MCQ & Unseen
School of Nursing & Midwifery
Dr. Mark Matthews
Student Learning Development
Student Counselling Service
Trinity College Dublin
1. Planning
Learn from the past
• Get detailed information
about what your exam
paper looks like
• Identify and revise topics
you do not know well
• What works for you?
Know Yourself
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What are your exam concerns? Why?
What do you do well?
What could you do better?
How do you study?
What strategies do you use to prepare?
How do you manage your stress?
Building Self Confidence
• Think of exams as an opportunity for you to
show what you know
• Get familiar with the examination space
• You get what you put in
• Set learning targets and rewards for yourself
2. Revision
mcqs
Revision
MCQ Exams
recognition &
accurate knowledge
Tissue oedema is caused by:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Thus for revision:
• Think vocabulary, words, terms, concepts,
systems
• Make flash cards & test yourself
• Recite for precision
• Create summary sheets, diagrams, charts,
tables, mind maps
MCQ Practice
• Read each question carefully
• Circle key words or negatives
• Identify modifiers and qualifiers (e.g. only,
never, sometimes)
• Anticipate answer before looking at options
• Read all options before making choice
• Check before marking answer
• Leave time at end
The following are all bones of the skull except:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Parietal bone
Temporal bone
Tarsal bone
Frontal bone
Short Answers
Short Answers Revision
Short Answer
knowledge
understanding key
ideas/facts at
basic level
Short Answer Practice
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•
Deconstruct the question
Think in own words
Find and use key words
Show what you know: Define key words,
concepts, theories
• Stay relevant
Overcomplication
Decision trees are used in data mining as a way of progressively
breaking down data into groups. As this happens, the number in each
classification may be noted. A customer database may break down as
70% male, 30% female. The males may be divided into those that
spend over €1,000 a year with us (90%) and those that do not (10%).
The same subdivision for female shows that only 2% of females spend
over €1,000 with us. The high spending males break-down into 77%
under 30 and 23% over 30 years of age. When females are divided
into high and low spending, it might be found that 80% of high spenders
are repeat customers and 20% are not. Low spending females, on the
other hand, might be 90% non repeating customers. A parallel analysis
of high spending male customers might show that…
Q. Outline the structure of fats OR carbohydrates
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•
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Choose question
What are they looking for?
How would I answer this?
How would I revise in order to be able to
answer this?
• Practice answering this type of question,
varying topic
Seen
Questions
Seen Questions
• Not an essay, you have a limited time to
answer
• More depth than unseen question
• Start practising:
– Work on what’s relevant to question
– Make diagrams
– Write out answers – timing and quality
• So how would you revise?
Outline and briefly discuss the three main approaches
to understanding and defining stress
• Stress – what is it?
• 3 main theories
• Compare & contrast – definitions, causes,
etc.
• Examples
3. Practice
Would you sit your driving test without ever driving a car?
Practice makes perfect…
Develop your technique
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•
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•
Understand what is being asked
Only answer the QUESTION
Do not include irrelevant material
Understand the format in which your answers are
required
• Practice answering previous exam questions
• Simulate Exam Conditions
4. Performing
Where you might lose
marks
Why you lose marks
Re-interpreting the Question
Not Answering Multiple Choice Questions
Poor English
Padding
Answering the Question
• Demonstrating that you understand the
question is the first step in producing an
answer
• How you structure your answer is as important
as what you know
• More is not necessarily better
Think about your
examiner
How to Do Well in Exams
1.
2.
3.
4.
Planning
Revising
Practice
Performing
Sources:
Exam Stress Guide, SU & Student Learning
How to Do Badly in Examinations, Dr. Frank Bannister
Online Workshops
Student Learning Development
Thank you for your time
Visit our website at:
http://student-learning.tcd.ie
No practice leads to..
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Poor Handwriting
Brain Dumping
Irrelevance
Poor Structure
Running out of time
Anxiety