University student: Taking exams...HElP!

[Avic7]

Hi again.

As some of you might remember, I started a thread a while back asking for help in how to study. Well I succeeded. I am starting to get through all the material and actually understanding them. But now I have other problems. Taking exams. I understand the material but applying them is causing me difficulty so that what I know is not reflected from the grades I am getting.
When I write my exams, I read the question and I interpret it differently from what the prof expects. I can't ask help from the prof or the teaching assistant cuz they aren't there. So I'm hoping people can give me some advice on how to write exams.

Thanks

ps: past exams are not available to students because the prof collects them all back to be burned or shredded

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Dude, part of your issues might be that you're coming to an internet scuba-oriented chat board and asking questions about preparing for and taking university exams.

Step one is talk to a counselor. They have them wherever you're going to school. You aren't the first student to have problems with exams. Step two might be to talk to your professor, but that won't happen until after step one.

Seriously. Get a grip. SB solves all sorts of problems for people, but university exams aren't likely to be in the top ten.

Contact your school counselor and give it a shot.

Best,

Doc

 

[dlndavid]

Have you thought about a BP/W?

 

[Hydrophobic]

Personally I used to flip a coin to answer all my essay questions.

(Did I mention to you I went to a State University in California?) :umnik:

 

[Lightning Fish]

Hi again.

As some of you might remember, I started a thread a while back asking for help in how to study. Well I succeeded. I am starting to get through all the material and actually understanding them. But now I have other problems. Taking exams. I understand the material but applying them is causing me difficulty so that what I know is not reflected from the grades I am getting.
When I write my exams, I read the question and I interpret it differently from what the prof expects. I can't ask help from the prof or the teaching assistant cuz they aren't there. So I'm hoping people can give me some advice on how to write exams.

Thanks

ps: past exams are not available to students because the prof collects them all back to be burned or shredded

What are you studying and where?

Bill.

 

[RonFrank]

Hi again.

I understand the material but applying them is causing me difficulty so that what I know is not reflected from the grades I am getting.

Has it occurred to you that maybe what you know IS reflected in the grades you are getting, and you need to gain a better understanding of the material? :toilet

Actually, this really seems like a troll. Why would anyone ask for such advice on Scubaboard?

So, have you considered a career in the rewarding, colorful, and fragrant world of fast food?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Excuse me but you you point me to the gardening section?

 

[Avic7]

Dude, part of your issues might be that you're coming to an internet scuba-oriented chat board and asking questions about preparing for and taking university exams.

Step one is talk to a counselor. They have them wherever you're going to school. You aren't the first student to have problems with exams. Step two might be to talk to your professor, but that won't happen until after step one.

Seriously. Get a grip. SB solves all sorts of problems for people, but university exams aren't likely to be in the top ten.

Contact your school counselor and give it a shot.

Best,

Doc

I have and am talking to my couselor and I am talking to my prof. Although I KNOW SB isn't goin to solve all my problems it doesn't hurt to give things a shot, especially when the first time I asked I got alot of helpful advice. Most people on board have more experience in life than I currently do.
I am currently studying Cellular Biology and having spoken to my prof, he gave me an oral exam instead of a written exam for my midterm. I managed to prove to him that I know the material very well, but for some reason written exams just mess me up. English is my second language by the way.
Several people said something the first time round that just clicked for me, even though at the time I was already talking to a couselor and prof. I'm just hoping somebody will say something again that will cause that lightbulb in my head to light up again.

 

[Parrothead_Diver]

I have and am talking to my couselor and I am talking to my prof. Although I KNOW SB isn't goin to solve all my problems it doesn't hurt to give things a shot, especially when the first time I asked I got alot of helpful advice. Most people on board have more experience in life than I currently do.
I am currently studying Cellular Biology and having spoken to my prof, he gave me an oral exam instead of a written exam for my midterm. I managed to prove to him that I know the material very well, but for some reason written exams just mess me up. English is my second language by the way.
Several people said something the first time round that just clicked for me, even though at the time I was already talking to a couselor and prof. I'm just hoping somebody will say something again that will cause that lightbulb in my head to light up again.

In Avic's defense; I followed his first thread, and he did get alot of very useful advice though that forum. If I were in his position and I had gotten the same type of advice that he received on the first go around, you can bet that I would have come back for more.

Now to answer his question; My advice would be to slightly modify you study regime. At the end of each study session try and write a couple paragraph summary of the material you just covered. This will help you to retain what you have just studied and it will give you some practice in answering the exam questions.

 

[Avic7]

In Avic's defense; I followed his first thread, and he did get alot of very useful advice though that forum. If I were in his position and I had gotten the same type of advice that he received on the first go around, you can bet that I would have come back for more.

Now to answer his question; My advice would be to slightly modify you study regime. At the end of each study session try and write a couple paragraph summary of the material you just covered. This will help you to retain what you have just studied and it will give you some practice in answering the exam questions.

Thanks Parrothead_Diver on both counts.
Felt like somone had hit me with a slegehammer.