to know to answer the questions, and what depth would be reasonable for an exam answer?  Future papers: what kinds of questions can you imagine setting?

13. Revising for Knowledge: Memory Process:  Encoding  Storing  Retrieving Principles:  Chunking  Mnemonics  Testing  Repeating  Overlearning

14. Revising for Understanding: Active Learning  4 Essential principles:  Select and prioritise (your working knowledge!)  Reduce and expand  Apply material to questions, test your ability to explain it  Re-work material into another form  Text to bullet points, bullet points to mind-map, mindmap to index cards, index cards to table, table to voice recording, recording to diagram etc

15. Revising for higher skills: Past Papers  Practice using your knowledge and understanding with past papers  Make up your own questions using past papers as a template  http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/resources /exam-papers/

16. Revising for higher skills:  Apply it for different purposes, imagine different uses  Analyse it, break it down, see how parts relate to one another  Synthesise it with another source or topic  Evaluate it

17. Before the exam

18. In the Exam

19. The Very First Thing you must do!  Check the rubric:  Are you in the right exam?  How many questions do you have to do?  Do you have any choice out of the questions?  How many marks are they worth?  How long do you have?  How long should you allow  To read the whole paper and choose questions  To answer each question  To check your answers

21. Anatomy of an Exam Question Find the Focus and the Instruction as well as the Subject

22. Different types of assignment  The traditional essay question  OPEN: Why is a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold the most appropriate solution to a tissue engineering problem?  CLOSED: Do you agree that a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold is the most appropriate solution to a tissue engineering problem?  The traditional essay instruction  ‘Discuss the technical and medical barriers to employing stem cells in tissue engineering’.  The scaffolded instruction  Discuss the preparation of synthetic tissue engineering scaffolds using templating and non-templating approaches (50%). Describe, using examples, when using a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold might be a more appropriate solution to a tissue engineering problem (50%)

23. Instruction Words  Account for  Analyse  Assess  Compare and contrast  Comment on  Consider  Critique  Define  Describe  Discuss  Evaluate  Explain  Examine  Identify  Illustrate  Justify  Review  Show  Summarise  State

24. If you were the examiner… …What question would you set?  Devise a question suitable for testing a candidate’s working knowledge knowledge and higher skills in exam conditions  What would your marking criteria be?

25. Break the process down! The Writing Process:  Select your first question  Analyse the question  Decide how to approach the question  Decide what to include/what to leave out  Make a note of the main points  Decide how you will structure the answer  Write the answer  Content: Keep your answer closely focused  Style: Write clearly and concisely  Check your answer before submission

26. Planning and structure: longer questions 1.Quickly note down the content you think is relevant 2.Organise the order in which you will structure it 3.Write it up 4.Cross the notes out!

27. If you were sitting the exam… …what would your answer to your own question be? Create a plan for an answer to your own exam question

28. The Introduction: Your reader’s perspective  What are you doing?  Why are you doing this?  How will you do this?

29. Plan The Introduction  What are you doing? How do you interpret the topic and the question? Context, background and definitions (what does your reader need explaining, before they can make sense of your essay?), any limitations.  Why are you doing this? Interpret the question (problematise, justify. Why is this question worth asking?  How will you do this? Signpost structure (How are you going to answer – in what order?) and methodology (which models and theories will you use?)

30. Conclusions: Q & A  What is biofilm? How do biofilms develop and what problems do they cause for the management of periodontitis?  Biofilm can be described as X, it is most likely to develop in this way, and these are the problems it causes because of these reasons.  ‘Contentious Quotation’ Discuss and critically evaluate this view.  The statement is largely untrue, for these reasons, but there is still some truth in it, for other reasons.

31. The Conclusion  Return to the broad overall perspective from the narrow detail of the main body  Revisit the question, your answer, and the main steps by which you reached it  Do not include new material  You could consider the wider implications and significance of your argument

32. Paragraphs and structure Self assessment can also develop skills which make a student more attractive to prospective employers. Employers value students with skills in self assessment because these types of skills are relevant to a wide range of employment contexts. They want graduates who can accurately assess their own competencies in performing tasks. Students who can do this are well placed to take on responsibilities and adapt readily to roles in work places. The value in developing these types of assessment can be seen to go beyond meeting immediate educational needs. Students who have developed an autonomous approach to learning are well set up for life-long learning which will continue throughout and beyond their working lives. Topic sentence: Introduction of the paragraph’s main idea Main body in which the initial assertion is developed and explained Conclusion to be drawn from the above points Signpost word

33. Microstructure: Paragraphs  ONE POINT per paragraph.  Use a TOPIC SENTENCE to show what the subject and purpose of the paragraph – this is basically your point. This first sentence is crucial.  Use SIGNPOST words to show your argument  DEVELOP the point (first sentence) in the body of the paragraph – details, examples, etc  CONCLUDE the paragraph

34. Signpost words - Types of link  A sequence of points (firstly, secondly, thirdly)*  To add more examples or details (moreover, furthermore, in addition, for example, for instance)*  To focus on specifics or to broaden and generalise (specifically, in particular, in general, for the most part)  To introduce a comparison or contrast, disagreement (similarly, likewise, in contrast, however, although, on the contrary)  To introduce reasoning (therefore, hence, thus. consequently)

35. Writing up and checking your answers  We don’t expect perfection in an exam!  Legibility, clarity, relevance are more important than style and strict accuracy  You might want to write on every other line or leave a margin for making edits  If you run out of time, jot notes and bullet points– you may get some marks for this  Build in time to check your answers at the end:  have you answered all the questions you need to?  Does your answer actually answer the question?  Do you want to add, change or cross anything out?

36. After the exam If you want to compare your experience with other people after the exam, don’t take it too seriously!

37. And finally… Do have a (happy) Christmas break!

38. The Writing Development Centre Robinson Library Please book appointments online: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc