Prepare:
- Write what you have learned and what you think the purpose of the class has been.
- Talk though the content with someone else in the class. Compare your interpretations.
- Write a set of questions you would ask if you were the instructor and wanted to know if your students understood the material.
- Write your own set of responses to these, and/or exchange sets of questions with someone else in the class. Then discuss your answers.
Taking the exam:
- Plan your time.
- Give the most time to the highest point-valued questions.
- Allow extra time at the end for edits.
- Start with a mini outline to organize your thoughts. You can add to the outline as you write your answer. Your resulting essay will likely be more compact, complete, clear, and organized.
- Take time to reread your essay for:
- Spelling
- Omitted words and parts of words
- Omitted parts of questions
- Hastily written dates and figures (reversals such as 1935 for 1953)
- If you run short on time, outline the rest of the essay you didn’t get to. (Partial credit!!)