How to Take a Take-Home Exam

Take-home exams aren't quite exams and aren't quite papers. They require special techniques.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Stress Relief Products
• Printers
• Caffeinated Beverages
• Highlighter Pens
• Index Cards
• Spiral Notebooks
• Computers
• Word-processing Software

1. Prepare for the exam by centralizing all your source material: class notes, textbooks, homework and anything else that might be useful.

2. Look carefully through the exam as soon as you get it. Ask your teacher or professor to clarify anything that's not 100 percent clear.

3. Determine the order in which you're going to answer the questions. Start with what you're most comfortable with, to help you gain momentum.

4. Scan through all your materials for anything that might be relevant to the question.

5. Take notes as you look at the material, and then summarize what you find, writing down precisely where you found it. Use index cards for taking notes. You can sort them into categories and resort them if your categories change.

6. Make an outline. Look through the notes you just took, this time breaking the ideas into categories, forming a framework for your answer-to-be.

7. Write your answer by following the outline and looking up material as you go.

8. Repeat this process for each question.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to copy the source information from your notes to your outline so that the material is easy to find as you write your answer.
• Use a computer or typewriter for legibility. If you use a computer, spell check before you hand in your exam. Easily avoidable mistakes drive teachers crazy.
• Stay in touch with your teacher or professor as you work on the exam. This demonstrates that you want to do well.
• Make sure you know what guidelines your teacher or professor has established for consultation with other students. Don't discuss the test with anyone unless it's been explicitly approved.