University of Waikato
Teaching and learning Development Unit
Te Waahanga Whakapakari Ako
Examinations – preparation strategies
1. Revision
2. Self-testing / answer writing practice
1. Revision
a. Lecturers usually give their students information / hints about which topics
will be in the exam. Lecturers often discuss the exam in the last lecture of the
course;
b. Look at the assessments you did during the course, i.e. the questions in
assignments / tests – these may provide clues about which topics will or won’t be
in the exam;
c. Look at previous years’ exam papers to see past question formats and
themes. Print copies of exam papers from the past three years are held in the
Course Reserves Collection on Level 2 of the Central Library. A complete set of
exam papers is held in the New Zealand Collection on Level 3 of the Central
Library and the Circulations Desk. Undergraduate exam papers for the last two
years are available in electronic form via I-GATE;
d. Look at the course outline to remind yourself about the topics covered in the
course. Read your notes / course readings to re-familiarise yourself with the key
concepts, themes, theories etc. of each topic;
e. Look at relevant chapters of text books for key concepts, examples etc.
f. Pay particular attention to the themes / ideas / examples covered in
lectures;
g. Be able to concisely define / describe key words / concepts for each topic –
(Glossaries at the back of text books are useful places for this information);
h. Be able to describe good examples of how concepts work in practice.
Students who get high marks in exams know they must show the marker they
really have a sound understanding of a theory / concept – they do this by
describing in their answer at least one relevant ‘real world’ or theoretical example
of how the theory works in practice;
i. Understand the critical facts about the nature and purpose of things (e.g.
ideas, concepts, people, events etc) and the relationships of things to other
things by making up your own questions to answer:
o What are the origins of a?
o How is a related to b; to c etc.?
o What are the key features of d?
o What are the key criticisms of theory e?
o What are the key concerns of group j in relation to issue k?
o What were / are the key implications of issue l for group m?
o How does n differ from o? How is p the same as q?
o When was r the dominant theory? Why was s the dominant theory
at that time?
o In what significant ways does t affect y; u etc.?
o What are some good examples of theory v in action in the real
world?
j. Create mind-maps / diagrams that show the key features of models /
concepts and their relationships to each other;
k. Create mnemonics to help you remember concepts / models. For example a
list of letters of the alphabet - with each letter being the first letter of a name of
each part of a set and the order in which they come e.g.:

ROYGBIV, i.e. the colours in the spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Indigo, Violet.

Me Very Eccentric Mate Just Shot Uncle Ned’s Pig i.e. Planets in the
solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, Pluto;
l. Discuss key concepts / ideas in small groups to check if you have the same
level of understanding. If there is confusion about a concept you can get
clarification from a tutor / lecturer or a text;
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m. Set yourself a revision timetable. On a wall planner work backwards from
each exam date and map-out a two week revision period for each exam. Divide
the revision period for each exam into specific topics (e.g. topic: evaluation of
communication plans) and allocate amounts of time for each topic.
Similarly, divide each topic into a set of themes (e.g. themes: formative
evaluation and summative evaluation) and allocate time for each of theme. Use
the question creating approach described in (i) above to revise the themes. (e.g.
What are the advantages of formative evaluation? The disadvantages? etc,
Which type of organisations typically use formative evaluation? How? etc.).
Don’t forget to allocate time to practice answering your questions.
2. Self-testing / answer writing practice
a. Create some exam questions on themes or topics that you think might be in
the exam and practice answering them – try and write the answers under selfimposed exam conditions, i.e. use a pen; do not refer to textbooks or notes;
give yourself the same amount of time to answer the question that you would
have in the exam;
b. Mark your answers by referring to your notes, textbooks etc. Was the
information in your answer accurate?;
c. Critique the quality of your answer, i.e. was there sufficient detail, did you
spend too much time describing origins / background and not enough time
identifying key features and relationships etc.?;
d. Were you able to complete the answer in the time you gave yourself?;
e. Was your writing legible?
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