Midterm time is the test time and for some college students,nothing will match that moment of terror when they look down at their test and find questions they have never thought of staring back at them. But at that same moment, there is usually a student in the room feeling smug satisfaction at having fused out the exact questions in advance. How can you figure out whats going to be on the midterm or exams and dramatically increase your chances of acing them? Here are 5 clues from behind the curtain:
clue 1: Lecturers test what they talk. Students often think lecturers are out to trick them by testing picky, obscure issues. Nothing can be farther from the case. Lecturers usually try to teach the most important material and then test it to see if students have mastered it. Does that make sense? think about it. Look over your notes and see what the lecturers spent the most time on; that's likely to provide the most fodder for his?her test or exam.
clue 2: Lecturers ask what interest them. In many courses, you can detect some issues that really excite your lecturers so much that he or she brings it up again and again, even as the course moves from topic to topic. Its a good bet that your lecturers obsession will pop up on the test/exam in some form or other.
clue 3: lecturers drop hints. Much as we try to keep mum, most lecturers cant help themselves. They have high value information that throngs of adulating students are eager to get and that they are eager to give. So, take seriously comments like, "Wow, this would make a really good test question" or "and speaking of ........nudge,nudge,wink,wink. "it might all sound like a joke, but its not.
clue 4: Assistant lecturers spill the beans even more than lecturers. They are usually younger and less experienced and they would like to be liked. So, they'll usually cave quickly if you ask them a few questions after class or in office hours or just show up to section meeting. No bribery necessary! Be sure to erite down i n your notes hopefully, word for word any hints your lecturers or their assistants drop in lecture, discussion, or an office hour. Come study time, these hints, including their exact phraseology can prove gold mines of information for what will be on the test.
clue 5: Professors are lazy. Professors are pretty busy and dont have much time to write entirely new exams. With the result that many times professors will simply reuse or modify questions they ask asked last time around slightly. If you can dig up one of the old exams from a friend who took the same course, you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect.