Open book exams require you to:
You need to study for Open Book exams just as you would for any exam. If you know your subject, you'll have a knowledge base to draw on. You will also understand how and why topics are linked. This style of learning equips you well for exams and 'real life' experiences. If you don't study you won't know how to find answers and–books or no books–you can't answer the questions.
Familiarise yourself with texts and notes, and make sure you can locate important information. Be familiar with your materials so you will not waste valuable exam time searching through them. Prepare your environment
Work out the materials and resources you will take into the exam room.
Don't overload with materials. Only take what you need into an Open Book exam. Carefully select your materials and resources and organise them for quick reference. The same goes for writing implements. Make sure you have spare pens, pencils and erasers. If you need any other tools, make sure they all work and pack them neatly. For those using non-solar calculators, don't forget spare batteries!
If you are doing a Take Home exam, gather readings, notes and resources together beforehand and organise them neatly in your study area at home. Make sure you have enough paper, pens etc. Set up a quiet space where you can concentrate, and where you can work without interruptions.
For Open Book exams, find out:
For Take Home exams, find out:
When you prepare your notes, don't waste time guessing possible questions or trying to prepare 'model' answers–preprepared answers don't work. Essay style questions will tend toward a 'free' response rather than a fixed 'single right answer' question, so formula answers don't fit. However, you do need to have 'thought through' conceptual frameworks and philosophical positions, and have some general conclusions in mind. You don't need to know everything, but you need to know how to find the relevant information.
Your lecturer or tutor may provide some sample questions or a dry run. You might also want to check out some past exam papers in the Library.
On the night before the exam, don't stay up until all hours studying. You'll be fuzzy, stressed and unable to think clearly.
A large amount of materials might make you feel secure, but you'll probably work best relying on no more than a few pages of notes and a few well-chosen texts.
Spend some time making your reference materials as user-friendly as possible so that you don't waste time frantically flipping pages back and forth or shuffling papers. Unless you're sitting a Take Home exam, you'll need to work within a short time limit (a few hours). To do this well, try to have the essential facts, formulae, etc. at your finger tips. Also, writing a flow chart to show how the relevant topics are connected is very helpful.
Before the exam
Make some useful notes for yourself
See next: Sitting the exam