How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

Tony — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:25:12 GMT

Alfred, I'm pretty sure that the blog post was written by "Tony Targonski", not Steven ;)

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

Rob Miles — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:36:41 GMT

As an instructor I use exams to address two issues:

To find out what the students don't know (so I can fix it later).

To motivate students to learn the really important things that they must know.

For example, I'll be telling my classes soon that the next programming exam will contain a question on references. They can go back to the past papers and, sure enough, there will be a reference question. It will not just be "describe a reference", it will be an example of a situation and a request to explain how references are relevant to that. With a bit of luck they will spend some time making sense of the question, finding out how references work, and then be able to answer the question on the next exam. This makes the revision process part of the learning process, which is how it should be.

Interesting Finds: February 26, 2008

Jason Haley — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:57:00 GMT

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

Alfred Thompson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:36:20 GMT

Sorry about that Tony. I'll be more careful in the future. I've edited the post.Thanks for the correction. I prefer to give credit where it is due.

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

Tony Felice — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:08:05 GMT

Sure, I can agree with your points on studying for an exam. It is much better to plan ahead and study a little each day than to try to cram everything in at once. Not only will it make it easier when you need to devote more time studying a few days before the exam (things are much easier to remember the second or third time you read them than the first), but you'll also be able to store more long-term information this way. About this sentence though:

"For my last CS exam I found more benefit in relaxing, enjoying some music, and reading blogs. Though maybe I’m missing something. What does everybody else do for their exams?"

That's not how I study. I usually find it best to do some serious studying for an hour or so and then take a 5-10 minute break (or whenever I start to lose focus). Rinse and repeat until it's time to go to sleep or do something else.

Speaking of which...I think it's time to get back to schoolwork. :P

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

Baker — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:38:43 GMT

As a teacher I do tell my students that tests are my way of knowing for sure that the class is making progress. If they class isn't making progress, it means we have to stop, go back and clarify some things - i.e. we can't move on to the next cool thing. The tests count toward their grade, I tell them, but by telling them they are for me, it diffuses the pressure a little bit, and by telling them that the whole class can't move forward unless they do well shifts the pressure onto the group as whole rather than the individual and the kids do study hard so that they don't let their classmates down.

I could see this approach backfiring if the class didn't have a healthy group-oriented attitude, but it hasn't happened so far the 3 years I've been taking this approach and I've also never had to go back - class performance as whole has improved.

I address the cramming problem by advertising up front that I make tests you can't possibly cram for. My tests require a synthesis of knowledge (as you pointed out, Alfred, they kind of have to). I'm not sure this is actually true - my programming questions aren't that different from AP-style programming questions - but telling this to students seems to make them more eager to seek the synthesis I'm looking for. That is, they want to gain the knowledge early and discover the intersections with previously learned material because they know it will help them.

Some students will always stress out, but I like to think I've struck a nice balance between my expectation of a lot of hard work and the stress that naturally accompanies it. positive stress, I suppose.

-Baker

re: How To Study For A Computer Science Exam

webster's classroom — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:27:59 GMT

Isnt the message that we are sending to students: get good grades, rather than this is something that you will need to know.