WHY STUDENTS WHO HAVE LEARNED THE MATERIAL

DO POORLY ON EXAMINATIONS

© 2005 by Orchid Land Publications

[20090610, rev. 20080621]

    The solution for getting through exams successfully involves too parts:

1. Organizing your notes during the lectures or exercises;

2. Preparing for the examination the night before it takes place.

3. Doing the exam.

     As for (1), you should keep a set of file cards handy.  When I point comes up that is highly likely, you
think, to be on the exam, make a note of the top PLUS one or two comments on it.  Don't write too much!

Use red ink for something that must not be forgotten or omitted.  If later another point seems more important, replace the card with a new one; keep the previous one in reserve somewhere.  Build up a total of four or five major topics (plus a two or three minor ones that seem unlikely to be major exam topics).  If you have more than that, you have not been intelligently selective; don't overdo the number of the cards or the information on each!!!!  Quality is more important than quantity, which can be detrimental!!!  Be sure to underline in red (or use some other highlighting) the few (say three or four) mostessential points.  Don't neglect to memorize the definitions of crucial terminology.

   As for (2) on the night before the examination:  Write out a SAMPLE ANSWER (a short outline) for each EXAM QUESTION on your cards, remember that the main thing is to get the basic points (those in red) IN A PROGRESSIVELY LOGICAL ORDER in whic weach point is linked to and builds on the preceding one(s)!  MEMORIZE the three or four points of each outline; don't write out the answer; leave that for the exam and get some sleep!

3. At the examination, look at the question (of your choice, if there is a choice) and circle the key words in the question--those which, if not dealt with, nothing else matters.  Quantity won't help; no matter how much you write, it's down the tube unless you deal with THOSE topics . . . and in a logical order.  If you cannot pick out the main points of a topic, you are lost; during the exam, take a couple of minutes to think of the circled point and the logical order of dealing with--before writing.
     Before you complete your answer, go back and check where has been adequately fulfilled:  See whether all key topics/words have been dealt with and in an order in which each point follows from the preceding point.

REMEMBER!   Quality, not quantity!

   If you fail an exam even though you are cognizant of the material and cannot see what you've done wrong in your answer(s), you should ask a successful student or your instructor to show you.  A failure to see what the problem is is a failure that is very serious and should be looked after.