Exam Prep & Anticipation

This week for Exam prep I decided to apply the Q&A Map technique and anticipate questions for my Chemistry 106 course. I decided to focus on this class this week because I plan to use this course in my Exam experiment. I am a very linear learner and using these two techniques allowed me to see a complete view of the data of previous tests, and anticipate questions for the next one. I knew from my interview with my professor of this class that some topics from EACH test would show up on all three of the exams within the class. Following L.A.M.E (Learner, Action, Material, Evaluation), I applied the Q&A Map on my previous Chemistry exam and anticipated questions for the following test.

Q&A Map CHE 106

The Q&A Map (shown above) allowed me to see what topic had the most questions asked, and what type of questions of those asked were the most important. After reviewing my test, I realized that there were two main types of questions asked. They were either Definition or Cause & Effect questions allowing me to see that I need to focus on definitions, causes, and effects for the next test that I take. The most popular topic on this exam was Molarity and Conversions as it had 12 out of the 28 questions asked on the test. This is a topic I'm sure will show up on each test and even the final exam so visually seeing this on my Q&A Map allowed me to fully understand how important it is. However, other topics still have the potential to show up on following exams according to my professor as he labeled the final exam as a "spot check."

Anticipated Questions CHE 106

The anticipated questions (shown above) were made in response to my Q&A Map evaluation of the previous exam. The questions reflected the topics that were most stressed on the Q&A Map and I also added a few questions from new material that I saw in my recitation the during the week. They were mainly definition questions as that type of question was asked the most last test. For my action I plan to add more questions each day after each lecture or after completing a homework assignment to have solid exam prep questions for my next exam. The anticipated questions and Q&A Map combined are two invaluable materials for preparing for my next exam. For linear or visual learners I would recommend these two techniques as they really help to give you a visual idea of what you need to look for on upcoming tests. I feel more confident knowing that I have an idea of what the test is going to have in store for me, and I can now prepare accordingly.