How to prepare for written examinations

Examinations are stressful. They determine whether you pass and can go on with the next part of your study or have to repeat the examination. Failing an examination can even mean that you have to repeat the module or semester. So, examinations are sometimes very high stakes It is then tempting to prepare by memorising old questions or use question banks.

It may be tempting but it is not the best way to prepare. Let me explain why. If you look at my posts about making learning meaningful and active you understand that rote memorisation leads to shorter term retention and memorisation. More important though, you will only be able to retrieve the knowledge during the test if you remember precisely the way you have learned the fact. But if you prepare by learning themes of questions, you will not only increase the meaningfulness of what you learn (and remember it better) but you will also increase the likelihood that you will be able to retrieve your knowledge during an examination.

There is an additional bonus. Although passing he examinations might be the most important thing on your mind, it should not be the only one. You are investing a lot of time, energy and possibly money on becoming the best professional you can be. Passing your examinations and getting your degree is what will help you gain entry into the labour market, but well you have studied will eventually determine your success in the labour market.

So, how do you do this?

If you know from the last examination which questions you answered correctly and which incorrectly, or if you know what your areas of strengths and weaknesses are, it is better to describe them in the form of themes. For example:

Management of a child suspected of having pseudo-croup in the emergency department.

Then create some questions to work with the bot, such as:

• What are the initial steps in the management of a child suspected of having pseudo-croup

• What are the risks of misdiagnosing pseudo-croup?

• What is the differential diagnosis?

• How do you differentiate between these diagnoses?

Then, copy and paste all the bot’s answers in a separate document, and enter them again into the chat and ask:

              Summarise the essence of this text in 100 words and provide 3 -4 keywords

Copy and paste this into your notes document and use the keywords to make your notes searchable.

You can practice further by simply generating questions by asking the Bot to generate more questions and give you feedback.

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