Tips for open book test?

[Theafoni]

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Any tips for studying for and taking an open textbook exam?It's for physics. I'm doing some practice problems and looking over concepts currently. I always felt open book exams were a hassle, but I'd appreciate any tips.

 

[hoihaie]

bring the book

 

[Ismet]

Study as if it's not an open book test. Then you'll be more inclined to use the book as an emergency rather than a crutch.

Also use the index. My Physics 1 final was open book, and one of the questions was actually worked out in the book. 😛

 

[Theafoni]

@Ismet Lucky you.

 

[Ismet]

@Ismet Lucky you.

Meh, the rest of the exam was insane. It was calc-based physics, ended up getting an A+ with the curve, but I think my uncurved average was around 50-60%. The people who didn't bother to look up the topic in the book or who didn't have a book were pissed, because it was easy points if you had the book, but a pretty challenging problem if you didn't.

 

[Time Table]

Find the equations page and keep it for handy reference. Depending on which Physics you're taking, 1 would need just the equations sheet for ridiculously easy problem solving while 2 would require you to have a foundation of electricity and it's inner-workings. Definitely continue doing as many practice problems as you can. Go over specific examples in the textbook that illustrate how to solve problems in the grand scheme of things, like initially setting up the problem and such.

 

[ortnakas]

Is it open note too? I usually found that a note sheet with everything I needed easy to find was actually more useful than the book.

 

[G_Marker]

Make sure you've done all your readings, and that you understand concepts well enough to apply them to different situations that haven't been explored in problem sets or class notes.

Memorization means nothing in these exams - preparation and understanding concepts means everything. You can make an easy to access "cheat sheet" that summarizes all the most important information and references it to your book/notes.

 

[What's Up Doc]

Ismet is right, pretend it's not an open book test. Open book tests are sneaky.. it becomes way to easy to underestimate how difficult the test will be, and the book rarely helps as much as you hope it'll help

 

[Chipmonkey]

Those little sticky flag things are your friend--spend time flagging/organizing pages so you can go right to the page during the test without wasting any time!

 

[terp720]

bring the book

also.. open the book (if needed)
Once, I brought the book, then forgot about it being an open book test... so silly.