Practice Tips from Faculty

Contributed by Steven Markoff, Instructional Specialist, Department of Accounting, Law, and Taxation

I have noticed that the reduction in anxiety will come about regardless of whether you allow a post-it note, and index card, a sheet of paper or a book.

In addition to hand written, I limit the amount that they can put on the sheet by making it one side and only one line of writing per line. I feel that by allowing them to put too much on there will actually become part of the problem as, if they exam has significant time pressure as mine do, allowing them virtually unlimited amount of small writing actually encourages them to spend more time looking and less time thinking, thus it becomes part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Because my tests require thinking that is not in the book, giving them the book also results in encouraging them to waste precious time flipping through pages instead of thinking. So the effectiveness here depends on the connection between the book material and test material.

My students frequently report that they hardly used the authorized teaching aid permitted and, after one midterm, the top performers do not bring it for subsequent exams or the final. The best scores come from those with relatively few well-thought-out and organized notes.

In my view, the score benefit comes from the anxiety reduction that you mention and, the actual task of putting a test causes the student to learn the material. By being forced to prioritize and ask themselves the question, “Is this really important enough to put on my one page?”, that causes them to prioritize the importance of the material, which is an essential learning skill.