Types of assignments

Multiple-choice exams consist in questions followed by a choice of answers. 
These suggestions can help with these types of exams:

• careful reading of the questions;
• evaluation of each answer and underlining keywords;
• review of course materials; 
• concept maps can help with summarising and remembering concepts;
• attention to negatives and terms like always or never;
• many textbooks offer practice questions.

Short-answer exams request a concise but thorough answer to questions. 
These suggestions can help with these types of exams:

• course outlines give a sense of the themes around which the course is organised;
• study notes (both from lectures and own reading) should be organised around these major themes;
• the instructions for the questions should be read carefully;
• the distribution of marks and length of the questions should inform how long to spend on each question;
• it is important to understand what is being asked and how it should be answered.

Essay-type exams requires students to formulate a coherent argument and analysis.
These suggestions can help with these types of exams:

• course outlines give a sense of the themes around which the course is organised;
• study notes (both from lectures and own reading) should be organised around these major ideas;
• a draft outline of the answer would help guide the paragraphs and sections;
• instructions should be read carefully;
• the distribution of marks and length of the questions should inform how long to spend on each question;
• it is important to understand what is being asked and how it should be answered;
• each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, outlining its main theme.

With seen exams, students are given the questions beforehand.

The most important aspect with these types of exams is not to try to learn the answer by heart; rather, it is more important to try to understand the question in context and the main theories and ideas that should discussed.

Some useful suggestions:

• research the question topic as if it were a normal assignment;
• gather notes from both lectures and own reading;
• it is important to understand what is being asked and how it should be answered;
• each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, outlining its main theme.

Open-book exams allow students to consult sources while sitting the exam. The main focus of these exams are testing the students' ability to reason and research, rather than their ability to remember data and facts.

Some useful suggestions:

• it is important to understand what is being asked and how it should be answered;
• each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, outlining the main points of the paragraph.

One of the best ways to prepare for your exams is to practise using past papers. You can search for available past exam papers in FINDit, using the module code or title, and selecting Exam Papers from the Search option.