A&P I (Bio 101) – General Guide to Preparing for Exams
Each of the questions on your exams for this course has been linked to the objectives listed in your Study Guides. Some of the questions are straightforward questions that test your knowledge of factual material. The Study Guide will give you a listing of the factual items you need to know. Other questions are designed to test your understanding of concepts. Below is a sample of the concept-check types of question with my rationale for creating the question as well as what I intend to test by asking the question.
A good way to study and prepare for exams is to think of your own test questions. As you look at each objective, imagine that you are the instructor and ask yourself, “If I was the instructor of this class, how would I test my students’ understanding of this objective?” Since you only have 50 questions to test all the material in a section, how could you combine several objectives or parts of objectives into one test question? How do you ensure that the question is not so easy that even the students who didn’t prepare well will be able to answer it correctly? How do you ensure that it is not so difficult that none of your students will answer it correctly? Do the distracters (incorrect answer choices) make sense and are they plausible enough to tempt students who did not prepare well? Going through this exercise should give you some insight into what the exams will be like. It’s worth the time.
The exams for this course will be returned to you to keep after they are graded. When you are reviewing old exams, e.g. for the cumulative portion of the final exam, ask yourself what specifically the instructor is trying to test by asking that particular question in that particular way. Realize that your instructors test you on the things that are listed in the objectives AND that they think are most important (since there’s a limited number of questions that can be asked on one examination). Given that fact, keep in mind there are only so many choices for coming up with questions! Focus on the things your instructor thinks are important!
How do you know what things your instructor thinks are important? Look for clues like summary charts your instructor tells you to look at, items highlighted on slides/handouts (especially in red), things emphasized repeatedly (or even once!) in class, old test questions, and of course, things your instructor tells you to know or that you will see again.
Remember that a test question may be asking you to tie several facts or concepts together. You should study with the intent of linking everything together as much as possible. For example, in Chapter 2 you will learn about the hydrogen bonds as an example of an important type of biochemical bond. How would this tie-in to facts about the structure of DNA or enzymes or metabolism (Chap 4)?
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Test-taking hints (for MY exams):
1. Read the question at least two times before attempting to answer it. For true-false type questions, read it over one more time!
2. Look for exception-type words, e.g., NOT, EXCEPT, and qualifying words, e.g., ALL, SOME. Note how they change the meaning of the question.
3. If possible, try and formulate an answer BEFORE looking at the answer choices.
4. Eliminate as many answer choices as possible right away. If you can eliminate all but one answer, you’ve gotten the correct answer! This is important. There are times when you may not know the correct answer, but you can eliminate the other choices and in so doing, answer the question correctly.
5. Remember that if even ONE of the answer choices can be eliminated, the answer choice “all of the above” can also be eliminated.
6. DO NOT leave an answer blank because a blank answer will be marked wrong and give you a 0% chance of answering the question correctly. At least if you guess, you will have a 20% (5 answer choices) or 25% (4 answer choices) chance of answering the question correctly. Note that this applies to MY EXAMS and may not apply to other exams you take where leaving an answer blank may a better strategy.
7. For short answer questions (like my bonus questions)
a. List means write a SHORT list of the most important points and don’t elaborate too much, but put enough in your answer so I know you know it.
b. Describe means to write a brief, but complete, answer to the question in prose form (not a list, not a diagram).
c. Diagram means to draw a picture with text in circles or boxes, and lines and arrows, etc. Don’t list, don’t describe – diagram!
d. Be sure to answer the question asked! Read the question over twice before starting to write and THINK about what you want to put on the paper before doing it. Read over the question again after you have completed your answer to see if you’ve answered the question.
e. DO NOT – DO NOT – DO NOT leave a bonus question blank!!!!!!!!! Write SOMETHING so that there is at least a chance I can give you partial credit. The bonus points you get might be the difference between a passing and a failing grade for your exam (or, worse, the course!)
Sample question 1:
Which of the following best describes the effect of a 1.5% saline solution on erythrocytes (RBCs) in solution?
a. there would be no net movement of water into or out of the RBCs
b. water would move into the RBCs causing them to swell
c. water would move out of the RBCs causing them to shrink
d. water would flow out first, then into the RBCs
Sample question 1 is designed to test the objectives listed in your study guide for Lecture 5, Tonicity (Chapter 3):
a. Define tonicity and its various states (isotonic, hypOtonic, and hypertonic).
b. Explain the effect seen, i.e., how water moves, when a cell (isotonic) is placed in each of the different types of solutions. Why does this happen?
c. State the percent (%) concentrations of isotonic NaCl and glucose (dextrose).
First, note the word “best” in the question. When you see the word “best” in a question, it means that one of the answers is better than the rest of the answers listed, whether or not you would have answered the question that way! There IS only ONE BEST answer. Your job is to find it.
In order to answer the question, you have to know the following:
1. What is the definition of isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic solutions?
2. What is the percent concentration of NaCl in an isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic saline solution?
3. What is the effect of the different tonicities on biological membranes?
4. How will water move in environments with differing tonicities (osmotic pressure)?
So, in order to answer this question you have to pull knowledge together using several isolated facts. One of the best ways to do this is by studying with the intent of linking facts together into a unified whole.
Okay, so let’s answer the question. First of all, a fact you should know is that 0.9% saline (NaCl) is considered isotonic to body cells. This means that cells in a 0.9% saline solution will not have water to move into, or out of, the cells. This is the definition of ISOTONIC. There is no net osmotic pressure forcing the water to move in or out. The concentration of saline in the question is given as 1.5%. This concentration is GREATER than an isotonic concentration of 0.9%, so it would be HYPERTONIC to the RBC. We know that a cell placed in a hypertonic solution will tend to have water move OUT of the cell, i.e., there is a net osmotic pressure pushing water outside the cell. The correct answer must be ‘c’.
Sample question 2:
Which characteristics of the RNA molecule are correct?
a. has complementary strands c. consists of deoxyribonucleotides
b. has antiparallel strands d. contains nitrogenous bases
e. all of the above
This question is designed to test the following objective listed in your study guide for Lecture 7 (Chapter 2): item 5; DNA, RNA, and chromosomes
In order to answer the question, you have to know the following:
1. What is the chemical composition of RNA?
2. What is the structure of RNA?
3. How does the structure of RNA differ from that of DNA?
We know that RNA is a SINGLE-STRANDED molecule. So, answer choices ‘a’ and ‘b’ can be eliminated immediately. Realize that as soon as you’ve eliminated answer choice ‘a’ (or ‘b’ for that matter), answer choice e, “all of the above”, is also incorrect. Answer choice ‘c’ is also incorrect since DEOXYribonucleotides are present in DNA, not in RNA. There is only one choice left: answer choice ‘d’. Notice that even if you didn’t remember the term ‘nitrogenous base’, you would have to choose this answer by default. This is an example where you have narrowed down the answers to the correct answer in spite of the fact that you may not even remember what nitrogenous bases are!
Try and keep in mind that you should be studying to learn, REALLY learn, the material since it will provide a foundation for your future studies. Don’t study for grades – study to learn and the grades will take care of themselves. You have my word on it!
There are a number of excellent study/test taking books and guides available if you want more information. Browse in your favorite bookstore (usually in the Self-help section) or library, or look at your favorite bookstore’s Web site (search for “study techniques”, “test taking”, “better grades” and search terms like that).
Does learning and applying study and test-taking techniques take time – you bet! Is it better to invest the time in learning those techniques, or in taking courses over again? Only you can answer that question for yourself!
I will do everything I can to guide you successfully through this course. But remember that I am only your guide. You have to exert the effort to make the journey yourself.
Best of luck in the course!
Dr. Erianne