Testing, Testing!

Week 5 has come upon us and midterm reviews are coming in. In my Global and Social Change class we had our first test given to us last week but it’s a take home test. A lot of the information is in the book so even though it’s a take home test you still have to read the book in order to answer the questions. I like this form of studying.

Many professors give in class test so see how well you know the material. Many times students will cram all the information in at once and then a week later forget everything that they memorized on a crunch. At Berkeley many professors give either take home or open book tests. Even though they are usually harder, I still learn more from this form of testing than cramming information all in one night.

The reason I believe this is much more effective is because when I read and study the material I am actually enjoying it. I’m at home in a quiet comfortable environment, I’m not rushed and I get to read with pleasure knowing I don’t have to hurry. It is stressful being in a class and being timed on the test that you are taking. You cram everything in the night before, review a bit in the morning and a week later forget everything that you have learned.

I see more and more professors turn to this method of testing. When the test is open book many students have a very false impression of the test. They think that they can get away without reading the material and just come in and answer the questions as they look up the answer. The truth is that the questions are not just basic questions such as rewriting vocabulary terms or finding the answer by the topic. They are very detailed questions from the book that unless you have read the materials you will have no idea where to find the answers. My tip is, read the material! If the professor tells you that the test is open book don’t get excited too soon. You still have to do the usual work and reading otherwise you will fail.