Tips for Success on Examinations
Throughout the
Semester
Laying the foundations
for success occurs weeks before taking the examination. Indeed, if examinations
merely measured how much information you could cram into your brain the night
before, professors would have long since abandoned tests as a useful measurement
of what you had learned over the preceding weeks.
Think of preparing
for an examination in the same way you would think of building a house. You
must plan in advance before laying the foundations and building upward. It's
a gradual process that takes time and ability. It's not like filling a car with
gas or pounding a beer—activities that require no forethought, a minute
amount of skill, and little time.
- Do the reading.
Think about the reading. Take notes on the reading. No matter how intelligent
you are, you need to read. If you do not read, you will remain ignorant, and
even the greatest intelligence cannot overcome ignorance.
- Take thorough,
clear, and well-organized notes throughout the semester. You will have to
refer to these while you study.
- Look for the
big picture. Think about how the lectures, discussions, and readings relate
to one another. How does one event in a lecture contribute to the origins
of another event in a different lecture? To what kind of themes and ideas
does the professor keep returning? If you don't understand what's going on,
talk to the professor.
Studying
High school teachers
and college professors never spend much time explaining exactly what they mean
by the word "studying." Consequently, most students don't really know
how to spend the last few days before an examination. After placing their notebook,
the class handouts, the coursepack, and the textbook on a desk, they begin to
a) cry
b) clean their room, do the laundry, run errands . . .
c) calculate their worst-case scenario GPA
d) wonder if Bill Gates or Paul Allen needed to know anything about history
e) get the van ready so they can leave college and follow the Phish tour
It doesn't have
to be that way. Take control of your destiny and master the situation! Studying
for an examination requires time, care, and thought. Studying is about reviewing,
thinking, and then memorizing.
- Look over your
notes from the class and the readings. Try to find patterns and put together
the big picture. How do different parts of the course relate to one another?
- Don't try to
study everything. Figure out what is significant and understand it thoroughly.
Ignore the insignificant. This is the most important and difficult step to
take.
- Develop a framework
that helps you understand the relationship between important events, institutions,
practices, movements, and developments that have played a prominent role in
the course.
- Ask yourself
what kinds of questions the professor would put on the examination. Write
outlines of answers to these questions. Be as thorough and precise in your
answers as you possibly can. The actual question might not look exactly the
way you thought it would, but if you've given some serious thought to the
issues involved, you will still do well.
- Memorize your
outlines of these answers. As you do so, take pains to memorize the specific
facts and points that support your outline.
- Find a quiet,
peaceful place to review, think, and memorize. Leave the TV, the discman,
and the stereo off. Believe it or not, noise and moving pictures will impair
your ability to concentrate.
- Get some sleep
the night before!
As you can see,
these tasks require more than just a couple of hours. They also demand that
you use your grey matter. To do the job right, you probably ought to break up
this work into pieces over the course of several days.
During the Examination
By the time you've sat
in your desk and opened the bluebook, there isn't really much you can do to
enhance your performance (legally). Nevertheless, the following suggestions
might help.
- Read the question
carefully. The question may have several parts—read all of them.
- Spend some
time thinking about the question. Let it sink in.
- Make sure you
answer the question asked. Try to provide as thorough and detailed an answer
as possible. Remember to think.
- Write an outline
to which you can refer. Such a device will allow you to provide a clear and
methodical answer to the question.
- Start your
essay with a thesis statement that directly addresses the question. Don't
just turn the question into a statement—a thesis statement ought to show
more thought, analytical ability, and intelligence.
- Do not provide
a simple narration of events. In other words, don't just describe what happened.
Indeed, a question will never ask you "what happened?" In all likelihood,
it will ask you "why did it happen?" "how did it happen?"
or "how is this different from that?" Your answer will require some
sort of analysis.
- Try to be as
specific as possible. I will draw and quarter people who make such vague assertions
as, "The people fought for their rights." Which people? What rights?
Why did they fight? How did they fight?
- Budget your
time wisely.
- Write legibly.
Back
to Examinations
Copyrighted
by Hugh Dubrulle, 2002
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