Writing Better Examinations
The technique of writing examinations is one which every student has to become proficient with in
order to be successful in a university career, and in business after graduation. From many years of
setting and marking examinations here are a few clues which may be of help to students. These
are mostly commonsense suggestions which, if followed, should make a considerable difference in
the final examination mark.
Before the examination
- Forget about cramming during the reading break, or the night before the examination. Your
brain cannot assimilate a lot of new material in a short period of time.
- Be prepared. Know the material in the course before you enter the examination. Good marks
are easier to obtain if you have confidence that you know the material on which you are being
examined. This means that you must study the textbook and class notes and ask questions in
class or tutorial throughout the term, if something is unclear.
- Try to explain the fundamentals of the subject to a classmate. If you do not understand the
principles, you can't explain them to someone else.
- Review the day's lectures at the end of each lecture day.
- Review the week's lectures at the end of each week.
- Review the lecture and lab material at the end of each month.
- Prepare for open or closed book examinations. It has been found that with proper preparation,
there is little difference in writing either type of examination. Where handbooks or codes are
required because of the need for complex formulae or material properties, the basic theory is
often available and does not need to be memorized, or be derivable from first principles. It is
necessary, though to know how to apply the theory correctly.
- For open book examinations determine if the instructor will allow additional written material to
be placed on the covers or blank pages of the textbook.
- In open book examinations use only the textbook that you are familiar with. If you rifle the
library for every book you can find on the subject, you will waste most of your valuable
examination time reading, and not writing.
In the examination:
It is important that you be in the correct frame of mind when writing examinations. Don't let
extraneous material or thoughts interfere with your concentration. Do everything to calm down
and get ready for the writing. If you know the material, you should be confident that you can
handle any problem given to you.
- During the time before the examination, write your name on the exam books and fill in all the
blank lines on the cover sheet. Write as neatly as possible. This is a means of calming your
nerves by being busy. Number the pages in the exam book. If you have time at the end of the
examination, provide an index to your solutions. The marker will be grateful for that.
- Read the entire exam before starting to write. Decide on the easiest problem to solve first and
leave the difficult ones to the end. Problems don't have to be solved in the order in which they
appear on the examination. Occasionally this examiner will place the very difficult problems
first on the exam paper, and the number of students who fall into the trap of starting the
examination with the hard or lengthy problem is remarkable. Nothing destroys a student's
confidence more than having trouble, and wasting time, on the very first problem of the
examination.
- Work neatly! Use a straightedge and an eraser and a soft pencil. The marker will not spend
much time trying to fathom what you had in mind if everything is disorganized.
- Proportion your time according to the marks given for each question in the examination. Ten
descriptive answers worth 10 marks will not justify spending 35 minutes of examination time.
If no marks are given for each question, ask the invigilator, or assume that the questions are of
equal value.
- Note any assumptions you make and justify them. Students who get lost in a problem will
often note, Assume the value of this function is so-and-so, when it is so-and-so that is
required. Such broad assumptions get no marks at all.
- In open book examinations it is futile to try to summarize theory which is contained in the
book you are using and expect to gain some marks. Anyone can copy from a book.
- When working on numerical questions which carry over from one page to another, be very
careful in transcribing numbers. This is a source of a large number of errors in structural
analysis problems.
- Review in your mind how you will solve the problem at hand. The logic of the solution should
be apparent to the marker. Keep the solution linear so that everything follows in a logical
straight line. Avoid jumping from left to right pages, or to pages ahead or back. While it may
be clear in your mind how the solution is progressing, the marker may not take the time to
follow your thinking and that will lead to poor marks.
- Be cautious in the use of a programmable calculator. Often a student will give an answer with
no intervening calculations. This may indicate to the marker that the answer has been guessed,
or a programmable calculator has been used. If the answer is correct, you will get the marks,
but if it is wrong, then zero will be the reward. It would be useful to show the marker the
logic of how you went about getting the answers, although detailed calculations are not
shown.
- Multiple choice tests can be scored to discourage guessing. Watch out for trick questions
which are confusing or unclear. Always ask the invigilator if you are uncertain about the
meaning of any question.
- Follow instructions given in the examination to the letter. Don't give more than what is
requested, nor less. This examiner is looking for some particular knowledge of the subject
material and he should get only what he asks for.
- If a particular method of solution is requested, don't give the examiner anything else. He has
his reasons for asking for that method.
- Don't ever be psyched out by an examination. If you are ready, and know the material for the
course and present it neatly and logically, you will be successful. The form of the exam is
irrelevant if you are prepared. Look upon the exam as a challenge.
- If you think that the final mark you received in the examination is not what you deserved, talk
to the instructor. Most professors are reasonable and will go over your paper. In the event
that you still feel that you would like a more formal evaluation of your final mark, apply to the
Registrar's office for a formal review of the mark. There will be a small fee for this service
which will be refunded if the mark is raised.
