How Do I Prepare For and Write Exams in Plant Biology?

By Dave Cass

"You need to be able to discuss issues of plant development, not just answer multiple-choice questions. For that reason, I will provide sample questions from recent years to give you an idea about what to expect. It is highly unlikely that any of these questions will be on your exam -- the previous exams will provide something of a study guide. As you will see, my exams are a combination of factual and interpretive questions -- I imagine that interpretive questions will dominate on your upcoming exam. Since I am providing these questions to you one week before the exam, I will be available both during my office hours and by e-mail to help you if you wish."

That's would I would say! In my specialty course, I took the time to include copies of my midterm exams and final exams in the laboratory manual so each student had them from the outset. That makes a huge difference, in my opinion. Once I started doing this many years ago, I received very few questions about the nature of the exams, but more questions about subject matter -- that was what I wanted.

Dave Cass, Professor Emeritus, Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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