Exam Preparation for Several Types of Exams Presentation Lesson1

Exam Preparation for Several Types of Exams Presentation Lesson

Tailoring these lessons: For exam preparation, each lesson will be tailored to the specific professor’s course. A professor might want you to teach general strategies, to have the students prepare for an upcoming exam, or learn tips for taking an exam.

You may also need to use lessons from other presentations for exam preparation, which might be memory strategies, using questions from notes, or learning new terms.

If the students are preparing for an upcoming test, you may want to focus on the tips for that particular test (such as multiple-choice) and just hand out the worksheet with the other tips for their future reference

Taking Several Types of Exams

1. Test-Taking Overview (3 Minutes)2. Taking the Multiple Choice Exam (5 Minutes)3. Taking the True/False Exam (5 Minutes)4. Taking the Essay Exam (20 Minutes)5. Taking a Math Exam (5 Minutes)6. Mock Exam* (varies)

Materials

Exam Taking Tips & Techniques Worksheet (for all students) Optional: Common Terms Used on Exams Worksheet Optional: Exercise on Taking an Essay Exam Worksheet (for essay test) Optional: Thesis Statement Examples (for essay test) Optional: Key Word Diagram and/or Idea/Outline Worksheet (for mock exam or for Exercise on

Taking an Exam focused on one topic Optional: Mock Exam Worksheet (to practice for an upcoming test)

*Homework: for the mock exam, students need a textbook, class notes and their syllabus from one of their courses

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Activity 1: Test –Taking Overview (3 Minutes)

1. Go over the Exam Taking Tips & Techniques Worksheet

a. You may want to read the tips aloud or have students take turns reading them aloud. Ask you students to raise their hand after each tip to signal if they already do the tip.

This is on the worksheet:

Be Prepared for the Exam

Get to know the material 2-3 days ahead of time Know what to expect (is the test covering a subject, chapters, or an essay?) Know what the professors’ grading requirements are (If you don’t know, ask) Know when you have an upcoming exam Practice, Practice, Practice the material!

Predict questions that might be on the test

Phrase notes as questions Use chapters titles and headings to create questions Test yourself

Take a Test

Write your name and read the directions Write down everything that you know you need to remember right when the test begins on

scrap paper or the test itself so that you are not worried about remembering everything during the test

Survey the test by looking it over. Map out how much time you have, identify possible challenges, and look for answers that may be in other questions

Answer the questions you know first because it helps you gain confidence Be mindful of clue words and trick words (and, or, both) and identify them

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Activity 2: Taking the Multiple Choice Exam (5 Minutes)

Purpose: To learn effective strategies for taking the multiple choice exam

1. Discussion of Taking Multiple Choice Exam (3 Minutes)

a. Question: How many of you have taken other multiple choice exams in your classes? What do you find most difficult about multiple choice exams? (Write difficulties on the board)

b. Hand out the worksheet Exam Taking Tips and Techniques. These tips will give you some pointers on taking multiple choice exams. Keep in mind that some of these tips are generalizations and may not work for all of you.

2. Review Tips & Techniques (5 Minutes)

a. Before you begin taking the test, look at the number of questions. If you have 50 minutes and 50 items, you have about 1 minute for each question. Some students find it helpful to mark the half way time and the half way question at the top of the exam to help them keep track of the time.

b. Complete the items you know for sure! You won’t miss any easy questions by running out of time. It builds confidence. And, later questions sometimes help to answer earlier questions. After completing all of the questions you know for sure, go back and work through the rest of the test. Be aware of how many questions you have left and how much time you have to do them.

c. Beware of “gray” terms such as “sometimes, frequently, often, many, generally, on the average, usually.” Beware of “absolute” terms such as “all, none, always, must, never, best.” Statements containing them may be incorrect because few things in life meet the requirements of “all, none, always, must, never, best.” Read carefully so you don’t miss terms like “not” and “except.

d. Read ALL choices. Cross out the letter of obvious incorrect choices. Select the best one. If two or more choices are correct, choose the most specific one. For example, “a triangle has three sides” is better than “a triangle has more that two sides.”

e. Do NOT pay attention to how many a’s, b’s, c’s, or d’s you’ve marked.

3. Check for Clarity (1 Minute)a. Question: What questions do you have about taking a multiple choice exam before we

move on to discuss true/false questions?

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Activity 3: Taking the True/False Exam (5 Minutes)

Purpose: To learn effective strategies for taking a true/false exam

1. Discussion (2 Minutes)a. Question: How many of you have taken true/false exams in your classes? What do you

find most difficult about true/false exams? (Write answers on board)

2. Tips (2 Minutes)a. Refer to the Exam Taking Tips and Techniques worksheet. You might want to have

students read aloud the tips and ask students who has used each tip before. You may also want to ask why each tip would be helpful for them or how they could apply the tip to an upcoming exam (or could have applied it in the past to an exam)

b. Read the directions – Do you have to write explanations as to why the statement is true or false?

c. Be careful of statements with two clauses. If the statement contains “and” then BOTH clauses have to be true for the statement to be true. If the statement contains “or”, then only one clause has to be true for the statement to be true.

Additional Tips:

d. Ignore patterns

e. Read the question fully

f. Underline tricky words

g. Pay attention to context

3. Check for Clarity (1 Minute)a. Question: Does anyone have any questions regarding true/false questions before we

talk about taking an essay exam?

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Activity 4: Taking the Essay Exam (20 Minutes)

Purpose: To learn effective strategies for taking an essay exam

1. Discussion (2 Minutes)a. Question: How many of you have taken an essay exam in your classes? What do you

find most difficult about essay exams? (Write on board)

2. Tips (5 Minutes)a. Again, refer to the worksheet. You might want to have students read aloud the tips and

ask students who has used each tip before. You may also want to ask why each tip would be helpful for them or how they could apply the tip to an upcoming exam (or could have applied it in the past to an exam)

b. Before an essay exam, you may want to ask your professor: long or short essay questions? How many essay questions? Will there be a choice of questions?

c. Remember, essay exams are more than “spitting back information.” They require application and evaluation of concepts, critical thinking, and analysis. Read the directions carefully and make sure you know what you’re being asked to do. For example, if your professor wants you to evaluate philosophical theory, then you won’t get full credit if you just describe the theory.

d. Note the weight of each question. Are all questions weighted equally? Budget your time according to the weight of each question.

e. Once you fully understand what the question is asking you, create a logical outline, question chart, or key word diagram (You can refer to the Question Chart & Key Word Diagram lesson for this if there is time). This will give your essay direction. Your professors are definitely influenced by well organized, clear and compact thought patterns.

i. You may want to do this before the test to prepare if you have the question

ii. Identify the main points you are going to make

iii. Identify the arguments you are going to use

iv. Write your thesis statement

f. Begin with a simple and clear thesis statement that reflects your understanding of the

whole question. Then, systematically support your thesis and do not stray from your

thesis and outline. Avoid “fat,” “fluff,” and “filler.” Remember to include some specific

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details and examples if applicable. Finish it up with a summary. The summary is simply

a paraphrasing of your introduction.

i. A Thesis is the argument for the paperii. For additional information, refer to the Thesis Statement Examples sheet

g. Qualify answers when in doubt. It is better to say, “towards the end of the 19th century” than to say “in 1894” when you can’t remember the exact date.

h. Review the Common Terms on Essay Exams worksheet. They are commonly found in essay exam questions. Know these words! An understanding of these terms will enable you to give your professor what s/he is requesting.

i. Last but not least, proof-read your essay!

3. Exercise on taking an essay exam (10 Minutes)

a. When you take an essay exam, don’t be afraid to mark up the questions so you can read them actively.

b. Have the students find a partner to work with on this exercise

c. Pick apart each question so they know exactly what you are being asked to write about.

d. You are going to (write this on the board): i. Underline the topic of the question. What is the question about?

ii. Circle the limiting word. The limiting word gives you specific details about the question.

iii. Put a box around the key word. The key word tells you what you are being asked to do – i.e. discuss, explain, compare, contrast, and so on.

e. (Give the students 5 minutes to complete this activity, and then review their answers as a group)

4. Optional: Exercise on Taking an Exam focused on one topic (10 Minutes)

a. Have the students choose one topic on the worksheet (OR students can choose a topic from one of their current courses)

b. Have the students create a visual that goes with their topic. You can either have them do this independently on their own paper, or go through it together as a class.

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c. They will take the topic and make a picture by:i. Creating an outline (on Idea/Outline sheet)

ii. Creating a Key Word Diagram

5. Discussion (2 Minutes)a. Question: What questions do you have about taking a multiple choice, true/false, or

essay exam?

6. A few final tips (2 Minutes)a. Use all the time allowed. It’s not a bad thing to be the last one to leave!b. Make sure you’ve gone back and answered all questions.c. Proof your answers!

Activity 5: Taking a Math Exam (3 Minutes)

1. Review the Exam Taking Tips & Techniques Worksheet and focus on the Math Tips

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a. Prepare by practicing (with questions in the book)

b. Take notes in words (steps of the problem)

c. Study more than one example

d. Know the number of steps it takes to finish a problem or formula

e. Know the variations, variables that might affect the answer

f. Teach it to someone else

g. In math to ace a test it means making no mistakes-double-check calculations

h. Show your work (draw pictures, calculations on the side, show prof. what you are

thinking)

Activity 6: Mock Exam (Varies)

*For this activity, students need a textbook, lecture notes, syllabus, and any other information from one of their courses in order to create a mock exam. This works the best if students already have questions in the margins of their notes or a Question Chart.

1. Overview of a Mock Exam (3 Minutes)

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a. A Mock exam is a practice exam to help a student study for an examb. A Mock exam can be used by writing the exam and then taking the exam. This includes

setting time limits, conditions, and an environment conducive to taking an exam

2. Mock Exam (Varies)a. Generate exam questions using your text, lecture notes, key word diagrams, question

charts, and Learning New Terms glossary for this class. Your questions should be in the same format as the tests for the class (i.e. multiple choice, true/false, essay, etc.). You want it to model an actual test that your professor would write for that class. When you are finished, take the mock exam as you would the actual test, at a desk without any notes, etc. See how you do!