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ELITE ISSUE 16, FEBRUARY 2020 PAGE 7

THE GAME OF PRESSURES AND TIME MANAGEMENT
CU STUDENTS' IMPRESSIONS ON

EXAMS PERIOD & PROCEDURES

special report
Our results have also shown that most students pref er studying from
Cairo : Carolin Sherief, Habiba Atef, Salma Bayoumi , Reem Omran, Zeina
the slides displayed in lectures, however, those st udying arts and law
Tarek and Assile Mostafa

aren ’t provided with any, thus using sheets as a referen ce. Books are
In the morning of January 23rd, the last day of exa ms season, our team decided
considered a last resort to the majority, only bein g used in the
to run personal interviews on students all over cam pus. We ’ve managed to reach
absence of both slides and sheets.
a diversity of both men and women in the following faculties: Political Science

and Economics, Commerce, Mass Communication, Arts a nd Law.
Exams usually aim to asses students through two different
The survey ’s main idea circulated around the exams ’ level of difficulty, and
approaches; bubble sheet, and essay questions. Bubb le sheet exams
how students prepared themselves for the season. Su ggestions to ease the
are usually composed from multiple choice and true or false
process were also gathered through the interviews. The responses to the
questions (without justification), whereas essay qu estions on the
following questions were collected:
other hand require detailed explanations of the top ic questioned. The
I. Desired method of learning
greater number of students in that case voted for b ubble sheet
II. Favorable method of studying
exams, demanding their use in all courses. However, conflicts on
III. Preferable exam style
The conclusions drawn showed that the general level of difficulty was not whether mathematics should be examined through bubb le sheet
unified between courses; whereas some exams were st raightforward and simple,
questions rose between commerce students, where the dominant
others were relatively complex. Nonetheless, studen ts from the faculty of
amount of students proclaimed that mathematics shou ld be graded
economics and political science stated that most ex ams were mildly hard; a bit
according to both the working out and final answer, and not the final
challenging than usual. First year students from th e faculty of arts had a similar
answer only. Bubble sheet exams prevent professors from grading
point of view, but blamed it on their inexperience rather than the topics in
the steps shown, and marks are only given for the c hosen answer.
question or the questions structure.

When preparing for exams, students are usuall y cautious, focusing on all
Student ’s suggestions on how to reduce exam stress were
topics understudy. Memorizing certain subtopics is what students pointed out as
considered, having most students complain from the surrounding
the greatest obstacle, especially those with a shor t memory. Study plans were put
environment during exams. Bothering most students a re the
together according to each persons exam schedule to organize and manage
distractions amidst the exam; invigilators might so metimes be
students ’ time, and better yet ease the process as a whole.
problematic causing disturbance to some students, a nd decreasing

Throughout the past couple of years, external classes-classes attended by their focus on the paper. Furthermore, students adv ocated that
students other than lectures, unrelated to the facu lty and university offices- are
statistics, mathematics, accounting and other simil ar courses should
gaining popularity among faculties. These classes a re usually more
grant students more time to solve the exam. It was also
studentoriented than lectures due to the minimal am ount of attendees, allowing
recommended by mass communication students that exa ms should
teachers to focus on each students ’ weak points. To add, professors focus more
be based on the students ’ ability to understand the syllabus, and not
on the small details of the syllabus, providing stu dents with further explanation
test their skills to memorise. Finally, as proposed by political science
beyond lectures. An interviewed commerce student hi ghlighted the importance
and economics students, the faculty offices should supply students
of these points, having the luxury to experience bo th lectures and external
with a variety of schedules, and the elected schedu le is then
classes. Despite preferring external classes, she s till attends lectures, unlike most
announced and officialised.
of her classmates.

ELITE ISSUE 16, FEBRUARY 2020 PAGE 7