Open Book Exams

Open Book Exams

Open book exams allow you to take notes, texts or resource materials into an exam situation. They test your ability to find and apply information and knowledge, so are often used in subjects requiring direct reference to written materials, like law statutes, statistics or acts of parliament.

Open book exams usually come in two forms:

§  Traditional sit-down / limited-time exams, with varying degrees of access to resources and references.

§  Take home exams–open book exams do at home. Question(s) are handed out, answers are attempted without help from others, and the exam is returned within a specified period of time (often the next day).

Types of Materials:

The materials  can take into an Open Book exam can vary. Some restrict the type of materials (e.g. formula sheets and tables or a limited number of texts), others may be totally unrestricted (any quantity of any material).

Materials might be:

§  Our notes

§  Readings, reference materials or textbooks

§  Equipment like calculators, drafting tools etc.

Materials used in Take Home exams are usually unrestricted. Check our course guide or with our lecturer to find out what we can use. The main restriction for Take Home exams is that they must be our work– we must attempt them by ourself without any help from others.

Types of questions:

Open Book Exams don't test our memory. They test our ability to find and use information for problem solving, and to deliver well-structured and well-presented arguments and solutions.

Open Book exam questions usually require  to apply knowledge, and they may be essay-style questions or involve problem solving or delivering solutions. The style of question depends on the faculty or school setting the exam. For example in Law, the questions may set up a hypothetical fact situation that we  will need to discuss.

Advantage:

1.      To avoid the Rote-Learning :Because they test for more than just rote-learning. At university, simply memorising and repeating information is not enough to get  a good mark.

2.      To equip abilities and skills: Higher education is supposed to equip with intellectual abilities and skills.

3.      To quickly find relevant information: Open Book exams test  the our ability to quickly find relevant information

4.       To understand, analyse, apply knowledge and think critically

Disadvantage:

1) Open Book exams are a breeze:

Open Book exams are not an easy option. Answering the questions well requires more than just copying information straight from texts. For example, having access to a textbook can stop us from giving a wrong answer if we can't remember a fact or formula, but just getting that fact correct won't get us good marks. In Open Book exams, it's how we locate, apply and use the information that is important.

2) Effect  to study:

Probably the biggest misconception about Open Book exams is that there is no need to study anything. However, we should study just as we would for any other exam. Having books and notes to refer to might mean we don't have to memorise as much information, but you still need to be able to apply it effectively.

This means we must fully understand and be familiar with the content and materials of our course so we can find and use the appropriate information. In Open Book exams, we need to quickly find the relevant information  in the resources we have. If we don't study we won't be able to–we  won't know where it is.

3)  Copy straight from the book/ Materials:

We can't copy chunks of text directly from textbooks or notes. This is plagiarism. In Open Book exams, the resource materials are made available to us, so We  are expected to do more than just reproduce them. We must be able to find, interpret and apply the information in our sources to the exam questions. We  usually need to reference as well, just as We would for any other assignment.

4) Burden with overload books/ Materials:

Don't get carried away and overload with materials and resources in the exam. Only take what We need. Stacks of books won't necessarily guarantee our performance, and We  won't have time for extensive reading. Too many materials can end up distracting We and crowding up our work space. Carefully select our materials and organise them for quick reference.