Alan's ten tips on exam technique:
(1) DO YOUR SECOND BEST QUESTION FIRST
For many students the taking of examinations is still an exercise fraught with tension. Despite all the advice, the existence of a time limit and the uncertainty of what will be asked produces problems with essay questions. Under this degree of pressure the candidate will frequently rush to answer the question they know best. But this may often be a mistake for the following reasons: after its completion there is the despair that the remaining questions will be of lower quality; because of the tension, the presentation of the question is often poor because the memory does not deliver the material in an ordered stream so there are alterations, repetition and corrections. Why not identify your best question and put it aside. Attempt the next best question. By the time you have completed this question your nerves will have settled down, your memory will have shuffled the material around and you will have the added boost of moving on to a better rather than a poorer question!
(2) THE USE OF THE ROUGH NOTES PAGE
Most examination guides advise candidates to set up a rough notes page on which they can draft the answer to a question. There is nothing wrong in this approach provided time taken in drafting the answer is kept to a minimum. However there is a further use of the rough notes page which relates to the way our memories work. First you should always read the entire paper. Many students sit in the exam, read until they reach a question they can do and immediately launch into an answer. This does not give your memory a chance: read the entire paper. As you are answering one question do not be surprised when your memory throws up ideas, cases, names, or formulae for other questions. Frequently your memory delivers information in its own idiosyncratic way. When this happens, turn to the rough notes page and write down the information immediately before returning to the question. The effect is wonderful: the information is now trapped in your answer script, there is no need to search again as it is ready for use when you choose to answer that question and your memory can continue its search for further information.
(3) TACKLING THE QUOTATION QUESTION
Examiners are subject to restrictions inherent in the testing format: they must discover whether candidates have a sufficient knowledge of the syllabus by the use of a three hour written examination. There is a limit to the type of question that can be set in this situation with the result that questions fall into particular types: the write short notes/explain; the problem/case study and the quotation style. A number of books have discovered great differences
between them which is debatable as the objective of all questions is the same: to reveal the candidate's knowledge.
With write short notes everything you put down on the topic will be relevant and earn marks; with problem/case study questions adopt the same approach of write short notes and then apply these to the problem. With quotation questions look for the key word by linking the question to a relevant item in the syllabus and then treating it as a write short notes by saying "before we discuss the quotation we need to be clear as to the meaning of ..." ; then apply the description to the quotation in the same way as you would treat a problem question.
(4) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIMING AND MARKS
The objective in taking an examination is to pass. Your chances of achieving this are considerably reduced with overspecialisation and poor timing. One brilliant answer accompanied by a majority of mediocre scribbles is the wrong approach as the candidate receives less marks than a collection of average but consistent answers. There is a limit to the marks awarded to any one question. Set yourself the task of passing each question within a set period of time (sort out the time allocation before the examination, not in the hall). As you write your answer make the first task to reach the pass mark for that question. As you pass that point everything you write is a type of "bonus". If you are still writing at the end of the allotted time slot, content yourself with the fact that you have achieved the objective of passing: go on to the next question. To continue writing in the hope of gaining the remaining marks is uneconomic. It is easier to gain the first five marks of a question than the last five marks.
(5) THE PROFESSIONAL APPROACH
Exams rule throughout our school and college life determining the direction of our future careers. Our collective experience is of pressure, worry and concern because everything is dependent on those examinations. This intense emotion is the background to taking examinations when we are older. It is the wrong background. When you are sitting for professional examinations, you are generally in work and raising families. It has dawned on you that examinations are not the only criteria for a decent living and that getting qualified is part of your life not the reason for existence. Yet when you prepare for that exam all the old emotions return. Change your approach. Treat the examiner like a difficult client. Your brief is to prepare for a series of questions and prepare a professional response. You do not have to know everything on the subject but you need to know what is appropriate. You will not satisfy every client but you will do your best, neither walking out in tears nor sitting dumb. Professional exams are only part of your job; approach them professionally.
(6) IGNORE THE "GRAPHOMANIAC"
One of a candidate's most depressing experiences is to see everybody starting to write whilst you are still reading the examination paper. Even more despairing is to watch fellow candidates asking for more answer sheets whilst you have yet to reach the centre of the booklet. Counting the pages to the staples is more common that candidates realise. The pressure to write anything at all cost is very strong and should be resisted. You should start your answer when you feel ready. The question should be read a number of times to identify its salient features. Use the rough notes page if you think it will help. Read with the intention of discovering the relevant parts of the syllabus covered by the question and if it is unclear read and read again: you are not wasting time and you are giving your memory a chance. If you have covered the material the answer will come. Daydreaming and panic are unprofessional: constructive thought is what is required.
(7) THE PROBLEM OF "EXAM NERVES"
As you progress through professional examinations you will develop your own approach to the problem of nerves. For some of you it is not a problem but a bonus - you need the tension to "get the adrenaline going". Others find themselves feeling physically ill and then there are those who remain completely unmoved until they look at the paper when they promptly freeze. For those of you feeling ill there is the thought that the more examinations you do, the more familiar is the experience and with that knowledge you can plan to cope. Remember that this is an extension of your job, not your whole career and that with persistence you will pass. For those of you unable to answer a single question, check that you are in the right examination. If you are, then start writing on the rough note page. What to write: five minutes on anything relevant to the syllabus, the subjects you studied perhaps. Then go back to the question paper and the subject will have defrosted.
(8 ) L'ESPRIT DE L'ESCALIER
The phrase comes from the writer Denis Diderot and is literally translated as "staircase wit". Its meaning is given as
"one only thinks on one's way downstairs, of the smart reply one might have made in the drawing room". What has this to do with examination technique? Do not leave the examination early. It is a false economy to walk out when you feel unable to continue. Just like Diderot, when the examination doors close behind you, you will recall those particular points which might have converted your narrow fail into a pass. And you cannot go back to repair the loss. At least by remaining in the room for the full time you give yourself the maximum opportunity for recall. Go back through the paper looking for different approaches. Use the other techniques we illustrate in this series. Remember that the guaranteed mark for a blank paper is zero!
(9) THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENTATION
Marking examination papers is a strange process. To get some feel for the tension involved try the following: choose an essay you have written and sit down at a desk; pick up the essay and read it, put it down, wait for a few seconds, pick it up, read it, put it down, wait a few seconds, pick it up, read it..... Repeat this for about twenty minutes resisting all attempts to jump ahead remembering that a person's career and the reputation of the examining body are at stake.
You will now be ready to read a script that is close to illegible, paragraph free, doctored with swathes of correcting fluid that failed to dry quickly and incorrectly numbered questions. It ends with a plaintive plea for understanding because that morning the milkman's float flattened the cat. Would this alter your psychological mind set?.... Do not reduce your chances of success by poor presentation.
(10) THE PARROT PRINCIPLE
There is the television comedy sketch of a head teacher who called in a student regarding a history essay he had written on the subject of "Napoleon". It began "My aunt has a parrot. The parrot's name is Napoleon. Napoleon has blue feathers and likes peanuts." The teacher then asked the student what he was going to write on the subject of Wellington and back came the reply "my aunt has another parrot". When faced with quotation questions many students give up for fear of being irrelevant. This is the wrong approach because knowledge is interconnected. Can you apply the parrot principle? For example the question asks for "Topic A"; your answer begins "In order to understand Topic A we need to be clear about its foundation which is Topic B". Of course you know a lot more about Topic B than A but who is to say that you are irrelevant.
