Essay-Type Exams

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• Essay-Type Exams
• Dr. Mark Matthews
• Student Learning

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Essay-Type Exams

• Discuss concepts issues in depth
• Develop an argument
• Your choices are
• What to say?
• How to say it?

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Today

1. Where marks are lost?
2. How to do well
3. Practice
4. Writing Style

Sources Exam Guide, SU Student Learning How to
Do Badly in Examinations, Dr. Frank Bannister
How to Succeed in Exams.. , McMillan Weyers
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Grading
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Grading
I Thorough, deep understanding Critical thinking,
insight, creativity Well written Nearly all
points II.I Good grasp of subject Critical
Analytical thinking Logical Clear
Presentation Nearly all key points
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Grading
II.II Solid Answer Knowledge beyond lectures Good
on facts Writing good, some structure III Knowledg
e Facts, but little insight Narrow/ No critical
thought Poorly written / incoherent F Little
Factual Content Errors
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Where marks are lost
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Time Wasting

• Writing out the question
• Pointless Definitions / Quotes

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Unbalance Answers

• Maximum gains for time are in
• the early stages of your answer
• Plan your time in advance
• Rehearse producing quality
• work in time available
• Equal Time for Equal Marks

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Unnecessary content

• Taking a long time to get to the point
• Irrelevance
• Repetition
• Present what you know
• Add Value
• Get to the point

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Over-complication

• What is meant by each of the following data
• mining terms? In each case, include a
• simple example to illustrate your answer.
• Decision trees
• Clustering
• Accuracy
• Coverage.
• (8 Marks)

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Over-complication

• Decision trees are used in data mining as a way
  of progressively
• breaking down data into groups. As this happens,
  the number in each
• classification may be noted. A customer database
  may break down as
• 70 male, 30 female. The males may be divided
  into those that
• spend over 1,000 a year with us (90) and those
  that do not (10).
• The same subdivision for female shows that only
  2 of females spend
• over 1,000 with us. The high spending males
  break-down into 77
• under 30 and 23 over 30 years of age. When
  females are divided
• into high and low spending, it might be found
  that 80 of high spenders
• are repeat customers and 20 are not. Low
  spending females, on the
• other hand, might be 90 non repeating customers.
  A parallel analysis
• of high spending male customers might show that

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How you lose marks

• Re-interpreting the Question
• Poor English
• Bullet Points
• Lack of structure (aka Brain Dumping)
• General Statements
• Padding

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Re-Interpreting the Question

• What is/are the function(s) of merchants?
• Merchants emerged in the USA, the UK, Japan and
• Germany. In the USA the merchant was highly
  regarded
• and the more wealth that he accumulated the
  higher his
• status. Many merchants demonstrated their status
  by
• building large properties and endowing public
  works. In
• Japan the status of the merchant was low.
  Merchants were
• at the bottom of the social order behind samurai
  and even
• peasants. The latter were at least seen as
  creating
• something merchants were viewed as necessary
• parasites. Etc.

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Generalities

• What is meant by the term data mining?
• Data mining is an important technique used
• in computer systems. Companies use data
• mining to mine data. Many companies
• today use data mining for a variety of
• applications.

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Padding

• Work breakdown structures are important. They
  are used in all projects including civil,
• mechanical and electrical engineering projects as
  well as software projects. Work
• breakdown structures decompose the work to be
  done in a project into successively
• smaller components. The result is a hierarchical
  structure. This is usually done by the
• project manager, but may be done by sub managers
  or engineers. Being able to prepare
• a work breakdown is an important project
  management skill and needs experience.
• Specialist engineers may be required to complete
  a WBS where specialised work is
• involved. The work breakdown structure enables
  the project manager to estimate more
• accurately and later on helps in controlling the
  project. A typical breakdown may start
• with a project being divided into phases, stages,
  activities and tasks. The lowest level in
• the breakdown is usually a task though
  occasionally task may be further subdivided into
• sub-task or even steps. The number of tasks in
  a project can be very large. The absence of a
  work
• breakdown structure can cause problems in a
  project as it may not be possible to estimate
  accurately
• or assign work effectively. If the work
  breakdown structure is not complete in some way,
  then the
• project is almost certain to overrun. One
  project manager was quoted as saying that a good
  work
• breakdown structure is of monumental
  importance. A proper work breakdown structure
  is normally
• coded with a simple numeric coding system. The
  work breakdown structure may also be reflected in
  a
• Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is a sort of
  horizontal bar chart used for showing the timing
  and duration of
• the various stages of a project.

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How to Do Well
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Answer the Question
Demonstrating that you understand the question is
the first step in producing an answer How you
structure your answer is as important as what you
know More is not necessarily better
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First of All

• Understand what is being asked
• Only answer the QUESTION
• Do not include irrelevant material
• Look for keywords Cause Effect
• Explain Discuss
• Compare Contrast

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Step-by-Step Method

• Read Question
• Capture your idea
• Do quick outline
• You can adjust as you answer
• Then begin to write your answer

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Introduction

• The introduction is about the question not the
  answer
• Restate the question in your own words
• Find and use the key words
• Show that you know what the point of the question
  is by defining the key words/concepts/theories
  etc (see handout on key verbs).

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Structure for essay writing

• Introduction
• Main body divided into paragraphs (make point,
  expand and give evidence)
• Conclusion
• Adapted from Rosenwasser, David and Jill
  Stephen. Writing Analytically. 3rd ed. Boston
  Heinle/Thompson Learning. Inc, 2003. Seattle
  University Writing Centre. For more information
  Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference. 5th ed.
  Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2003.

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Equal time for equal marks

• Leave time at beginning (to plan) and end (to
  check) paper.

Question 3 40 minutes
Question 4 40 minutes
Question 2 40 minutes
Question 1 40 minutes
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How to do well

1. Provide Analytical Answer (not descriptive)
2. Describe the context situation
3. Discuss the implications (theoretical
   practical)
4. Display evidence of reading/ thinking around
   debate
5. Cover all sides

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Practice
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How do you prepare?

1. What do you do the week before the exam?
2. What do you do in the exam?

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Not practicing leads to..

• Poor Handwriting
• Brain Dumping
• Irrelevant Material
• Poor Structure
• Running out of time
• Anxiety

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Would you sit your driving test without ever
driving a car?
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Practice makes perfect
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Practice Exam Skills

• 50 how well you know your material
• 50 performance in exams
• Knowing something is not the same as being able
  to do it when the situation demands it.
• You need to practice in a simulated environment.

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Steps to Practice

• Get sample exam questions
• Practice your starting procedures
• Practice analysing questions (5 mins)
• Practice generating ideas (5 mins)
• Practice developing a structure (5 mins)
• Practice writing Introduction (5 mins)
• Practice past exam questions (timed and un timed)
• Mark your own answers as critically as possibly

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Study preparation

1. Generate a list of major topics using your notes
   and past exam papers.
2. Create a chart or summary sheet of the main
   topics and any relationship between themes.
3. Generate ideas and plan an outline for each
   question
4. Follow a structure and review your essays (time
   spent and quality of your answers)

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Exam Writing
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Writing

• Not the same level as assessment
• Keep your writing simple
• Short sentences
• Few sub-clauses
• Practice writing
• Avoid unsupported value judgements
• - World War II was really important.

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Think about your examiner
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Tour Guide

• This is the broad area, but these are the key
  issues because
• Use signpost words to develop your argument
• Headings to delineate sections

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Exam Revision Workshop
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Student Learning Development
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