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19
EXAMINATIONS
There is a technique to taking timed examinations in an examination
room. Indeed, one of the things you are being examined in when you sit
an examination is how good you are at sitting examinations!
Two students can enter the same examination room with the same level
of preparation, knowledge and ‘feel’ for a subject and end up with very
different grades at the end of the process. The difference between the
two is how each of them meets the particular demands of the exam.
The first golden rule is to give the examiners what they want. Don’t have
a mental argument with them. Don’t bother with thoughts like ‘This
question is unfair!’ or ‘Why are they asking me to do this?’ Just carry out
the instructions of the exam paper to the letter. You can moan and groan
about it later!
Before you sit any examination, you ought to be totally aware of the kind
of question likely to come up and the areas of knowledge you are to be
examined in. Study old examination papers, listen to what your teachers
tell you. If anything in the examination paper comes as a surprise to you,
then it is probably your own fault.
Read the exact instructions of the exam paper to make sure you know
exactly what you have to do. Take these instructions as an example:
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Time allowed: 2 hours
You must answer two questions from Section A and one question
from Section B.
That is crystal clear: three questions in all, but two from Section A. Any
deviance from this will be penalised, so don’t take it into your head to
answer two questions from Section B because you feel more confident
about your ability in that section. That will just not wash!
Pay attention to the mark weighting given to different sections or
questions. This will give you a clue as to how you should divide your
time in answering the different questions:
What prompts Elizabeth to dislike Darcy on first acquaintance? [8]
Show in detail how Elizabeth begins to change her judgement
of Darcy.
[15]
The different mark weighting awarded by the examiners to these
different sections tells you that you should spend almost twice as long
answering the second question as the first.
Dividing up your time in an exam is a crucial part of exam technique. If
you are asked to answer four questions and they are given equal mark
weighting, then you should spend roughly an equal amount of time on
each answer. Even if you think you know far more about two of the
questions than the other two, it is a serious mistake to cut down on the
time you give to answering the other two.
Consider this: an exam candidate in a two hour examination spends an
hour and twenty minutes answering the first two questions, twenty five
minutes answering the third and fifteen minutes attempting an answer to
the third. Let us assume s/he does well with the first two answers and is
awarded 18 out of 25 for both.
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19 – E
XAMINATIONS
The third answer is briefer and is awarded 12. The fourth answer is
skimpy and rushed and that is awarded 7. That makes a total of 55.
If, however, a roughly equal amount of time had been given to each
question, it is possible the first two answers might have been awarded
slightly less, say 17 each, but the third and fourth would have made up
for that. They are awarded 15 each, making a total of 64, a significant
difference.
You have to discipline yourself as far as division of time in an exam is
concerned. Don’t kid yourself that by answering a question at the end of
an exam in note form, adding what you would have covered had you had
enough time, will earn you the same marks as if you had written a proper
essay answer. Most chief examiners issue instructions that answers in
this kind of abbreviated form are marked out of half marks as a total. A
question with a mark weighting of 25 would then be marked out of 12
and then the examiner has to assess how well you managed the note
form answer and mark out of this total. You are likely to end up with a
7 or 8 at best.
Remember: give the examiners what they want. Read the questions
carefully, underlining key words and terms. Obey
all instructions about numbers of questions to
be attempted from which sections, be
disciplined in your use of the time allowed
and follow a structured essay plan in your
answers.
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H
OW TO WRITE ESSAYS
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