Strategies for Answering Examination Questions: Tips for You to Practice !
How you write in an exam will differ depending on the type of question being asked. Exam questions may be:
- Multiple choice, where you have to choose an answer from a set list.
- Short question, where you have to provide a one-word, one sentence, or short paragraph answer to a question.
- Essay question, where you have to provide a longer, essay-style answer to a question.
- A mixture of the above.
The type of questions in an exam will differ between disciplines and between modules, so make sure you understand which type(s) of questions you will have to answer. If you are in doubt, check with your lecturer.
- Multiple Choice Questions:
These questions present several options, with only one correct answer. While they may seem straightforward, they require careful consideration to avoid falling for traps.
- True or False Questions:
With only two options, true or false questions demand precision and attention to detail. They may appear simple, but they can be deceptively tricky.
- Short Answer Questions:
Short answer questions typically require concise responses that directly address the prompt. They test your ability to communicate ideas succinctly.
- Essay Questions:
Essay questions are more open-ended, allowing you to explore topics in depth. They assess your analytical skills, critical thinking, and ability to articulate complex ideas coherently.
- Read through the options and try to eliminate the ones that aren’t right.
- Multi-choice questions usually have one option that is obviously wrong, and three or four others that are similar.
- It is important to look carefully at how they are worded in order to select the correct answer.
- Don’t struggle over a question.
- Do all of the easy questions first and come back to harder ones later to maximise efficient use of test/exam time.
- Answer all the questions.
- Even if you are not sure, your educated guess may well be correct.
- It is better to have a go at answering a question than potentially miss out on a mark.
- When you check back through your paper and think an answer is wrong - change the answer.
- Research indicates that you will probably be correct in doing so.
Short answer questions range from a sentence or two through to a paragraph in length.
- Keep to the point. Short answers are usually two-three sentences.
- Main ideas. Your answers should incorporate the key points, words, ideas and phrases the marker will be looking for.
- Leave one or two lines after each answer. This is so you can add important points later on.
- Try to answer all the questions.
- If you don’t know the complete answer, put down what you do know, as this is likely to get you some marks.
The advice here is in four parts: Time allocation | Task analysis | Planning | Presentation
Time allocation
- Use the reading time at the start of the exam to choose which essay questions you will answer.
- Check how much time you might have to answer each essay question, and stick to it.
- You can come back and add more to your answer in your revision time at the end of the exam session.
- If you haven’t finished your answer, jot down the rest in note form.
- This will show the marker what you know, and you might get some marks for it.
Task analysis
- Read the question carefully.
- Underline or highlight the content words. What is the topic?
- Pick out the instruction words in the question, e.g. identify, describe, compare and contrast, evaluate.
- What are you being asked to do with the topic?
Planning
- Take some time to think and plan your answer.
- For example: use the reading time to select which essay questions you will answer.
- Then use the start of the writing time (5-20mins) to make notes of all the points you remember that are relevant to the essay.
- General guide for timing: for 30 minutes of writing, allow 5-7 minutes for planning.
- Plan out the structure by organising your points into a logical order:
- e.g. by numbering them according to intended sequence.
- General writing rule for exam essays - one paragraph = one point.
- Follow standard essay-writing procedure, e.g. start with a topic sentence that contains your key point, and then support this with examples, explanations, and evidence.
Presentation
- Make sure your handwriting is legible. Markers should not have to decipher your handwriting.
- If your handwriting is illegible, it could compromise your marks.
- Make sure that you can express ideas effectively in terms of sentence structure and word use.
- Incoherent sentences and incorrect terminology will likely result in the marker not being able to understand your answer properly.
- Don’t worry too much about punctuation, grammar and spelling.
- Getting your ideas down is more important than ‘perfect’ writing (and markers usually take this into account given that students are writing under pressure in an exam situation). However, you do need a basic level of competency in these areas: an answer that lacks any punctuation and is full of spelling mistakes will probably be incoherent for the marker.
- Don't waffle. Get straight to the point in terms of your answer so that you don’t waste time and word space on unessential or irrelevant detail.
- Planning your essay beforehand is key to avoiding waffle.
Problem solving questions Problem Solving Questions Usually these types of questions target formulae, steps in a process, or rules.
- Make sure you write down relevant formulas, equations, and rules.
- Important: For numerical problems involving computation, make sure you include the appropriate mathematical units in your final answer (e.g. ml, m/sec).
- Clearly show the steps you have taken in working out the answers.
- If necessary, write notes to explain your answers.
- Do the easier answers first, and return to the difficult ones later.
Conclusions
Answering exam questions is an art that requires careful preparation, critical thinking, and effective time management. By understanding the nuances of different question types and employing strategic approaches to tackle them, you can maximise your chances of success. Remember to stay calm, focused, and confident in your knowledge and abilities.
FAQs
Q. What are multiple choice exams?
Ans.
Multiple-choice exams are usually very different to normal exams. Rather than having to know information unaided, multiple choice exams require you to identify the correct (or incorrect) answer/s from a selection of options. Sometimes in multiple choice exams, the answer is one of a number of very similar answers. Therefore, it can be important to learn the specific details of content that could be questioned.
Advice for multiple choice exams
If you are unsure of an answer, use reasoning to narrow down the potential answers and increase the odds of you getting the correct answer. Avoid guessing based on poor reasoning such as, “it hasn’t been C in a while, or the last two were A and B”. Think critically of the answers to reduce the amount. Sometimes answers are the opposite of each other meaning that one of them is right and the other wrong. If the answer isn’t obvious to you, you can try turning the statements into true or false.
In some multiple-choice exams, you are able to skip questions that you are unsure of before answering them later on. This will mean that you can spend more time on questions that you do know the answer to. Once you have answered the other questions go back to the original question and use what time you have left to answer them. Crucially, you should answer every question, (even with a guess if you are unsure), except in exams where you lose marks for getting a question wrong. This may gain you extra marks by chance.
Work out how long you have to answer each question and stick to it where possible, moving on to the next question before your time is up on a question. If you do have time left over, rather than leaving early, review your answers for any mistakes.
Reading mistakes are a big cause of lost marks in multiple choice exams. Make sure you read each question carefully and answer carefully before clicking submit.
Think about what your own answer to the question is before reading the options given to you.
Multiple choice exams often test you only on the resources that you have been given by your lecturer. Therefore, focus your revision on these materials. Sometimes lecturers may post additional reading on blackboard, these may be inside the scope of the exam and should be revised.
Use apps such as Quizlet to create multiple choice questions out of content. This can be useful for learning terms and definitions and to practice identifying the correct answer in multiple choice questions.
Q. Exam performance: How do I do it?
Ans.
In the exam:
- Take time to decide what is required of you.
- Decide how long you need for each question.
- Identify key words in the questions - our guide.
It can be tempting to focus on questions where you feel more confident, and spend more time in the exam answering those questions. However, it is easier to gain enough marks to pass an exam by passing each question. Generally you will not gain enough marks to pass from just one or two answers, even if they are to a very high standard. You should therefore spend an equal amount of time on questions worth the same number of marks. Allocate an amount of time for each question based upon how many marks they are worth and move on to the next question if you have used up the allotted time. If you have access to them, have a look at past papers or example questions for your exam well in advance. Look at what types of question are being asked and how marks are allocated.
If the exam is handwritten, it may be useful to practice writing for similar lengths of time to the exam.
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