Hey everyone! My name is Yasmine, and I am a Communications Assistant with the SSC.
I'm back on here to talk about yet another useful
resource called the "Mastering Short Answer Questions" workshop.
Whenever I'm writing an exam, I always get a little stressed when end up
reaching the short answer section.
It's like you never know what to expect,
and I get anxious about how I should be writing down my answers.
Do they want me to go and list items? Do they want me to explain
my whole thinking? Like you never really know.
It's a whole process, and the last thing that I need
when I'm writing an exam is that extra stress. So, luckily the SSC was able to help me out.
I signed up for the workshop and attended this past winter semester using the OSCARplus platform.
You can take a look at any existing workshops you might be interested in by logging in,
clicking Student Success Centre, and then Events.
Here, you'll be directed to a type of calendar
and you can just click on whatever works for you to register.
So this workshop was very similar to the "Study Smarter, Not Harder" workshop.
It was a group of students like me, along with a speaker that led us through several slides,
and then promoted discussion by asking us
questions about the topic, or even going through some practice problems.
What I really liked about it was that it wasn't really stressful at all.
Everyone was super sweet, and it felt like a sort of safe space, where it was okay if I answered a
question incorrectly, or if I got confused and I just wanted to ask questions about the content.
Overall, I had a really great time, and I think it was an amazing environment for learning as well.
Reflecting on this workshop, I think the biggest lesson that I've learned
is that it's worth it to really take your time
to understand and absorb - you know - what that short answer question is trying to ask of you.
Now, I know that sounds like an obvious suggestion,
but it's way easier to overlook than you think.
I often skim through these types of questions because they tend to be
around - you know - the end of the exam, and get really nervous about having that time crunch,
but this approach makes it really easy to misinterpret the problem.
Honestly, in order to avoid that, I tend to do the short answer section
first, and then make my way to the multiple choice questions afterwards,
since they're easier to go through if my time is more limited.
Something that stood out to me in particular during this workshop was how the speaker mentioned
that there were certain types of words that would tend to pop up in short answer questions.
These words can sort of act as cues that are meant
to help you recognize how to answer that question in order to get full marks.
For example, there's a big difference between
being asked to list something related to course content, as opposed to being asked to explain it.
Sometimes this difference is very obvious, and students can differentiate between
them very easily, but other times that key word can be a bit more confusing.
For example, I used to get really confused about the word "state".
Like "state what happens when xyz occurs".
Like, are bullet points too little? Is a whole explanation too much?
Like, I just would never know.
In short answer questions,
"state" would tend to refer to brief sentences with only key info being mentioned.
Identifying that format that they'd like you to answer with is kind of your key to success,
and will probably also save you some time.
If you'd like to learn more about how you can be successful when answering short answer questions,
I highly recommend checking out this workshop.
Overall, I had another amazing experience participating in the SSC workshops,
and really do suggest that you check them out whenever they're being hosted.
They provide a number of sessions related to different themes,
such as exam tips or studying tips, and they deliver that content in a very
brief and relaxed manner, which I really do appreciate!
So with that said, I think I've learned a good deal that I hope to use in my next exam,
and I hope you did too.
I'm also looking forward to what other resources the SSC has in store.
Until then, thank you so much for watching,
and make sure to check out our other videos for some more helpful tips.