Preparing for Exams |
A Guide for NUS Students |
EXAMS AT UNIVERSITY
As a University student, chances are that you have taken more exams than you care to remember. Yet for many of us, it’s hard to shake that feeling of impending doom as exam days draw close.
Are University exams any different from all the other exams we have taken before? In a way, yes. At this level, you are not just expected to recall, but also to be able to use your knowledge – to apply, analyse, synthesise, and evaluate what you have learned to different scenarios given in the examination situation.
Let’s do a little experiment:
Take a moment to study the following Sociology terms. (Example taken from http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/sociol.html)
Patterns of family organization: vocabulary list KIN - people who are related by common ancestry
or origins; most often blood relations. |
Ready? Now, without looking back at the above, have a look at the exam
questions below.
|
How did you feel as you went through those questions?
Most likely, you had no problems answering PART A and PART B; PART C presented
a bit of a challenge, but was still manageable. PART D on the other hand
would have started you chewing on the tip of your pen; while PART E and
PART F might have actually started some of us breaking out into a sweat!
This example highlights 6 types of questions you are likely to encounter in your exams. Each type requires different levels of thought, which are demonstrated in the following ways:
| Question Type | Level of Thinking Required (Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) | To demonstrate this level of thought, students should be able to… | |
| PART A | Recognition & recall | Knowledge | …recognize and define terms when
appropriate |
| PART B | Comprehension | Understanding | …use ideas associated with content,
without relating them to other ideas or subjects |
| PART C | Application | Application | …apply learned ideas, concepts,
principles, theories, or general solution methods to new situations |
| PART D | Analysis | Analysis | …explain why something is the
way it is
…make logical sense of things |
| PART E | Synthesis | Synthesis | … create something new (product
or ideas), based on learned knowledge …think of ideas, concepts, and issues in new ways |
| PART F | Evaluation | Evaluation | …discuss issues more extensively …make value judgments based on certain criteria such as usefulness and effectiveness |
Adapted from http://ceaspub.eas.asu.edu/MAE-EC2000/glossary.htm
Did you notice that the level of thinking demanded of you goes deeper from Part A to Part F? At University, you are required to go beyond just knowing, understanding, and even applying; as such, examination questions will often require you to demonstrate that you have thought deeply about what you have learned.
At your level, you will face all 6 of these types of questions. In this light, a common mistake by students doing exams is in producing type A, B, and C responses to type D, E, and F questions. Thus, to do well in University exams, it is not only important to KNOW what you know, but you have to be able to SHOW that you know what you know.