Take-Home Exams
What are take home exams?
Open-book exams allow you to take notes, texts or resource materials into an exam situation. They test your ability to find and apply information and knowledge, so are often used in subjects requiring direct reference to written materials, like articles and books.
Our take home open-book exam will allow you do it at home. Question(s) are handed out, answers are attempted without help from others, and the exam is returned within a specified period of time (24 hours).
What kinds of material can be used?
The materials you can take into an open-book exam include:
your notesyour jurnalreadings, reference materials, textbooksall the library resources.
The main restriction for take-home exams is that they must be your work—you must attempt them by yourself without any help from others.
Why are some exams open book?
Open-book exams test for more than just rote-learning. At university, simply memorizing and repeating information is not enough to get you a good mark. Higher education is supposed to equip you with intellectual abilities and skills. Open-book exams test your ability to quickly find relevant information and then to understand, analyze, apply knowledge and think critically.
What kinds of questions will an open-book exam have?
Open-book exams don't test your memory; they test your ability to find and use information for problem solving, and to deliver well-structured and well-presented arguments and solutions.
Open-book exam questions usually require you to apply knowledge, and they may be essay-style questions or involve problem solving or delivering solutions. The style of question depends on the faculty or school setting the exam.
Misconceptions about open book exams
1) Open-book exams are a breeze
Open-book exams are not an easy option. Answering the questions well requires more than just copying information straight from texts. For example, having access to a textbook can stop you from giving a wrong answer if you can't remember a fact or information. In open-book exams, it's how you locate, apply and use the information that is important.
2) You don't have to study
Probably the biggest misconception about open-book exams is that there is no need to study. You should study just as you would for any other exam. Having books and notes to refer to might mean you don't have to memorize as much information, but you still need to be able to apply it effectively.
This means you must fully understand and be familiar with the content and materials of your course so you can find and use the appropriate information. In open-book exams, you need to quickly find the relevant information in the resources you have. If you don't study, you won't know where to find the information.
3) You can just copy straight from the book!
You can't copy chunks of text directly from textbooks or notes. This is plagiarism. In open-book exams, the resource materials are made available to you, so you are expected to do more than just reproduce them. You must be able to find, interpret and apply the information in your sources to the exam questions. You usually need to reference as well, just as you would for any other assignment.
4) The more materials the better!
Don't get carried away and overload with materials and resources in the exam—only take what you need. Stacks of books won't necessarily guarantee your performance, and you won't have time for extensive reading. Too many materials can end up distracting you and crowding up your workspace. Carefully select your materials and organize them for quick reference. Ifyou've just been assigned a take home exam and think that doing well on it will be a piece of cake, think again. Take home exams can be tricky. The main advantage is that you are free of the stress of the exam room and all the issues around timed writing. The main disadvantage is that they will be difficult. They will require that you think carefully and know the material well. So, here are some strategies on how to ace the take home exam.
Organize yourself
Once you get your exam, read it thoroughly and carefully. Assemble all the materials you will need and keep them in on place. This includes the course readings, assignments, and most importantly your notes, handouts, and any online materials your professor has given you.
Use your time wisely
That especially applies if you are on a 24-hour deadline. The great gift of a take-home exam is that you will have some flexibility and more time than for a regular exam. So, don't start the exam at the last minute. Since we were taking submissions online, ı do not want to get some panicky emails about computer failure right before deadline. No dice. If you miss the deadline because you started late, there are absolutely no extensions. So, try to upload the exam paper 2 hours before the submission deadline.
You can review material you've covered. And you can take some time to do a quick study on some articles or organize your course materials. Also, read the course outline and notes closely. There may be additional notes associated with the topic. These will help you cut to main ideas, and you can be sure this is the material will show up on the exam. To answer the question, check for that topic in the course outline, then find the associated readings. Your answers to your take home exam will be in there.
Focus and draft your answers
Don't feel compelled to write the first thing that comes into your head just to get the exam over with. You have the time to draft each answer. Note the places in the readings that are relevant. Make a short outline (even for the short answer questions). Note the authors of the readings you have used and refer to them. Then write your answer from the outline, Then, revise it.
Read the instructions carefully
Ninety per cent of the students who lose marks in my classes do so because they don't read instructions carefully. The instructions on a take home test are extremely important,
Don't do the exam with your classmate
Your friend won't have the answer to the test. Sometimes, people who consult with each other end up turning in similar answers. I have seen this, and I have had to file plagiarism reports for students who submitted answers that were disarmingly similar.
Edit your work
The main advantage of a take home exam is the flexibility you get to create the best answers you can. One task you should do is to edit your work. I am more lenient on an in-class handwritten exam than I am on a take home where there is some time to edit. So, be sure to fix spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and to hand in the best possible version of your work.
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