Writing Examination Essays FMS MRes Writing Development Centre

Writing Examination Essays FMS MRes Writing Development Centre @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre Explore the possibilities

Your experience of exams Hands up if you’ve done…. • Multi-choice exams • Short-answer exams • Essay exams • Other form of exam I’ve not thought of…. • Coursework essays @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Your questions? On a post-it note, write down your question about writing essays for exams ? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Session Outline • What essay exams really test • The implications for revision • Exam technique • • Time management Question analysis Quick planning and structure Writing and editing @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

What are essay exams testing? Bloom’s taxonomy (revised) Synthesis Evaluation extensions Analysis Application Understanding Knowledge connections ideas @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Revising for higher skills: typical examiners reports • “The forcing of prepared answers on ill-fitting questions substituted too often for fresh and thoughtful adaptation. ” • “Some candidates still regurgitate prepared answers regardless of the issue they are asked to address and this was reflected in lower marks. ” • “Essay-dumping, and question-twisting to the point of breakage, were in evidence. ” @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

What exams really test Essay exams are… • A test of whether you can think on your feet and apply your working knowledge to solve new problems whilst under time pressure. Deeper understanding and critical thinking on the day are as important as memory • Asking you to make an answer, not memorise and repeat the answer • Not right/wrong - there are wrong answers, but there is often more than one right answer (or way to reach it). We’re also interested in how you get there. Exams are not … • A test of everything in the curriculum, just your working knowledge • Asking you to tell us everything you know about a topic, but to use your knowledge to solve a specific problem @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

The difference between an exam and a coursework answer 8 @ncl_wdc 8 Writing Development Centre

Marking Criteria @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Basic Question Analysis The Subject Make sure you’ve read the question accurately! “Candidates are encouraged to read the questions with care: several erroneously, if ingeniously, wrote about ‘casual explanation’ rather than ‘causal explanation”. Identify the following: • The instruction or question word* • The topic word • The focus of the topic • Any restrictions or inclusions @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

More Advanced Question Analysis: What learning are you asked to demonstrate? Each question tests different types of learning to varying degrees. • Analyse the questions. To what extent do they each test each level of learning? • For each question, allocate a percentage to each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Different types of question 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@ncl_wdc synthetic (biological) scaffold might be a more appropriate solution to a tissue Writing Development Centre engineering problem (50%)

Planning: Structure • What sort of answer is implied in the question? (if it’s not a question, rephrase it as one) • What kind of structure(s) will best bridge the two? Question Answer @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Planning: Structure Speed planning strategies: • If it’s not a multi-part question, how many parts are implied in the question? • What type of structure is implied? • How might you sketch a plan at speed? • • Bullet points Mindmap Diagramatic Q&A @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Compare and Contrast (a) @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Compare and Contrast (b) @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Develop a solution How well? Why/How? What? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Cause or process This happens Compounded by this Which leads to this And this is the result @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Key issues, ways or reasons Most important issue Slightly less important issues Not so important but still significant @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Reasons for and against, to what extent Reasons against Reasons for @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Planning Structure: Q&A “Discuss how a longitudinal study may be used to investigate risk factors for cardiovascular disease. What factors, including biomarkers of exposure and outcome, might you want to consider in such a study design and why? ” (please note: the following plan may be complete nonsense as we’re not content experts – indicative of the technique only!) @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

• What do we mean here by cardiovascular disease? • What types of study might be used and what are their shortcomings • Why is a longitudinal study worth considering in particular? • What would be the first thing a longitudinal study could do? • How would you do it? • Any negative points? • What would be the second thing a longitudinal study could do? • How would you do it? • Any negative points? • What would be third thing a longitudinal study could do? • How would you do it? • Any negative points? • What are the (main) risk factors for cardiovascular disease? • What are the most important exposure biomarkers to include? Why? • What are the most important outcome biomarkers to include? Why? • What are other biomarkers to take into account? Why? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Planning: content You don’t need to write a detailed plan, but it might be helpful to spend a few moments quickly noting down the information which you think is relevant: • What wider context do you need to show you understand? • What knowledge, information or data do you have? • What do you need to know, what would be nice to know? What is not relevant as it doesn’t help you reach your answer? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Paragraph structure: bringing it back to the question Topic sentence: Introduction of the paragraph’s main idea. Could be an observation to be interpreted, or an argument to be evidenced. Main body in which the initial assertion is developed and explained Conclusion to be drawn from the above points Signpost word Self assessment can also 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. @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Question prompts – writing critically for the reader Why do you think so? How does that work? Why is that important? Why? What do you mean? “it is not possible to state the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as a single figure…. ” Why that one? So what? What’s that got to do with…? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Writing up and checking your answers • We don’t expect perfection in an exam! • Legibility, clarity and 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 down 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? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

The Calculation • • • How much time do you have in total? How many questions do you have to do? (all of them or a choice? ) How many marks are they worth? * Subtract 10 mins at the beginning for reading the paper and planning your approach (incl for this calculation) Subtract time at the end for reading through and checking all your answers, and to accommodate slippage Divide the remaining time by the number of questions (*adjusting for marking weight) (Factor in experience from doing past papers about how much you can expect to write in that time and allow for slippage) Split the time per question into three – reading and planning, writing, checking. Don’t panic if you need to abandon a question and move on / come back to it @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Implications for Revision

The Revision Process Organise select Learn revisit rework break down Practise test apply synthesise @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

How can you work out what should be in your store cupboard? Module handbooks etc: course aims and objectives Lecture notes: listen for hints about what is core knowledge and what is there for illustration only Comparing across – what would be useful across many topics? 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 based on your course/module content? @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

Revising for higher skills: Past Papers Practice using your knowledge and understanding with past papers • What can you write in the time? • What knowledge would you have needed? • Practice planning at speed • What sorts of questions are set? • http: //www. ncl. ac. uk/library/resources/exampapers/ @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

If you were the examiner… • Choose a topic from one of your modules • What working knowledge would you want to assess? • What problem-solving skills would you want to assess? • Devise a question suitable for testing a candidate’s working knowledge and higher skills in exam conditions @ncl_wdc Writing Development Centre

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