Many people work hard studying various subjects to sit for examinations in them. Fine. Hard work is usually a necessary condition for passing exams. Unfortunately it does not follow that it is a sufficient condition! Exam technique can be almost equally as important. It can make all
difference between success and failure or between poor grades and good grades.
As students, we often complain about examination system. That is usually because we feel pressure of an uncertain outcome. But like all systems we need to understand its mechanics in order to make it work for us.
What follows is largely concerned with exams needing written answers, rather than mathematically-based subjects.
Frustrating Examiners This section applies as much to writing course work as to examination answers
When you consider writing essays, also consider person who will have to read them. He/she has a psychology. Make it work for you, not against you. Most examiners do their job well and effectively but...
Exam assessors usually have a mountain of scripts to wade through. They like to get through them faster rather than slower, with relative ease rather than difficulty. When they find a script which facilitates two former objects, they are delighted and their disposition towards writer soars.
A great frustration is caused by having to into essay to discover whether or not student has given a correct or acceptable answer. Sometimes this job is very difficult. The examiner has to re and reread essay to discover what is actually being said. Sometimes an actual decision has to be made by examiner as to whether a correct answer has, in fact, been given, because composition is so obtuse.Some method is needed which will avoid this situation and which will improve examiner's disposition towards writer.
Writing Effectively Writing effectively in exams is really not that difficult. There is a simple technique which can be used and adopted to virtually every type of question.
The technique is to divide your essay into three (unequal) parts: 1. An introduction 2. An expansion of 1; 3. A conslusion. Numbers 1 and 3 are quite short and basically say same thing except in rather different ways.
1. is critical and is a short version of answer. This lets examiner know immediately that you know what you are talking about. It require slight differences of emphases depending on actual wording of question.
For example, a question which asks something like "What are factors which influence..." needs an introductory answer which starts something like: "The factors which influence so-and-so are... " And you mention them in descending order of importance. A question of type: "Discuss such-and-such..." needs an answer which starts something like: "When discussing such-and-such one needs to take account of..." and then mention major points which you consider to be important and which you are going to discuss.
