Exam Preparation
Open book
An open book exam means that you can take your notes, specified books and other references into the exam room. This will probably vary with the subject and the lecturer concerned.
Open book exams can be a trap because you might think that you do not need to concentrate on revising the subject to the same extent as a closed book exam. WRONG!
There are three main areas that your preparation must encompass:
- Prepare properly
You must prepare as if you were sitting a closed book exam. - Know your subject
If you do not know your subject matter when you are actually doing the exam, the notes and books that you take in with you will be of little help. - Making revision notes
- Make sure that the notes you prepare for your exam are:
- Concise
- Easily understood, and
- Easily accessed in the exam.
- Know your books
Know your way around the relevant textbooks:- Identify the appropriate sections so that you can access them during the exam without having to search the text
- Identify key arguments. Provided the text books belong to you, this can be done using coloured highlighter pens, sticky paper notes, or, if necessary, brief annotations.