Quickie: Making the Most of Extra Time on an Exam
One question I get a lot goes something like this:
I finish an exam with 5 or 10 minutes left. I’m really tired and don’t have the energy or time to check the entire thing over, so what could I do in these few minutes?
Before you get to this stage, on your first run through the questions, annotate your exam. Put these symbols besides each question.
-: for questions you have no idea how to do.
+: for questions you aren’t sure about or that are tricky.
nothing: for questions you are fairly confident about.
When you only have a few minutes left, go back and try the “-” questions first. Always try to write something, even it’s just the questions rewritten as an equation, a equation that has something to do with that question, or a relevant key word, time period, or person. You might luck out and get some partial marks.
While you might get a few extra marks, “-” questions are pretty much hopeless at this point because you don’t actually know the answer (and there may not be enough time to come up with one). Spending a lot more time on these questions won’t raise your grades a whole lot. On the other hand, the questions you left unlabeled are thing’s you’re pretty comfortable with already and there isn’t a whole lot you can gain from revisiting these questions. Thus the “+” questions are the most important questions you can revisit. Really dissect these questions, try to figure out why they’re hard or tricky, and get as many marks as you can. The reason this might work well is because you might be very close to the right answer. Giving it some more thought may allow you to get the full (or most) marks.
If you still have time or energy left over, look through the unlabeled questions and see if you can get a few more points here or there.
Of course, this technique works better with certain question types and marking schemes. It works best with things like multiple choice (where taking those few extra minutes to really dissect a question may get you to the right answer) and tests with benevolent markers (who’ll gladly give you the few marks). It might not work so well for results-centric and nit-picky markers, but nonetheless, if you’ve only got a few minutes, give this technique a try.
Happy Easter!
