Tests & tips

On studying at our university: "[...] Do people really study there or just study for exams [...?]", an online commentary on an article in the HNA from 21.11.2014

Examinations are designed to ensure that you have understood and internalized the basics of the subject, that you have sufficient specialist knowledge and are able to tackle problems independently and solve specific tasks. 4.0 means passedpassed, but certainly not understoodunderstood.

You can find out exactly what minimum knowledge and skills are required in the module descriptions in the module handbook: Here are indications of the type of questions and what you need to be able to deliver, but certainly not exhaustive.

Get an idea of the requirements that apply to examinations (§14 of the General Provisions for Examination Regulations of the University of Kassel):

The aim should be to master the material, not "just" to practise for the exam. You should therefore differentiate between learning (understanding and mastering the material) and practising (routine calculation). Practicing only makes sense once you have understood the material! If you have mastered the material, you will definitely pass the exam well and also do well in later lectures. A good learning concept saves time and can also be transferred to other types of courses. Here are a few tips on how you can achieve this.

Learning and practicing for exam preparation in 4 steps

Step 1: Solve homework in a study group (during the semester)

You should definitely look for a regular study group, ideally you should meet during and after the lectures and work on the exercises together. This certainly includes looking at a textbook from time to time while doing the exercises together.

Step 2: Exam preparation through studying

You should start studying at least 6 weeks before an exam. Your brain needs time to process, nobody can study for 8 hours a day or internalize a semester's worth of material in 2 weeks. You can also study for several exams at the same time without stress.

How do I study? Use the textbook for the lecture and the lecture notes to write your own "script" (important: handwritten!), in which you compare all the contents of the lecture notes with the book and, supplemented with the contents of the book, compile them. In a second step, condense this script by rewriting it and thinking about what is unimportant enough to leave out - take a close look at this content: can you really leave it out? The result should already be much shorter, the structure of the material (and the lecture) should now be clear in it. Now write a "cheat sheet" from it, on which only the core content of the overall material is written. Rule: Each lecture fits on a maximum of 2 DIN A3 pages!

You can proceed chapter by chapter from the condensed version onwards. As soon as you have understood (!) a section of the material, go on to step 3.

Step 3: Prepare for the exam by practicing

It only makes sense to practise once you have understood the material! (see step 2)

First look at an example of a practice task or an old exam task on a topic. Do you know the approach and the solution? Go through the task step by step: Is each step clear and familiar to you? If not, you have not yet fully understood the material and you need to go back to step 2. If everything is clear to you, you can now solve several tasks until you are sure that there are no more unfamiliar issues and you have developed some routine. You can do all this together in your learning group or on your own.

However, remember that in the exam you will have to solve a problem on your own and without a sample solution. The fact that your group can solve a problem or that you can do it by looking it up does not mean that you can do it on your own. So practise solving exam questions on your own in good time. For example, you can use previously unused exercises.

Step 4: Try out the exam situation

To do this, take the time you have in the exam (e.g. 90 minutes) and calculate a previously unknown mock exam completely without interruption and without a sample solution. Mark where you have got to after 90 minutes, but then complete the exam and write down the total time required!

Then compare your solution (and the solution methods) with the sample solution. This should give you a good impression of your level of learning. The minimum goal should be that you achieve at least 90% of the points in a reproducible manner and take no more than 20% longer than the time allowed in the exam.

Even if it is difficult to realize this during your exam preparation, remember that you are not learning in order to pass an exam, but because it is part of your overall skills as an engineer or computer scientist and forms the basis of every subsequent activity, especially every scientific one. It also ensures that you will deliver a decent performance even under the stress of the exam!

As long as you do not achieve enough points in this way, the following applies: Go back to the book (step 2), learn the concept again, then: next round.

To prepare, you should follow steps 1-3 as for written exams.

Have you understood how the material is structured overall and how the individual topics are connected? Can you explain the main content of the topics? Can you apply methods (e.g. an algorithm) to a specific example and explain and justify your approach? Can you explain the process of an algorithm when you have the pseudocode in front of you?

You should be familiar enough with each subject area to be able to name and explain the most important points and demonstrate them in a dialog. You should also be able to explain the connections between topics and the structure within a topic area. You should have a very good understanding of the main diagrams (e.g. 'block diagrams') and be able to roughly sketch them and explain the diagrams presented in detail.

Sounds very time-consuming? Yes and no: If you have really understood the material, you will automatically be able to explain connections, list key points and draw rough sketches easily(!). For more detailed sketches and e.g. the explanation of algorithm details ('pseudocode'), however, you really have to look at everything very carefully, but it's worth the effort!