Can somebody tell me how to study again?
Monday, 13 June, 2005
I haven't done an exam like this in 10 years. That was the HSC when I did 4U Maths, 3U English, 3U Ancient History and 2U Visual Arts. Unfortunately I hardly remember a thing about them.
Mission Foundations is a 2-hour exam. You have to answer three questions (one from Part A, one from Part B and one from Part A or B). That means you spend roughly 40 mins on each question.
They will give you a Bible in the exam room (RSV). You get to choose from nine options. Mike says the options go something like this:
Part A
- Mission in the Old Testament (about one particular section, not about the entire Old Testament);
- Jewish mission in the years before 1st century AD;
- Luke-Acts (5 key texts: you have to comment on 3);
- John;
- Paul.
(There won't be anything on Matthew, Mark or the general epistles.)
Part B
- Contemporary missiologies: compare two: charismatic, Pentecostal, ecumenical, Catholic;
- Mission to the poor;
- Christianity and other religions: pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism;
- Issues to do with dialoguing with people of other faiths.
I take it I should choose three topics and study them in depth. But I can't remember how to do it. Should I memorise key Bible verses, quotes and points? Should I go away and read a stack of books?
I think I know what's bugging me. I feel like a 40-minute examination answer cannot possibly do justice to a question like, “To what extent is Luke's theology of mission indebted to Isaiah?”. It's my perfectionism kicking in—my Honours mindset—all my academic training screaming, “NO!”. I feel like, after Honours, you can't go back.
How do you do it?
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i wouldn’t try and memorise bible verses or quotations.
for the biblical questions, I would work on getting a good overview of the themes and important passages for that book. know where things are (eg, a chapter range), not exactly (2:42), because then you can look things up quickly, and not waste too much study time.
for the part B, you want to make sure you thoroughly understand a) Mike’s lectures on the topic, b) one or two articles on the topic. Mike has probably given you some further reading bibliographic material. try and get hold of 1-3 for each topic you intend to cover.
i wouldn’t chose 3 topics. i’m not sure how much exam data you’ve been given, but you should try for 4 or 5. you don’t want to be stumped if you’ve got nothing. also, the part B questions are actually easier to prepare for than the biblical ones.
I know how you feel about the honours regression thing. it’s hard to adapt to what is essentially an undergraduate program, with honours-masters level content (in some courses). you just want to go away and write in depth essays, you don’t want to sit 100% exams that are neither good for examining nor for learning. but that’s the system, and the fact we are here means we are submitting to it in godliness (hopefully!)
all the best
I had a similar experience with my history exam last week, except the lecturer told us to answer two of four questions, where the four questions would be based on the unit objectives in the course handout. When I rocked up for the exam, there were four questions on highly specific parts of the course. I could have missed SIX WEEKS OF LECTURES and still gotten through.
Sigh.
My advice is to pick the topics you feel you could write decent essays/extended responses on and read up on them. Try to memorise Bible references so you can look them up in the exam, I guess.
You did 4U maths??? I would have never guessed.
ooh, picking up from Ben A - Mike’s known to ask quite specific questions, which is why 3 topics is risky: even if you’ve studied a topic, you may not feel capable of answering the question. Check out the past exams.
Thanks Seamus! You’re the most helpful person I’ve talked to so far. Have you got any advice for Biblical Set Books as well?
No advice for BSB. I didn’t do it (Hebrew).
I have lots of thoughts about exams at college though.
Once you realise that exams have very little to do with testing or learning, you approach them in a whole new way.