University of Waikato

Teaching and learning Development Unit

Te Waahanga Whakapakari Ako

Examinations performance strategies

1. Basic information . !"lti#choice $"estions %. &hort ans'er $"estions (. Exam essay $"estions ). *ro+lem solving $"estions

1. Basic information
a. Exams are usually three ho"rs long; b. Official university ans'er +ooklets are provided for you to write your answers in; c. Extra sheets of paper are also provided but you will need to put your hand up and ask for these. Use this extra paper to make rough notes and essay plans you can also use it to continue answers if you run out of space in your answer booklet; d. You will need to +ring a pen,s-; e. enerally you may not bring any other materials !dictionaries" books" electronic e#uipment etc.$ into an exam. Your lecturer will advise you if there are special materials you must or can bring; f. You must bring your st"dent .D card with you and place it on your desk; g. %f you miss an exam because of illness or any other reason" or you sit an exam feeling unwell and think your performance may be affected go immediately to the Assessment /ffice at 0ate'ay and talk to the staff about applying for special consideration; h. Your lect"rer 1 t"tors 'ill not +e present at the exam. Exams are supervised by people called invigilators. %f you are conf"sed a+o"t the meaning of a $"estion during the exam you may ask an invigilator to telephone the lecturer to clarify the meaning of the #uestion.

2 i. Before the exam make sure you know when and where the exam is. %f you are unfamiliar with the exam room make sure you know how to find it" where the parking & public transport is. 'etter still" actually go there" go inside. et a feel for the space.

. !"lti#choice $"estions
a. 2heck ho' m"ch time yo" have to ans'er the m"lti#choice section . (ow much time does that give you to answer each #uestion) Use this as a guide. b. 3ead the $"estion and try to ans'er it in yo"r head first * before you read the options. !+ip when you are thinking about the answer in your head put your hand over the options so you can,t see them.$ c. 3ead thro"gh the options and try to eliminate the ones that are not right . -ulti*choice #uestions usually have an answer that is obviously wrong" then two or three that are very similar. but be careful. Often you /oom into the keywords of an answer and think it is right but forget to look at the details which actually make it wrong. d. Do not str"ggle over a $"estion. if you cannot work out the answer #uickly" leave it and come back to it later. %f you take five minutes to answer one #uestion you may have got it right and got two marks but you could have used that time to get five other #uestions right and get ten marks. 0eave the hard ones and come back to them. e. Ans'er all the $"estions. %f you leave #uestions make sure you come back to them and put an answer in" even if you are unsure. %f you do not know what the answer is. guess. You may get lucky1one of the answers has to be right2 %f you do not put any answer down you have no chance of getting it right. f. When yo" check thro"gh yo"r paper and yo" think an ans'er is 'rong4 change it. Often you come back to the multi*choice at the end of an exam" to check the answers and fill gaps. Your brain is bu//ing and you have spent the best part of three hours thinking about the sub3ect. 4esearch has shown that students are three times more likely to change a wrong answer to a right one than to change a right answer to a wrong one.

%. &hort ans'er $"estions

a. &hort ans'ers are 3ust that. short answers. You will not have enough time to write much" so keep to the point. 5 short answer is usually two or three sentences" or a list. b. Your answers must incorporate the key points5 key 'ords5 ideas or phrases the marker is looking for. c. &tick to yo"r time sched"le. 6ork out how much time you have for each answer. d. *lan yo"r ans'er. +ake a few seconds to #uickly 3ot down notes" and then write. e. Ans'er the act"al $"estions given. 7o not 3ust write about the topic. f. 6eave one or t'o lines after each ans'er in case you remember something important later on. g. Try to ans'er all the $"estions. %f you leave a #uestion until later" make sure you return to it and attempt it. +here may have been information in the exam which 3ogged your memory about a short answer. h. .f yo" do not kno' the complete ans'er5 p"t do'n 'hat yo" kno'. %t is better to get one mark than no marks at all.

(. Exam essay $"estions

Time allocation a. 2hoose the $"estions you will answer during the reading time. b. 2heck ho' m"ch time yo" have to ans'er each $"estion. 8now when you have to stop. c. .f yo" have not finished yo"r ans'er5 7ot do'n the rest in note form. %t will show the marker what you know" and you may receive some marks for it. d. Do not go over yo"r allocation time. -ove on to the next #uestion. You can come back to it later in your 9: minute check at the end of the exam. On the day Analysis e. 4ead the #uestion caref"lly. f. (ighlight or underline the content 'ords. 6hat is the topic) g. (ighlight or underline the ver+s e.g. ;identify, describe" ;compare and contrast" ;evaluate. 6hat are you being asked to do with the topic) Planning h. 5llow yourself time to think. i. *lan yo"r ans'er. 7uring the first five to twenty minutes 3ot down on a spare piece of paper all the relevant points you can remember on all the essay #uestions you will answer. 3. /rganise these points into logical order by numbering or use alphabetising * a" b" c. k. 5s a general rule" one paragraph 8 one point" supported by examples" explanations" and evidence. 'egin the paragraph with a sentence that contains your key point l. Timing g"ide9 for <= minutes of writing allow five to seven minutes to plan; it is worth it * planning saves time.

5 Presentation m. !ake s"re yo"r 'riting is legi+le. 4emember" the marker will be marking many papers over a relatively short period of time. >he or he will not have time to decipher messy writing. !+ip * many of us now ;write, most of our work on a keyboard and are unused to writing with a pen for long periods of time. You may wish to practice writing with a pen for an hour or two at a time during the days before your exam.$ n. %n essays" 'rite in sentences and paragraphs . +hese should be linked in logical order. 5s a general rule" the marker will not be looking for wonderful prose; they will be looking for key points. o. .f yo" r"n o"t of time5 p"t the key points do'n in note form. %t is better to put it down in some form than not to put it down at all. p. Do not 'orry too m"ch a+o"t p"nct"ation5 grammar and spelling . You will waste valuable time if you agonise over a full stop or whether you have spelt something correctly. You can check these details at the end of the exam in your 9: minute check time" if you have time after filling in any gaps. #. Write so it makes sense. %f you do not use any punctuation and make many spelling mistakes" the marker will not be able to read it and you will lose marks. r. Do not 'affle" e.g. do not write out the #uestion at the beginning of your answer" or explain the origins of something when you are actually being asked to identify its main features. +his wastes time * yours and the markers. %f you plan your essay first" you will be less likely to waffle.

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). *ro+lem solving $"estions

a. 6rite down relevant form"las5 e$"ations and r"les b. ?learly sho' the steps you have taken in working out the answers c. %f necessary !and appropriate$ write some notes to explain yo"r ans'ers. d. :or n"merical pro+lems involving comp"tation5 make s"re yo" incl"de the appropriate "nits !e.g. ml. xm. m&sec etc.$ in your final answer!s$. Underline your final answer" as it will help with clarity. e. o through and solve the easier pro+lems first and return to the more difficult ones later.

Much of this material was sourced from http://owll.massey.ac.nz/testsandexams/examquestions and http://www.whitireia.ac.nz/documents/studyskills/ hapter!4"#n$he%ay. &

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