Top 5 Weaknesses in Students' Answers

As an examiner, I would like to point out some of the most common weaknesses in students' answers that can be avoided. These are the top 10 weaknesses in students' answers:

1. Fail to plan and prepare for the answer
The reason of showing the marks allocation on each of the exam question is to allow the student to plan for their answer. A question with 10 marks will need more points or depth of discussion as compare to question with 2 marks which requires brief explanation. The length of the answer may varies according to the marks allocated. This will reflect on time management too (this is why many students always complain that they do not have enough time to complete their answers in the final exam).

2. Do not pay attention to the question verbs
All examiner who set exam questions need to comply with the Bloom's taxonomy according to the level of the paper. Various verbs can be used to assess different level of intellectual which requires different answers. Failing to provide what the question verbs require will result in poor answer. For example, lower level verb like 'define' is just to give meaning of a term whereas 'discuss' is to examine in detail by using arguments for and against.

3. Writing down all you know
Some student do not bother with the scope of the question asked but rather look at a few keywords in the questions. With that, they will provide the answers based on what they know about these few keywords and give long lists or writing down all they know about a the subject area,  without caring whether it is relevant or not. Hence, the student may thought that they have answered all the questions completely and did a good job in the exam but will not get the marks as they are forcing irrelevancies into answers. (Hey! examiners do read your answers before awarding marks. We don't just look at quantity but 'QUALITY' of your answer).

4. Repeating and duplicating the same answer
Please note that when examiners set the question paper, they will have to map out the question according to course learning outcomes. Which mean that each question in an exam paper will be assessing on a specific topic. Each question will not overlap with another or repeat the same topic or area. Therefore, if a student is repeating the same answer/material in different parts of answers, it shows that there are limited knowledge and understanding of the course; mainly focusing too narrowly on one area.

5. Only theories and concepts
In social science, students are taught to be practical and able to apply what they learn at real working environment. Although the fundamentals and principles which covers theories and concepts are important, most of the exam questions would assess on the application or practicality of the learned theories and concepts. This make more sense to have essay or case study questions in the exam. As stated in Weaknesses No.2, many exam questions with more marks allocated requires student to not just to state the theories or concepts by to apply them with illustration or examples.

There you go, the five most common weaknesses that I think can be improved. With this feedback, I look forward to see better exam answers from my own students.

To all learners, all the best!

Spell Check is Important

I always tell others to check the spelling when writing in exam or for the assignment; and this is why spell check is important:

Top 5 Tips for Essay Writing in Exam

Most of the final examination would requires a student to write a full essay, especially you are asked to discuss on a particular topic, compare and contrast, analyse, evaluate and give recommendations. Therefore, you will need to make sure that you can present your essay in a professional and yet resourceful manner. Remember, your examiner will be looking for good content of your answer and at the same time, the ease of reading your essay for understanding. That's how you can earn more marks for your answer given.

The following are 5 simple tips to improve your essay:

#1: Essay should consist of 'introduction, body and conclusion';

#2: Use paragraphs to differentiate the main discussion points;

#3: Provide a simple heading for each section of discussion (i.e. The Advantages of Using Mass Media); 

#4: Construct short and simple sentences for the ease of understanding; 

#5: Don't start your essay by giving examples. Examples should be given after your explanation on the discussion point.

All the best!

Top 5 Tools Needed For Examination

As a student, final examination is always the most challenging and stressful assessement. However, you can reduce the stress and challenges by preparing yourself well, not just to have the knowledge and skills to answer the exam questions but to have the right tools ready to go for your final examination.
The top 5 tools needed for examination:
#1: Ball Pen (preferably black color)
Always bring more than 1 pen when you go for exam as contingency. You will never know when the ball pen will run out of ink, got stuck or leaking. Why black? It makes your answer bold and solid - looks more confident and easy to read.
#2: A Watch
You need to time yourself because it is better to have enough time to attempt all the questions rather than spend all the time on a few questions. Do not rely on the clock in the exam hall. Nothing is better to have your own timer on your desk.
#3: Correction Tape
If possible, use the correction tap instead of liquid type corrector. You need time to wait for it to dry and it may not be smooth for you to make the necessary corrections. If not dried, it may be very messy too.
#4: Ruler
It is good to have a ruler in case you need to draw lines. For example, drawing tables, charts, diagrams or underlying key points/titles for essay.
#5: Water Bottle
Exam hall can be very cold and dry. Always make sure you have some water to drink when you feel thirsty. Thirsty means unfulfilled needs; means tense. You can think better if you can minimize the tense.
There you go, the top 5 tools for exam.
Good luck!

The Students in 2013

Ever wonder an undergraduate student study nowadays? When I was in college, we were told to read lots of books, journals, trade publications, magazines and newspaper. Most of these materials can be found in the library. As a student, I cannot afford to purchase these study materials and have to read it at the library. I belief most of us who has gone through your undergraduate life in the 80's and 90's knows what I am referring to.

We don't have high speed Internet, and even to use e-publications, I need to login via VIrtual Private Network in the college. With the limited Internet speed, everyone have to wait for their turns to search for e-journals. At that time, my lecturers used to help us to source of relevant journals and share with us in the class. The moment we got the articles, we were very excited and read it immediately, hoping that we can catch up with our studies by reading more.

It was like a privilege to be able to study for a degree programme for me as I have chosen to study in private higher institution and taking a UK degree. At that time, I was hoping to complete the course within a specific time and prevent from money wasted unnecessarily. As what I can remember, there were lots of reading and practicing of answering case studies and essays.

When we got our test, exam, and assignment results, we were so eager to find out what went wrong and reflect on our work for days. We even work in groups to identify our weaknesses and make sure we know how to minimize the mistakes in the next assessment. We feel so glad to hear and/or read comments from our lecturers so that we can reflect on it and know more about ourselves.

Today, as an educator, I try to replicate my lecturers' efforts to teach my students, hoping that they will learn more and gain better knowledge than us in the past. However, things has changed. I was really shocked when I got to know that many students now don't read textbook, even the main text for a subject that the student is taking. What they read to prepare for exam? Slides for each topics given by the lecturers. How about references for the assignment? Not textbooks, but google for keywords and from various webpages, including slideshares, wiki, etc.

Thanks to the development of the Internet edge, students attitude towards education is no more the same as in the pass. Many might be thinking that education is just merely a paper for them to show to the company when they are applying got a job with higher expectation. I am not referring to all the students out there, but some whom I taught recently. The want fast, easy, simple and no hassle learning experience. Basically, they expect to spend minimum time on studying so that they can enjoy their own lifestyle. As long as they attended the classes every week, it is considered as they study hard. Most of them just for to the library in group for chatting and satisfying social needs.

How they see the assessment? Next post, I will share more of my experience.