Writing examination answers
FMS MRes
Dr Helen Webster
Writing Development Centre
Your questions?
On a post-it note, write down your question about
writing for exams
Today’s session:
 What exams really test
 Implications for revision:
 Revising for memory
 Revising for understanding
 In the exam:
 Time management
 Question analysis
 Quick planning and structure
 Writing and editing
 Checking
 After the exam
What exams really assess
What examiners want:
 We want you to pass and show
your best
• We want to give you marks.
• We want to see what you know,
not what you don’t know
• We have realistic expectations
of what can be done in an exam
• We want you to answer the
question we set you
• We’re not trying to catch you out
• We want to be fair and
unbiased
What do exams test?
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Understanding
Knowledge
Coursework writing vs exam writing:
Working knowledge
7
7
MRes MARKING GUIDELINES: EXAMINATION ANSWERS
Distinction
Level
100% - 90%
90% –80%
80% - 70%
Merit
Level
69% – 65%
64% - 60%
Pass
Level
59% -55%
54% - 50%
Fail Level
49% -45%
44% - 40%
39% -35%
34% - 10%
0%
Outstanding. No better answer conceivable at Masters level in
the available time. Factually correct. Comprehensive with
extensive evidence of critical thinking and analysis. Evidence of
extensive reading of relevant literature. Very logical structure,
very well written and presented. Strong evidence of original
thought and structure of argument.
Excellent answer displays comprehensive knowledge of the
subject with excellent use of relevant literature. Logical
structure, well written and presented, displaying varying
degrees (use scaling) of original thought, cogent scientific
argument and critical thinking.
Very Good. Content essentially without any major flaws.
ALL major points included and some clear evidence of (a)
critical and (b) original thinking and (c) supplementary
reading.
Good, comprehensive answer with a few “minor flaws.”
Thorough understanding and good use of relevant material
including some evidence of at least 2 out of: (a) critical
thinking; (b) original thinking; (c) relevant supplementary
reading. Well written
Quite Good. Satisfactory in addressing the question;
including many major points. As for 69-65%, with less
evidence of (a), (b), (c) and/or less well written.
Fairly Good. Mainly "correct", based on relevant material,
demonstrating an adequate general understanding, clearly
attempting to address the question and to show the
relevance of cited material, with omission of a few major
points and/or with minor errors.
Adequate. As for 59-55%, but with more minor errors
and/or significant omissions and/or less clarity in addressing
the question and/or demonstrating the relevance of cited
material.
Poor answer with an overall superficial approach. Essentially
an incomplete with major omissions in several areas and
evidence of a poor understanding of the subject.
Poor answer with a even more superficial approach, and/or
more errors/or omissions and/or evidence of a deficiency of
effort and/or poor understanding.
Very poor answer as above with an overall marked
deficiency in content of understanding and application.
Even more marked deficiencies in content (on a variable
scale marking from 34% to 10%) of understanding and
application and presentation.
A complete absence of relevant content.
Notes on the overall guidelines: When marking, please bear in mind that this is a
Masters Level Degree and not a MD/PhD or an undergraduate degree. Markers are
asked to take note of the University guidelines on plagiarism.
Marking Criteria
Implications for Revision
How do you revise?
What are your own
strategies for revision?
The Revision Process
Organise
select
break
down
Learn
revisit
rework
test
Practise
evaluate/select
apply
synthesise
“I can’t learn everything - How do I know
what to revise?”
 Module handbooks, etc: course aims and objectives.
 Lecture notes: Listen for hints about what is core
knowledge and what is there for illustration only.
 Text books: Compare with lecture notes to establish the
overlap; this is core knowledge.
 Past papers: what would you need to know to answer the
questions, and what depth would be reasonable for an exam
answer?
 Future papers: what kinds of questions can you imagine
setting?
Revising for Knowledge: Memory
Process:
Principles:
 Encoding
 Storing
 Retrieving
 Chunking
 Mnemonics
 Testing
 Repeating
 Overlearning
Revising for Understanding: Active Learning
 4 Essential principles:
 Select and prioritise (your working knowledge!)
 Reduce and expand
 Apply material to questions, test your ability to explain
it
 Re-work material into another form
 Text to bullet points, bullet points to mind-map,
mindmap to index cards, index cards to table, table
to voice recording, recording to diagram etc
Revising for higher skills: Past Papers
 Practice using your knowledge and
understanding with past papers
 Make up your own questions using
past papers as a template
 http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/resources
/exam-papers/
Revising for higher skills:
 Apply it for different purposes,
imagine different uses
 Analyse it, break it down, see
how parts relate to one another
 Synthesise it with another
source or topic
 Evaluate it
Before the exam
In the Exam
The Very First Thing you must do!
 Check the rubric:
 Are you in the right exam?
 How many questions do you have to do?
 Do you have any choice out of the questions?
 How many marks are they worth?
 How long do you have?
 How long should you allow
 To read the whole paper and choose questions
 To answer each question
 To check your answers
Anatomy of an Exam Question
Find the Focus and the Instruction as
well as the Subject
Different types of assignment
 The traditional essay question
 OPEN: Why is a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold the most
appropriate solution to a tissue engineering problem?
 CLOSED: Do you agree that a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold is
the most appropriate solution to a tissue engineering problem?
 The traditional essay instruction
 ‘Discuss the technical and medical barriers to employing stem cells
in tissue engineering’.
 The scaffolded instruction
 Discuss the preparation of synthetic tissue engineering scaffolds
using templating and non-templating approaches (50%). Describe,
using examples, when using a non-synthetic (biological) scaffold
might be a more appropriate solution to a tissue
engineering problem (50%)
Instruction Words
Account for
Analyse
Assess
Compare and contrast
Comment on
Consider
Critique
Define
Describe
Discuss
Evaluate
Explain
Examine
Identify
Illustrate
Justify
Review
Show
Summarise
State
If you were the examiner…
…What question would you set?
 Devise a question suitable for testing a
candidate’s working knowledge
knowledge and higher skills in exam
conditions
 What would your marking criteria be?
Break the process down!
The Writing Process:
 Select your first question
 Analyse the question
 Decide how to approach the question
 Decide what to include/what to leave out
 Make a note of the main points
 Decide how you will structure the answer
 Write the answer
 Content: Keep your answer closely focused
 Style: Write clearly and concisely
 Check your answer before submission
Planning and structure: longer questions
1. Quickly note down
the content you think
is relevant
2. Organise the order
in which you will
structure it
3. Write it up
4. Cross the notes out!
If you were sitting the exam…
…what would your answer to your own
question be?
Create a plan for an answer to your
own exam question
The Introduction:
Your reader’s perspective
 What are you doing?
 Why are you doing this?
 How will you do this?
Plan
The Introduction



What are you doing? How do you interpret
the topic and the question? Context,
background and definitions (what does your
reader need explaining, before they can
make sense of your essay?), any limitations.
Why are you doing this? Interpret the
question (problematise, justify. Why is this
question worth asking?
How will you do this? Signpost structure
(How are you going to answer – in what
order?) and methodology (which models and
theories will you use?)
Conclusions: Q & A
 What is biofilm? How do biofilms develop and what
problems do they cause for the management of
periodontitis?
 Biofilm can be described as X, it is most likely to
develop in this way, and these are the problems it
causes because of these reasons.
 ‘Contentious Quotation’ Discuss and critically evaluate
this view.
 The statement is largely untrue, for these reasons, but
there is still some truth in it, for other reasons.
The Conclusion
 Return to the broad overall
perspective from the narrow detail of
the main body
 Revisit the question, your answer,
and the main steps by which you
reached it
 Do not include new material
 You could consider the wider
implications and significance of your
argument
Paragraphs and structure
Topic
sentence:
Introduction
of the
paragraph’s
main idea
Main body in
which the
initial
assertion is
developed
and explained
Conclusion to
be drawn from
the above
points
Signpost word
also
Self assessment can
develop skills which make a
student more attractive to prospective employers.
Employers value students with skills in self assessment
because these types of skills are relevant to a wide range of
employment contexts. They want graduates who can
accurately assess their own competencies in performing tasks.
Students who can do this are well placed to take on
responsibilities and adapt readily to roles in work places. The
value in developing these types of assessment can be seen to
go beyond meeting immediate educational needs. Students
who have developed an autonomous approach to learning
are well set up for life-long learning which will continue
throughout and beyond their working lives.
Microstructure:
Paragraphs
 ONE POINT per paragraph.
 Use a TOPIC SENTENCE to show what the
subject and purpose of the paragraph – this
is basically your point. This first sentence is
crucial.
 Use SIGNPOST words to show your
argument
 DEVELOP the point (first sentence) in the
body of the paragraph – details, examples,
etc
 CONCLUDE the paragraph
Signpost words - Types of link
 A sequence of points (firstly, secondly, thirdly)*
 To add more examples or details (moreover,
furthermore, in addition, for example, for instance)*
 To focus on specifics or to broaden and generalise
(specifically, in particular, in general, for the most part)
 To introduce a comparison or contrast,
disagreement (similarly, likewise, in contrast, however,
although, on the contrary)
 To introduce reasoning (therefore, hence, thus.
consequently)
Writing up and checking your answers
 We don’t expect perfection in an exam!
 Legibility, clarity, relevance are more important than style
and strict accuracy
 You might want to write on every other line or leave a
margin for making edits
 If you run out of time, jot notes and bullet points– you
may get some marks for this
 Build in time to check your answers at the end:
 have you answered all the questions you need to?
 Does your answer actually answer the question?
 Do you want to add, change or cross anything out?
After the exam
If you want to compare
your experience with
other people after the
exam, don’t take it too
seriously!
And finally…
Do have a (happy)
Christmas break!
The Writing Development Centre
Robinson Library
Please book appointments online:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc