Thongsook College BA TESOL Teaching Tips

May 14
3 min read

Exam techniques

Teaching students how to take exams.

Taking exams is not easy for many students, but it remains an integral part of their education. Hopefully, by providing tips and demonstrating the benefits of organizing, they will be able to manage future exams with increased confidence and success.

Timothy Cornwall, PhD

In my experience, few students have been given insight into how to approach an exam or into the importance of understanding the exam's scoring scheme in terms of the time allowed.

Taking an exam or pacing yourself correctly when completing something under time constraints is a particularly important and useful skill, not only in academia but also in the real world.

I take time to instruct students on how to be more competent exam-takers, and, through the exams I give, I help them put this theory into practice.

Read First

It is surprising how many students do not read the exam before they start, and they begin with the first question and work their way through. This is not a clever idea, especially if the first question is difficult and hurts their confidence. My first question is always difficult and invariably worth one or two points.

“Read through the questions,” I recommend, “then make a list with three columns. Then do a pre-writing analysis of the question's difficulty and the score you can expect.”

Planning for Success

In the first column, list the questions in order of difficulty, starting with the easiest. In the second column, record the maximum points awarded for each question. Third, estimate the score you believe you can achieve. Finally, add up the figures in the third column, and, hopefully, the total will be sufficient for a passing grade. On many exams, I provide this chart and notes, and students know why the aid is there and use it.

When students know they can pass an exam, particularly a difficult one, they should be able to relax. And while they still need to write it, this reduction in tension should help them work on the exam more efficiently. In addition, as they work on easier questions, they may find that the initially tough questions have become easier.

It is not a perfect solution and is not always applicable, for example, with listening tests. With reading and writing tests, however, I encourage students to answer the questions in any order they choose based on the above guide.

Time-score Ratio

When taking an exam, divide the time allowed by the number of questions and points being awarded. I find it heartbreaking when strong students spend an inordinate amount of time answering a question worth four points and then run out of time to complete the last question worth twenty.

In a two-hour exam, I recommend taking 10 minutes at the start to read the exam and complete the calculations mentioned above, and to try to spare 10 more minutes at the end to review the answers, or to have enough time in case a question takes longer to answer than planned, with a 120-minute exam, which leaves 100 minutes to work on the exam itself.

Then return to the table and add two more columns. In the fourth column, record how many minutes it should take to complete each answer. In the last column, record the time the first question starts and create a schedule as to when you should start answering the rest of the questions.

I like to proctor my own exams so that I can write the start, finish, and remaining times on the board. While I do not want to disturb the students, I will write how much time remains every 10 minutes, and I find that many students realize that they are behind schedule and pick up the pace.