To think that they need more information regarding an exam at uni?

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So, if you sat a 30 credit university module and you were told "you will be given a 45 minute multiple choice test" this is to be satin 2 months time.

Would that be enough information for you to adequately prepare?

Ok, do the Module is called Human Dimensions of Computing. The units covered are

Cyber security - it's impact, what is it is, thr counter measures in place eyc

Safety critical systems. The importantly, regulations and laws, case studies. It's application in the work place and the social issues there in.

Software development, design, requirements, validation and verification. The processes involved, the reasoning behind it, record keeping and what happens when it goes wrong, the impact's on companies and software projects.

Change management

Teamwork

History of computing

Tech foresight (the prediction of the future of technology advances, the social and technological challenges facing that future, in the context of smart homes, medicine, social media and driverless cars)

...so, the module content is broad I could spend weeks and weeks "learning everything" on just the aspects of.... safety critical systems. From reading case studies if sift failures , to relevant laws and regulations..to workplace ethics....

So, to be told I'm getting a multiple choice test on ALL OF THAT is not helpful. Do I need to know what regulations weren't adhered to in the Bhopal Gas accident... Or do I need to know... what the Volere Shell is? What does "software validation mean"?

It's.... daunting having zero idea about what might be asked!

Sorry for the drip feed....

But I will just continue to work on it!

I'll let you know my results in 3 months :p

Why don’t you speak to your lecturer?

Explain you don’t know how to prepare for the test.

Do I need to know what regulations weren't adhered to in the Bhopal Gas accident.

If Bhopal was discussed during the Safety Critical Systems lecture then yes. If it wasn't, learn what was in that lecture!

But you had lectures and seminars on this course? Which included handouts/power point slides and reading lists? They should gi you an idea of the level of detailed required for the test.

Bhopal Gas was one of seven case studies in one part of the safety critical systems unit 😭

But you'll have lecture slides, or you should have been taking notes from the board, or you'll have hand-outs. You'll be examined on whatever you've been taught about cyber-security or whatever, not on everything about cyber-security.

Sorry, OP, this is standard for universities and I'm surprised you haven't come across it before. YABU, but good luck with the exam!

Bhopal Gas was one of seven case studies in one part of the safety critical systems unit

Then yes, learn it! And the other six. And presumably the principles of safety critical systems - why they are important, what features they should have.

Is this a new course? I would assume that I need to know all the technical details and the entire course content. I had a couple of new lectures where there werw no past paper available and they had negative marking as well as very similar answers

In general, the information covered in lecture will be considered most important, but everything in course materials is fair game.

You’ll have a unit/module descriptor, a set of lecture notes - and probably videos of the lectures - and a reading list. What more do you actually need?

Is it a face to face course? Can you speak to your lecturer about your concerns? In my experience, they will want to help you. Even if there are no sample papers, maybe you could ask them about the level of detail to expect in questions? They can only say no to a polite enquiry! Definitely, as people have said, they should let you know if you're penalised for incorrect answers.

Failing that, are you friendly with any students who've taken the module in previous years who could advise you on question style & depth? Any forums?

If not, the www. learningscientists. org recommended by someone before, is good. The best revision is lots of recall, practice questions. Better than making notes, rereading etc. Aim to pitch them on the harder side if unsure. Quizlet app can help. And try and work with the others on your course to make batches of questions on each topic. Then hammer the practice.

Best of luck!

Go through your notes and see did you have certain this highlighted etc that the lecturer said was important during the course, I used to find that a lot of my lecturers used to give hints that way (also last lecture before the Christmas holidays were a good source for exam questions as so few people turned up, they awarded the people who did).

I know.things have changed a lot on 30 years but I can confidently say that I passed all of my university exams without ever seeing a past paper. We were never given them. We were told how long the paper would be and how many questions of which type but that was it. We have lecture and seminar notes and a syllabus outline. We revised using those.

Appary the new legal quifications to become a lawyer will include a largrultiple cho

Sorry posted too soon

A long multiple choice exam, along with several skills tests

Bhopal Gas was one of seven case studies in one part of the safety critical systems unit
So you'll need to know it, just like A Level Geography students need to know their case studies for multiple topics.

Going back to one of my A Levels, we had multiple key studies per topic and could have been asked on any element of the study, design, methodology, outcomes, ethics etc. We just had to learn them.

As PP said, if they start giving mock papers out then people would complain if the paper was different. It's like GCSE students complaining that in a course where the extract could befrom the whole play and on any theme, the theme was male aggression and an extract they didn't revise because they'd only revised violence and love and the key scenes.
At degree level I would expect there to be more content and less hand holding.

The new solicitors' qualifying exam is a tough MCQ.
3 papers of 120 questions, 5 options for each question, single 'best' answer, not single correct answer.
Each paper covers the current core subjects in Law and legal practice - i.e. what is currently covered by a law degree plus the vocational Legal Practice Course. That is 4 years' worth of knowledge across 7 different academic legal subjects plus related litigation and practice procedure.

It is very similar to the US Bar Exam which has very low pass rates.
They test functioning legal knowledge - i.e. application and not just recall of facts.

Plus candidates have to read, digest, analyse apply and answer in 1.8 minutes per question.

If the OP has an exam like that, without practice of the specific types of questions and skills involved, it is not easy, and I would say it's not a fair test.

I did my undergraduate degree 30 years ago and we didn't even get a syllabus or course guide, let alone specific assessment criteria or past papers. As a result, failure rates were high.

Current good practice in HE is that courses follow the principles of constructive alignment - so that outcomes, teaching (materials and syllabus content) and assessments are aligned. If I were sending students into an exam without any guidance at all on the course learning outcomes, assessment criteria and assessment instruments, it would be regarded as extremely poor practice.

I would expect students to be given some guidance on the style of questions and the skills required to answer them. That is very far from telling them what knowledge will be assessed, is not 'dumbing-down' and is not infantilising students. It's ensuring that students have a fair chance to demonstrate their knowledge, instead of testing their ability to read their examiners' minds and guess what format the assessment will be in.