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Exam Skills For Science Students

In the exam-room (science subjects):

a. Essay questions.

Much of the above advice also applies to essays in the Science subjects. In particular:

• Choose your questions carefully. Remember the proverb "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"! So make sure you allow sufficient time to think through what the question is asking, and then plan your line of argument before you start to answer the question.

• Planning your essay is essential. It often helps to think about what the conclusion paragraph will address first, so that you make sure you cover all the points that are relevant to that conclusion, and to extraneous ones.

• Address the question directly. To do so, you want to engage continually with the actual question set. Additional padding is not only unnecessary it wastes valuable time better spent answering the questions set.

• Develop an argument. Don't just describe the contents of a lecture or regurgitate examples. An essay is a bit like a book review. It should contain a clear and reasoned line of argumentation about the problem set, with evidence for and against, culminating with your own conclusions.

• Aiming at the right level. In order for the examiner to know how well you understand the material you need to explain what the critical issues are. Don't make assumptions that the examiner knows what you think. Imagine you are writing to someone who knows your general subject area but is one year below you. Above all don't waste time and space on terms like "Importantly" unless you justify why you have used such terms.

• Keep to time. You can't score highly on an essay question that is merely a series of bullet points, or one that contains just a couple of paragraphs with no line or argumentation and/or no conclusion. Consequently it is important that you allocate approximately equal amounts of time to questions of equal weight.

b. Problem-type questions.

• Be sure to read the rubric ultra-carefully and answer the right number of questions, from the appropriate sections.
• Make a huge effort to answer the specified number of questions. Don't get stuck on one or two questions only.
• Re-read the question. Did you read it carefully the first time? Make sure not to miss any bits of it out.

• Put into practice the tactics you have developed during revision to prevent panic when faced with a difficult problem: draw a picture, make a list, write an equation or formula to help you get going.

CUSU provides confidential, free, non-judgemental support and information to individual students. Contact the CUSU Education Officer, Welfare Officer or Women's Officer by email, phone or by dropping into the office if you would like support or information on any topic.