CENTRE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR OPEN BOOK EXAMS • Emphasise to students that this type of exam is not easy and does not mean that they do not need to prepare

• Provide opportunity for students to practice using the open book exam method during the teaching period so they are familiar with this assessment procedure

• Make explicit the type of thinking skills (application, critical thinking, interpretation etc.) being tested by this type of assessment

• Outline the style of questions to be in the exam i.e. questions about the application of knowledge to information or cases, use of formulas - working out and explanation of answers

• Be explicit about the topics to be covered and what will be expected of students when working on the exam questions

• Provide details about the length of exam and exam structure i.e. multiple choice questions, short-answer, long response, and any referencing requirements

• Instruct students on preparing for the open book exam through showing them how to clearly focus and ‘chunk’ the course content (including all course materials) into summary form through devising a “memory aid” or summary of these notes and resources that can be used as their reference when sitting the exam

Guidance on the creation of a “memory aid” for open book exams

• The memory aid is to be a single A4 page of any colour paper• It can be written in any language• The memory aid can be hand written or typed in any typeface• If the student has a recognised vision impairment then there is allowance for larger paper sizes or multiple pages

(as noted in their Academic Integration Plan)• The memory aid is handed in at the end of the exam

Study Sheet Templates for Open Book Exams

Sections of Study Sheet AREA OF STUDY

GLOSSARY OF TERMS •

• • •

• • • •

TOPICS KEY CONCEPTS

TOPICS REFERENCES (Academic papers, textbook – chapters and page numbers)

DIAGRAM OR MIND MAP OF CONTENT

TEXT Book Title

PLOT STRUCTURE OUTLINE OF EACH

Introduction

Call to Action

Missing Action

Sub-plot

Climax

Polling Action

Resolution/Binding

THEME SUB-THEMES RELATED TEXTS

CHARACTERS SETTING

Explain what it MEANS: Explain why it MATTERS:

KEY QUOTES (cite with Page #)

TOPIC TEXTBOOK

GLOSSARY OF TERMS • • • •

ESSAY CONTENT

Introduction

Body Paragraph 1

Body Paragraph 2

Body Paragraph 3

Body Paragraph 4

Conclusion

THEME SYLLABUS CONNECTIONS / LINKS

Explain what is MEANS and why it MATTERS:

QUOTE (cite with Page #)

Explain what is MEANS and why it MATTERS:

QUOTE (cite with Page #)

MATHS

Diagrams and Graphs

Topic Formulas and Theorems

TOPIC 1 TOPIC 2 TOPIC 3

TOPIC 4 TOPIC 5 TOPIC 6

TOPIC 7 TOPIC 8 TOPIC 9

TOPIC 10 TOPIC 11 TOPIC 12

HISTORY • Topic Area

Summary

Timeline / Date Event Summary

TOPIC 1 TOPIC 2

TOPIC 3 TOPIC 4

Source Primary /

Secondary Detail