Teaching students how to take exams
It seems that few students have been provided with an insight as to how they should approach an exam, or on the importance of understanding an exam's scoring scheme, in terms of the time allowed.
Taking an exam, or pacing oneself correctly when completing something bound by time constraints, is a very important and useful skill, not only in academics, but also in the real world.
With this in mind, teachers should take time to instruct students about how to be a more competent exam-taker, and with the exams then given, students need to be encouraged to put theory into practice.
Read first
It is surprising how many students do not read an exam before starting to write and simply begin with the first question and work through. This is not a good idea, especially if the first question is difficult and negatively affects their confidence. With this in mind, on practice exams at least, the first question should be very difficult and worth one or two points.
Students need to be taught to read all the questions and then make a list with three columns.
In the first column, list the questions in order of difficulty, starting with the easiest.
In the second column, record the points awarded for each question.
In the third, column, estimate the score you believe you can achieve.
When this is completed, add up the figures in the third column, and, hopefully, the total will be sufficient for a passing grade.
When students know they can pass an exam, particularly a difficult one, they should be able to relax. While they still need to write it, this reduction in tension should help them work on the exam more efficiently. In addition, as they work on easier questions, they may find that questions they initially considered difficult have become easier.
It is not a perfect solution and does not always apply, for example with listening tests. With reading and writing tests, however, encourage students to answer the questions in any order they choose based this guide, that is, from easy to difficult.
Time-score ratio
When taking an exam, divide the time allowed by the number of questions and points being awarded. It is heartbreaking when strong students spend too much time answering a question worth a few points, and then run out of enough to complete the last question worth 20.
In a two-hour exam, recommend students to take ten minutes at the start to read the exam and to complete the calculations mentioned above, and to spare ten more minutes at the end to review the answers, or to have enough time in case a question takes longer to answer than planned.
With a 120-minute exam, this will leave 100 minutes to work on the exam itself. With an exam worth 100 points, each point should then be allotted one minute to complete.
Timing schedule
Then return to the table and add two more columns.
In the fourth column, record how many minutes it should take to complete each answer.
In the last column, record the time the first question starts and create a schedule as to when they should start answering each subsequent question.
When this idea is first introduced, it is useful to proctor your own exams so you can write the start, finish and remaining times on the board. While it is not a good idea to disturb the students, write down or announce how much time is left every ten minutes. This should help to remind many students that they are behind schedule and need to work a bit quicker.
Taking exams is not easy for many students, but it remains an important part of their education. Hopefully, by providing tips and demonstrating the benefit that comes from organising, they will be able to handle future exams with increased confidence, levels of success and realize a much happier result... that is, a better score.
