Do you offer study sheets for your exams?
From time to time, students ask me about a study sheet for an exam. Unfortunately, I have never gotten a very clear answer to the question
I pose in reply: "What is a study sheet?"
- Is it a list of all possible questions that might appear on an exam?
- Such a list would be huge and impossible to provide, because I write some new questions for every exam.
- Is it a list of sample questions?
- When students want a pre-exam review session, I normally begin the session with a description of the exam (total number of questions,
how many are multiple choice, matching or true/false, an estimate of the proportion of questions for each chapter, etc.), followed by a
couple of pages of sample questions. So this type of 'study sheet' is provided at the reviews.
- Is it a list of possible topics for the exam?
- Well, that's easy. The possible topics are already listed
in the textbook chapters and your notes. The most important
topics will be the ones that are extensively covered in both
the text and the notes. The next most important topics will
be ones that are more thoroughly discussed in the notes than
in the text. The least important topics will be ones that the
book mentions but that aren't in the notes. Pay particular attention
to textbook figures that are discussed extensively, like the
Key Figures contained in each chapter.
As you can see, the concept of a study sheet is a pretty amorphous one. And
no matter what I might offer, some will feel that there should be something
else.
My personal suspicion is that some students view a study sheet as a "magic
bullet sheet" that would allow them to get a better grade with less work. This
is analogous to a "magic bullet exercise" or "magic bullet diet" that would
allow one to get in shape without having to work at it. As I'm sure you know,
there really aren't such things. If you want to get into shape, it's gonna take
time and hard work. The same holds true with learning class material.
Unfortunately, there are also a very few students who view such work as anathema, and want a study sheet not for assistance or as an adjunct to
their own work, but as a substitute for doing any work. I have earned all my degrees; I have no inclination to do these students'
work and earn their degrees for them.
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