Guide on How to Write University Essays, Courseworks, Assignments and Dissertations

Open-Book Exams
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Review

At the first glance open-book exams may seem very easy. You are allowed to bring your books, lecture notes, supporting materials and you may think that it will be very easy for you to get good mark on the exam. However this is not true at all. Furthermore, it will be right to say that open-book exams are, in practice, more difficult that usual exams, because usually on normal exams you are likely to get away with knowing only theory, however in open-book exams you need to be able to apply the theory onto practice, which is much more complicated. Therefore, if you have an open-book exam – read this section, it may be useful for you.

  1. Usually with open book exams you are likely to receive the case study 1 week to 24 hours before the exam. Please make sure you read it at least 2-3 times and use the highlighter to draw attention to the most important facts.
  2. It is very important for you to get 2-3 past exam papers before the exam. Then, after you received the case study you MUST answer all of the questions of the previous exams, however do apply them onto the case study you received for your exam. On open-book exams questions are likely to be repeated with slight modifications from year to year.
  3. Talk to your tutor and put all your effort to find out what kind of questions you are likely to face. Answer all of these questions as well. Its better for you if you print all of those answers because then it will be easier for you to read them during the exam.
  4. After you read the case study it is a good idea to search internet and find out more about this company unless your tutor specified that your answers should only be based on the case study. During the research you may find some information which may be extremely useful for you. You can even buy the pre-written paper on this company in case it suits your assignment task.
  5. Don’t take tons of books and lecture notes on open-book exams – you will simply have no time to read them. Take one core book, some lecture motes and ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS – they will be and best help for you. If you are limited to what you can take – forget about the book and lecture notes.
  6. Make sure you read the case study 2-3 times before the exam as well to ensure that you will not spend time on the exam on reading.
  7. And lastly, GOOD LUCK!

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