Don't's

• Don't panic

  Don't be unduly nervous if you have little or no experience with OBEs; it is not very different from preparing an assignment at home, except that time is more limited and you will not be able to consult another person.

• Don't underestimate an OBE

  An OBE is not easier. It may save you giving a wrong answer from having remembered a formula incorrectly, but merely getting the formula right will no longer get you any credit since it is assumed to have come out of the book, and the questions will require more than merely transcribing something from the texts.

• Don't over-answer

  With materials readily at hand, there may be the temptation to over-write. Keep in mind that more is not necessarily better. An OBE is supposed to be more challenging, but you don't have to give longer, more comprehensive answers than you would in the conventional examinations. Cramming quantities of information into long answers may not secure a better grade. Nor is it necessary to demonstrate that you have done more extensive reading or research than everyone else. Aim for concise, accurate, thoughtful answers that make accurate and discriminate use of supporting evidence.

• Don't be `kiasu'

  The assumption that the more materials you bring in, the better you are likely to perform is dubious. You may end up distracting yourself by bringing too much, not to mention, crowding up your table space and hampering yourself. In reality, you probably won't have much time to finger your texts or notes; they serve more as reminders and for occasional verification of details. You will find it more helpful to have your materials carefully selected, collated, summarised and organised for quick reference.

  Experience suggests that while you may want to bring in with you a quantity of materials for the sense of security, you will probably work best relying on no more than a few sheets of notes. Spend time making these preparations:

  1. review the subject to derive a good overview,
  2. ascertain what is really important and likely to be useful,
  3. make brief and neat notes.

  In the process of making these notes you will really have to come to grips with the information: understand, relate, integrate, prioritise, and have some ideas about how or where to to use them. Summarising and writing these notes will also help you to remember them.

• Don't spot questions

  Bringing in model answers is not likely to help. More so than in the traditional examinations they are not likely to fit as questions will tend toward the free (multiple) response rather than the fixed (single right answer) response variety. And misfits will be less tolerated in an OBE, if only because there is no longer the argument that some credit might be given for any presentation of information, even if it is irrelevant.

• Don't be tempted to cheat

  While it may seem more difficult to detect note-passing and copying from others, you can be sure that invigilators will be extra vigilant, and any infringement will be severely dealt with.

Do's

• `Recce'

  Consult your lecturer or tutor if you are unsure of what will be required in an OBE. Find out, for instance, what is being tested, e.g. readings and research that have been done, competence in using reference sources, ability to collate and interpret data, and construct informed and cogent answers.

• Prepare

  To reiterate, OBEs are not meant to be easy. You need to study for them just as for the traditional examinations. If you do not know your subject, you will not know what to look for, and you will not be able to draw on the knowledge base to address the questions. If you are not familiar with the materials, you will be spending valuable examination time searching them out.

  Keep in mind that unless it is a take-home examination, you will need to work within time constraints, and to do so efficiently it is best to have the essential facts, formulae, etc. at your finger tips. And while it would not serve to bring in prepared answers, you do need to have thought through and have in mind some general conclusions, conceptual frameworks and philosophical positions, i.e. a roadmap, so that you are not preparing answers from scratch during the examination itself.

• Organise

  Make your reference materials as user-friendly as possible so that you don't lose time and composure frantically flipping pages back and forth.

  • Check content pages and indices of texts to be brought into the examination to ensure that they are sufficiently comprehensive for easy search. Add supplementary entries if necessary.
    
    
  • Prepare brief summaries, e.g. in margins of texts to provide a quick reference index.
    
    
  • If your text(s) have chapter or section summaries, index these on the front page.
    
    
  • Prepare a list of the formulae likely to be used.
    
    
  • Tabulate headings or key topics and relevant page numbers of texts to facilitate search. Using index cards will enable alphabetical sequencing for quick reference.
    
    
• Practise

  Your lecturer or tutor will probably provide some practice but if not, ask him or her for some sample questions or a dry run to get some idea of what you might expect. You might also want to check out some past OBEs. Past examination papers are available at the the NUS Library's Electronic Resources page. To access the electronic resources, go to the NUS Libraries website at http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/ and login using your NUSNET ID and password. While you are still logged on to the website, you can use the Search Exams section to find and view the questions asked in NUS Examination Papers. Or you can consult the librarian at the Information Desk.

• Read the questions carefully

  Understand their implications and demands. They will be more complex than the descriptive/narrative type and will require more sophisticated interpretations.

• Make good use of time

  First, answer the questions that you are confident of and for which you will not need much time checking out the resources. Starting with questions that you are unsure of may have you stalled and you may end up with insufficient time to address the others that you can do well in.

• Guard against copious quotations

  Start worrying if you find yourself copying copious chunks from the text. Don't waste time quoting extensively. Use the time and information to build a well constructed and substantiated answer.

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