Video of Timed Writing Test

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  Welcome to the time writing asynchronous workshop.

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  We'll be going over different types of time writing tests,

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  how to study for them

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  and how to take them.

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  So

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  we'll go ahead and get started.

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  First of all, the different types of time writing prompts,

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  you might have a content based time writing prompt.

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  This will be where you

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  prove your point with evidence from the text.

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  So you might have a question that is directed towards

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  your sign readings, your homework.

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  Um Maybe it's from a chapter skill concept that you've got over

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  in class.

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  Here's an example. Uh What was the event that started World War Two?

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  And why was it significant? Please support your point with evidence from text.

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  So in this case, you would need to know the answer about what started World War Two,

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  but also be able to use relevant quotes or paraphrases to support it.

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  This class would likely allow you to use the book during the exam.

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  If it's asking for a very specific question,

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  you might be able to refer to your notes,

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  uh You might get the prompt ahead of time.

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  Uh And you also might have an idea what quote you

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  want to use when you come in for the exam.

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  So just know

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  what your professor expects for the class. But

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  for content based, generally, they're checking your content knowledge

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  and you're going to be able to prove

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  that you've learned the concepts from the chapter from

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  the homework

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  skill based.

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  So for skill based,

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  you would demonstrate your ability to write well on a general topic.

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  These are very common for things like

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  your, um S A T type questions where

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  they might give you a general

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  prompt and you just need to answer it

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  and they're mostly testing you on your ability to organize your thoughts.

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  Bring up good evidence

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  and structure an essay.

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  Mostly that you're able to organize your ideas in a logical way.

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  Generally for skill based ones, you're not going to

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  be pulling actual content from readings that you've done in class.

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  A lot of times for those ones, it might be something like

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  tell about a time where you were inspired by someone.

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  OK. So how do we prepare for your,

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  um, time writing test?

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  If it's a content based test, you'll review lecture notes, your note cards,

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  your textbook, any relevant homework assignments,

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  you might refer to a study guide.

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  You could do a study group, study groups,

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  you can form them in the tutoring center in the library.

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  You can maybe see a tutor and go over study techniques,

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  maybe read over um, the section of the book that the test might be on

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  for a skill based test.

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  You would perhaps practice with prompts that your professor provides.

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  You could also look up sample prompts.

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  For example, there is something called 501 sample writing prompts.

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  You can look that up and just start writing and get a feel

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  for how you would organize an essay and put your thoughts together.

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  You could practice brainstorming and outlining

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  and work on fundamentals like spelling, grammar,

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  sentence structure and essay structure.

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  Note on skill based, you're proving that you can organize your ideas well,

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  um in an essay

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  content based, you're proving that you have learned the material

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  well and you can demonstrate that

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  on test day,

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  this might sound silly, but a lot of students will come into class tired, hungry,

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  exhausted.

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  So remember to try to eat something in the morning, try to get some sleep.

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  Um before the test,

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  you might want to study a little bit to refresh right before the test,

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  but not spend hours and hours right up till the

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  test starts because then you'll go into the test exhausted.

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  You wanna come to class early with all of your test materials that you need a pen,

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  paper, pencil, blue book.

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  Speaking of which

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  you need to know if your

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  uh classmate need a blue book or a green book or a scan Ron with bubbles and lines.

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  Uh You just need to ask your professor what kind

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  of testing materials you need to come in with.

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  So don't let yourself get all stressed out before the test,

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  take the time

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  study.

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  And when you take the test, that should be when you are

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  taking

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  control deep breaths, you are

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  answering to the best of your ability and you're not stressing out

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  about what you do and don't know you're just doing the test.

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  So during the test, you read the prompt underline,

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  highlight keywords and phrases. So you know what you're supposed to answer.

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  I know a lot of times you get a really long

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  question and then by the time you get to the end the question, you say,

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  what am I supposed to do now?

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  So it's good to kind of outline the question as you go along.

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  So you know how to answer it,

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  you want to be timely.

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  So

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  if you have,

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  for example,

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  uh multiple choice questions and then short answer,

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  well, you need to have an idea of how long you're gonna spend on each

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  if you know it's

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  a major essay question and the rest short answer,

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  then maybe you need to focus the essay first

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  and then go to the short answers and keep time in mind as you're taking the test.

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  So whatever works best for you,

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  whatever you can help you best pace out.

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  Um

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  Let's go with the test is best

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  and also for things like multiple choice question tests.

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  If you have some of those along with short answers,

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  I would recommend if you don't know the answer to your question, move on,

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  come back to it.

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  So generally in most exams

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  for short answer and essay questions,

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  you will be addressing the prompt in your answer

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  is the best way to approach it unless you know, your professor does not want that.

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  And when you address the prompt, if it's a full length essay,

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  then that will probably essentially be your

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  thesis where you are addressing the prompt,

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  you want to use your time wisely as it says here on the bottom.

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  And there's just an example of how you might piece out your time where

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  you might spend time drafting some time,

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  um, writing

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  corrections and then

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  the rest of the time

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  kind of perfecting what you've already written down

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  and working wording. But

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  most part your times writing tests, you should be focused on the content

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  is the most important

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  tips.

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  So if you have multiple prompts to answer, do the easiest ones for your first.

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  Don't pay attention to people who finished early on their exams, take your time,

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  but be aware of the time that you have

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  red directions carefully or you might end up doing extra work,

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  you might end up doing more

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  points um

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  than you're required to. You might

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  end up doing more

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  questions than you're supposed to. Maybe you're supposed to only

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  answer two out of three of the questions or maybe

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  you are supposed to pick one type of s E or the other, but you end up writing two.

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  So it just makes you read clearly and know what to expect

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  as I mentioned before. If you need help with working on time writing

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  tests, especially ones that are skill based,

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  feel free to check out sample writing prompts.

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  Uh 501 writing prompts has a variety of uh

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  test questions that

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  you can use to kind of practice working at making an essay in class.

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  Here's an example.

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  Um According to an old Greek Proverb, all things good to know are difficult to learn.

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  Do you agree? Why are we not

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  use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer?

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  So this is, this is short answer form.

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  So I won't go through and read the entire example.

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  But at the top you can see in purple, I talk about

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  how I address the prompt, which is

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  the Proverb.

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  Um Then we go into giving relevant examples about how

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  uh whether or not I agree with it. And

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  the examples I see

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  that contribute to my answer

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  and at the bottom,

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  we have a conclusion to our response where we kind

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  of wrap things up and go for a full circle.

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  So this is a very common way to answer a short

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  um

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  short answer question.

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  You might have a professor who just says give me the answer.

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  Don't frame it, don't, don't summarize it. Don't form it like a full paragraph.

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  Just tell me what the answer is if they're asking for that,

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  then this is just extra work.

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  So just know your professor and what they expect.

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  Uh But this is a good way to

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  for a lot of classes to frame your response for short answers.

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  If you're required to do an essay response, then usually essay responses,

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  you'll have a introduction,

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  body paragraphs and a conclusion.

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  So keep that in mind.

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  And here is the work cited for learning um

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  Express builder and focused writing team

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  uh who wrote 501 writing prompts that we were referring to here.

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  So

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  this is essentially how you would approach a time writing test

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  for any specifics on your class

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  or the materials that you need. You should check with your professor.

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  But these are some good pointers to get you started.

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  If you have any trouble with things like

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  um forming ideas for your essay, brainstorming,

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  putting those types of things together in the first place,

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  feel free to check out our other resources on things like

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  M L A A P A Chicago manual style.

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  We have things on introductions and conclusions,

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  the meal plan, which is how to form your body paragraphs

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  and other resources on the writing

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  on the writing tutoring page and on the workshop page

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  on Crafton Hills dot E D U.

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  Thank you for attending the asynchronous time writing workshop.