Preparing for Finals

On the last Thursday of November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. (For those of you in Canada, Thanksgiving lands on the second Monday in October.) For most of you, the whole purpose of the celebration seems strange: it’s a story of Native and European peoples coming together to share the bounty of the harvest. Given what happened later to the Natives, it hardly seems like a day to celebrate. Moreover, the feast revolves around a roasted turkey, which to the Mainland palette tastes and feels like a big, dry chicken. Ew! Get me some mapo tofu, stat!

Also note: even though Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, many Americans take more than a four-day weekend. Some take the whole week off. Few of your professors will hold classes on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving simply because so many students have already left town by Wednesday afternoon. If they do hold classes, expect international students to attend. Maybe one or two Americans will show up.

In spite of all this, Thanksgiving holds considerable importance for Mainland students: this week gives you time to catch up on homework, to sort out papers that you have to complete and to begin the effort of final examinations preparations.

If you happen to get invited to a Thanksgiving feast, I suggest that you go: you will learn quite a bit about American culture by doing so. (I also recommend that you sneak in one or two Chinese dishes so that you have something appealing to eat.) However, reserve the remainder of the week for writing, reading and test prep.

Because you will have long stretches of time to work with, the week—and weekends before and after Thanksgiving—will give you the chance to write papers that you’ve neglected or revise those that you’ve started. You’ll have the time to catch up on the reading backlog. (Almost all students get behind on readings during the course of the term. I’ve never understood how Mainland students, while working in a second or third language, can grind through the reading load included in overseas classrooms. It’s tough. If you’ve fallen behind, don’t stress out about it; just work diligently on keeping up and catching up.) Rewrite early drafts of course assignments. As you do so, include new insights and references that you’ve learned or more deeply that you’ve come to understand more fully during the process of studying during the term. By the time the Thanksgiving weekend ends, have solid working drafts done.

A ”solid” working draft is clearly written. It directly and completely addresses the prompts or aims of the assignment. It has been carefully and completely proofread. It makes appropriate use of materials presented in the lectures, readings, group work sessions and examinations.

As soon as classes meet again after Thanksgiving, meet with tutors, teaching assistants and professors. Show them the working drafts that you have completed. As for guidance and feedback. Ask questions about the input you receive. Take careful notes. Follow these instructions when you make a last revision of your papers before submitting them.

You have probably noticed that I haven’t said much about preparing for final exams. I thought I’d save the thing that produces the most pressure as the last point. By addressing these points last, I want to leave a strong, lasting impression during the next few weeks so that you feel steadier and more confident heading into the Final Exam period.

Most of you have fabulous test-taking skills. Given this, I won’t rehash what you already do well.

However, I will recommend one technique that few of you know or use. This involves writing one or two mock exams. That is, you take the role of the instructor and create a practice test. The mock exam that you write will help students to consolidate what they have learned throughout the term. Remember: the main point of testing is not to measure what you know; rather, the main point of testing is to deepen and solidify learning the material.

You have to consider various points in order to write a thoughtfully designed final exam. First, make sure that the test reveals the student’s understanding of the main concepts, readings, tools and methods conveyed during the course. Do this in such a way that the thoughtful students will see new insights or see new ways to use information, concepts, methods and models conveyed during the term. Remember: you’re a teacher in this role, not a test-writer. Second, make sure that the test prompts produce clear, but not obvious, answers. For instance, if the exam includes a multiple-choice section, include multiple-choice options that force the student to choose between “adequate” answers and “better” or “more precise” answers. Doing so helps to sharpen student thinking. As you write prompts with this goal in mind, don’t create options that will mislead or confuse students about the “best” option.

If the mock exam includes a fill-in-the-blank section, make sure that the prompt includes sufficient information and clues such that it points to a specific word that will complete the sentence or phrase. After writing the prompt, think about various terms that could fill in the blank; make sure that one such option is clearly superior to all others. Note that by working through options, you think about a constellation of related terms, concepts and skills. This helps to reinforce the “connecting the dots” process that many overseas professors look to support in student development.

For essay/short answer prompts, make sure to write a clear prompt that directs the students to use insights, methods and models presented throughout the course. Make sure that the prompt has sufficient depth that it generates discussion, but does not become so broad that students will write an all-purpose answer that lacks specificity or clarity.

By writing a mock exam, and defending it to your study group partners, you begin to “connect the dots” and practice “lateral thinking.” Mainland students tend to get very little instruction and practice in developing these skills. This leaves them vulnerable in overseas classrooms, where these two skills and the benefits they generate take center stage in the learning process.

Sure, grades are important. However, learning is important, too. While you raise your skill level in areas like “connecting the dots” and “lateral thinking” you will struggle a bit. That struggle may show up in a slightly lower grade than the A you want and expect. Don’t worry about this. You’re learning. When you were just figuring out how to walk, you didn’t get a grade; you just kept walking and falling and getting up and walking some more. Eventually, you mastered the skill. Similarly, by the time you get to the end of your program, the investment you put into these new skills will pay full dividends both in terms of GPA and in terms of applicable skills and mastery of subject matter.