How can I better prepare myself for your exams?
(Note: you might find valuable information about doing well in my class here, here, and here, as well)
One simple phrase: “Don’t flip out.” Specifically, I mean your notes.
In class, I always make it a point to refer back to previous lectures and ask students to connect those lectures to what we’re discussing. If you have to flip back through your notes to find the answer(s), you’re not properly preparing for my tests.
My tests are designed to specifically reward those who study and catch people who try to cram. Usually, my tests are a combination of multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short essay (unless I say otherwise, W5HS), and long essay. Out of these, multiple choice, true/false, and short essay (W5HS) are the most common questions on all tests except for finals. Finals usually consist of most of these, and, in particular, one or two long essays.
Short Answers:
In terms of my short answers, my suggestion has always been to take the topics given to you and, before the next class, type out your essay answer to that topic item (again, in W5HS format). This way, you have a running list of answers that are read-made for your exam. On top of that, you can either bring me your answers (best method) or e-mail me your answers (not-so-best) so that I can take a look at them beforehand. After all, I'm the guy grading them.
Even better, I encourage students to study in groups. This used to be a "thing," but perhaps with social media, texting, etc., people think that they don't actually need to be connected directly to others in order to do well in life. No matter what the reason, my suggestion is to start a class wiki or something of the sort where ALL students in the class can participate to the topic answer discussion. Arguing for, and defending your take on a topic will help you study. You can even invite me to contribute! It doesn't mean that I will, but I'm sure to stop by once and awhile just to see how things are going.
Multiple Choice and True False:
Although you might think “true false? Multiple choice? Cake!” You might want to reconsider. Unlike many professors (or high school teachers), my multiple choice and true/false questions are not easy, and they’re specifically designed to cause you fits if you don’t actually know the subject material. All of the choices in my multiple choice exams seem plausible and my true/false questions might contain a ton of correct information, but one part might be off. Certainly, if one part of a true/false is wrong, then it’s all wrong, but if you don’t read them all the way through or if you don’t have a solid understanding of the subject, you’re sunk. What’s worse? Usually you can’t miss more than two of these types of questions on an exam and still get an A (which may not be important to you, anyhow [see below]). What’s even worse than that? Usually, many of the answers seem plausibly right or would be correct for a different question! Actually, this is good for you since the choice will actually _help_ you on one of the essay questions, but only if you knew what it helped you answer.
During the semester, I usually put some sample questions up on the screen and people immediately “flip out.” Even worse, some students try to strategize in order to find the right answer. Let’s take an example from one of my history classes:
The Royal Proclamation of 1763…
a. was an attempt by the Crown to save money after the French and Indian War. Essentially, they drew a boundary down the west side of the Allegheny Mountains in order to limit colonial expansion so that they wouldn’t have to build forts, add infrastructure, add troops, etc. The colonists weren’t happy about this since they just got done fighting a war over this exact same territory.
b. was actually a series of taxes levied against the colonies in order to help pay for the French and Indian War. Of the things that were mentioned in the Proclamation were the stamp act, which charged a tax on all paper goods including newspapers and legal documents. The colonists weren’t happy about this since they, too, paid from their own pockets to help fight the war.
c. was an attempt by the crown to encourage the colonies to comply with the ideals of mercantilism by encouraging them to purchase raw materials and goods that came from other British colonies, sell their own colonially-made products to England for fair prices, and to cut out other nations by disengaging in trade smuggling.
d. was a response to the colonists’ outrage over the Stamp Act. Colonists had done things such as burn down stamp-tax collectors’ homes and tarred and feathered the collectors, themselves. Also, it was a response to the Stamp Act Congress’ petitions to Parliament, informing them that the Act was a type of taxation without representation.
Is the answer the shortest one? The longest one? B or C? Are there some keywords you would have remembered me discussing in a lecture? There probably are since, in some way, all of the answers point to something I discussed in lecture; but which one fits the answer provided above? Strategy simply won't work on a question like this. Luck might, but miss two of these (statistically, you'll miss three of every four), and your chances for an A are gone for good.
Some students, of course, complain, flip or freak out, etc. etc.; basically, blame me for being “too difficult,” “too hard,” etc. (you can see a full list of things students come up with here). While that’s a perfectly natural reaction, it doesn’t help you become a better student. In fact, the people that do well on my tests aren’t necessarily smart, gifted, or talented, they just have good study habits and keep up with the information that’s provided to them in class and continually integrate that information with what I bring up in following lectures.
In short, my tests are actually easy if you know the material. Although all of the questions might look plausible, the correct answer will easily stand out to you if you’ve studied hard. You don’t have to be smart, gifted, talented, or out of the norm to pass my exams (or even get an A), but you do have to be determined to take charge of your education. Determination is far more important than talent when it comes to my exams.
Of course, for some of you, “B (or C) is for me!” is a motto of choice, and I think that’s smart. If you have an instrumentalist view of your college education and want to emphasize certain aspects of your education (perhaps your major classes) over others, there’s nothing wrong with strategizing (I certainly did it, especially during terms when I took 24, 28, 24, and 21 credit hours--there's no room for straight As with a load like that). On the other hand, if you think you should get As in most of your classes, particularly general education courses, then you’re going to have to understand that you’re going to have to earn that A and you’re going to have to find significant time to study for my class so that you don’t “flip out” when I ask the class a question about something I’ve discussed in a previous lecture.
One simple phrase: “Don’t flip out.” Specifically, I mean your notes.
In class, I always make it a point to refer back to previous lectures and ask students to connect those lectures to what we’re discussing. If you have to flip back through your notes to find the answer(s), you’re not properly preparing for my tests.
My tests are designed to specifically reward those who study and catch people who try to cram. Usually, my tests are a combination of multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short essay (unless I say otherwise, W5HS), and long essay. Out of these, multiple choice, true/false, and short essay (W5HS) are the most common questions on all tests except for finals. Finals usually consist of most of these, and, in particular, one or two long essays.
Short Answers:
In terms of my short answers, my suggestion has always been to take the topics given to you and, before the next class, type out your essay answer to that topic item (again, in W5HS format). This way, you have a running list of answers that are read-made for your exam. On top of that, you can either bring me your answers (best method) or e-mail me your answers (not-so-best) so that I can take a look at them beforehand. After all, I'm the guy grading them.
Even better, I encourage students to study in groups. This used to be a "thing," but perhaps with social media, texting, etc., people think that they don't actually need to be connected directly to others in order to do well in life. No matter what the reason, my suggestion is to start a class wiki or something of the sort where ALL students in the class can participate to the topic answer discussion. Arguing for, and defending your take on a topic will help you study. You can even invite me to contribute! It doesn't mean that I will, but I'm sure to stop by once and awhile just to see how things are going.
Multiple Choice and True False:
Although you might think “true false? Multiple choice? Cake!” You might want to reconsider. Unlike many professors (or high school teachers), my multiple choice and true/false questions are not easy, and they’re specifically designed to cause you fits if you don’t actually know the subject material. All of the choices in my multiple choice exams seem plausible and my true/false questions might contain a ton of correct information, but one part might be off. Certainly, if one part of a true/false is wrong, then it’s all wrong, but if you don’t read them all the way through or if you don’t have a solid understanding of the subject, you’re sunk. What’s worse? Usually you can’t miss more than two of these types of questions on an exam and still get an A (which may not be important to you, anyhow [see below]). What’s even worse than that? Usually, many of the answers seem plausibly right or would be correct for a different question! Actually, this is good for you since the choice will actually _help_ you on one of the essay questions, but only if you knew what it helped you answer.
During the semester, I usually put some sample questions up on the screen and people immediately “flip out.” Even worse, some students try to strategize in order to find the right answer. Let’s take an example from one of my history classes:
The Royal Proclamation of 1763…
a. was an attempt by the Crown to save money after the French and Indian War. Essentially, they drew a boundary down the west side of the Allegheny Mountains in order to limit colonial expansion so that they wouldn’t have to build forts, add infrastructure, add troops, etc. The colonists weren’t happy about this since they just got done fighting a war over this exact same territory.
b. was actually a series of taxes levied against the colonies in order to help pay for the French and Indian War. Of the things that were mentioned in the Proclamation were the stamp act, which charged a tax on all paper goods including newspapers and legal documents. The colonists weren’t happy about this since they, too, paid from their own pockets to help fight the war.
c. was an attempt by the crown to encourage the colonies to comply with the ideals of mercantilism by encouraging them to purchase raw materials and goods that came from other British colonies, sell their own colonially-made products to England for fair prices, and to cut out other nations by disengaging in trade smuggling.
d. was a response to the colonists’ outrage over the Stamp Act. Colonists had done things such as burn down stamp-tax collectors’ homes and tarred and feathered the collectors, themselves. Also, it was a response to the Stamp Act Congress’ petitions to Parliament, informing them that the Act was a type of taxation without representation.
Is the answer the shortest one? The longest one? B or C? Are there some keywords you would have remembered me discussing in a lecture? There probably are since, in some way, all of the answers point to something I discussed in lecture; but which one fits the answer provided above? Strategy simply won't work on a question like this. Luck might, but miss two of these (statistically, you'll miss three of every four), and your chances for an A are gone for good.
Some students, of course, complain, flip or freak out, etc. etc.; basically, blame me for being “too difficult,” “too hard,” etc. (you can see a full list of things students come up with here). While that’s a perfectly natural reaction, it doesn’t help you become a better student. In fact, the people that do well on my tests aren’t necessarily smart, gifted, or talented, they just have good study habits and keep up with the information that’s provided to them in class and continually integrate that information with what I bring up in following lectures.
In short, my tests are actually easy if you know the material. Although all of the questions might look plausible, the correct answer will easily stand out to you if you’ve studied hard. You don’t have to be smart, gifted, talented, or out of the norm to pass my exams (or even get an A), but you do have to be determined to take charge of your education. Determination is far more important than talent when it comes to my exams.
Of course, for some of you, “B (or C) is for me!” is a motto of choice, and I think that’s smart. If you have an instrumentalist view of your college education and want to emphasize certain aspects of your education (perhaps your major classes) over others, there’s nothing wrong with strategizing (I certainly did it, especially during terms when I took 24, 28, 24, and 21 credit hours--there's no room for straight As with a load like that). On the other hand, if you think you should get As in most of your classes, particularly general education courses, then you’re going to have to understand that you’re going to have to earn that A and you’re going to have to find significant time to study for my class so that you don’t “flip out” when I ask the class a question about something I’ve discussed in a previous lecture.