An exam? Haven't we left them behind at college? In mid-career, with a family, a job and far too many other things in our heads to remember much about the course materials what are we thinking.
An exam is always a daunting prospect, but when you get in there you'll find, magically, that its not as bad as all that.
What tips can I leave you with? Here are few simple points that might still help even with 24 hours to go:
- Go after the low-hanging fruit. The analysis question is 30% of the exam and 6 of those marks are awarded for correct references and citations and for general structure and overall quality. A well-structured piece, with appropriate headings, will also help focus your answer and gain more content marks.
- Be concise and precise. This applies to the analysis but is also important for the short questions: 600 words for 30 marks is twenty words per mark - enough to make a point and illustrate it with a reference or example, not enough for flowery language! However well the answer reads, the content must be there first.
- Look at the details of the question. For example (from the SEP) this question contains seven clear hints about the answer needed: the answer must describe three prototyping techniques, in the context of requirements engineering (i.e. not system design or implementation) and for each of those techniques you should describe three aspects: prerequisites, process and outcome. From this you can immediately create a structure, each subheading only needing 20-30 words.
Write a short description of what is meant by prototyping in the context of requirements engineering and why it is useful. Give brief descriptions of three different prototyping techniques. What information is required before prototyping can begin? What is the process? What is the outcome of the prototyping process?
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Relate the answer directly to course concepts and materials: vague generalisations (the sort of thing you could write knowing none of the concepts) are unlikely to get any marks.
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Don't waffle. As I mentioned in my notes for the last TMA I think so-and-so is right won't gain marks: so-and-so supports their argument with data from a survey of six projects in the aerospace industry is much better and if you add to that however it is not clear that they are justified in extrapolating this to all software projects and they present no evidence related to domains other than aerospace then you are looking past what the material says and bringing additional insights to bear (assuming of course you are correct) - this is where the additional marks for a distinction can be earned.
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Finally, don't panic. Even if you draw a complete blank, do what you can. 40% is a pass, and even with 15% you earn the right to a resit. You may be cross with yourself, you may feel that you haven't perfomed to your ability, but in the end it is more important to understand and be able to apply - or modify or even deliberately ignore - the concepts in real projects than to be perfect in a three hour exam. Experience of marking exams and of seeing the results of my own groups tells me most people do better than they'd expected before the exam (and much better than they had feared in its immediate aftermath.
So, good luck and all the best for your future plans, whether these involve more studying or not. Feel free to keep in touch (and to subscribe to my blog http://needsmust.wordpress.com which has been sadly neglected for the last few months, but will be reactivated
NB Ian Newman put up a useful post on the forum
https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=520647#p3938549 on word limits. Some of this is also applicable to you if you are worried about all that handwriting: use bullet points. You may sacrifice a mark or two for style, but there are far more marks available for content.
now I have a little more time).