Building on yesterday's post...I had a professor in a human resource management class when an undergraduate student at University of North Texas, which was North Texas State when I was attending. She was one tough cookie that delivered excellent, information packed, presentations and she also prepared killer exams to test us over the materials she presented in the class and also the required readings. The one thing that she did permit us to do was bring in an 8.5x11 "cheat sheet" that could have notes on the front and back to help us take the exam. We could cram all we wanted on to that sheet of paper to help us take the exam and that was it.
I always thought that system was genius on her part because it motivated myself and others to spend a great deal of time going over the tons of notes that were taken (back in the day before powerpoint) in her class to create that "cheat sheet" -- which was a great way to get us to study and synthesize the information for the exam. On the other hand, her tests were so difficult that having a cheat sheet only lulled us into a false sense of security -- because you had to know the materials cold before sitting down to take the exam. There was no chance to read a question, search the notes for an answer, answer it, go to the next question, etc., and get done before the end of the examination session. The cheat sheet was merely a great tool to have on hand for that occasional question where one might not be able to recall a date, figure, etc., to help complete a question that had an answer already in progress.
So, give it a go. Ramp up the difficulty of your tests and let the students bring in their cheat sheet to help them get bits or pieces of information that may have been forgotten but needed to complete a question already in progress.
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