The Open-Book Trap: Why Open-Book Exams Are Deceptively Harder and How to Conquer Them

It may seem like it would be easier to take an open-book exam. After all, you have your books, notes and approved materials by your side! However, the so-called 'safety net' can make the assessment more challenging. By providing students with information, examiners are able to progress beyond recall and question the students to apply, compare, analyse, justify or evaluate ideas. Open Book exams tend to assess higher-order thinking and application rather than just memorisation, UCL says. 

The challenge now becomes to know what information is important and to get to it in a timely fashion. Students who make their studies easy because they expect the book to have answers to all their problems usually find out when they are ready to take a test that they don't know the answers. Being ready, making decisions, structuring and executing calmly is essential for open-book success.

When it comes to exams, an open-book session can seem like a nightmare

The trap that the first lady talks about is false confidence. If you know what you have written or recorded, it's hard to feel the need to revise it.

Such a mindset is dangerous, as this is not a typical question that will be put on the examination. You will, however, be given a scenario to which you will need to apply knowledge and information from various sections of the course. UNSW say that open book exams assess the students' knowledge of how to appropriately find, apply and use information, not just remember it.

That is, it is your materials that give the ingredients. Still need to prepare the meal!

Put an end to this "notes as search" syndrome

In a time-limited evaluation, it's costly to search all of the pages. After 10 minutes, a student has given up valuable thinking time if they have to search for one definition.

Your notes should thus be geared towards being navigable, and not decorative. Employ brief headings, summaries, page numbers, formulas, key concepts and examples. If it is a large amount of material, include a contents page.

In an open book exam, when you are under pressure and think, “Do my homework for me,” keep in mind that this is still a test of your knowledge and ability to interpret and apply it. In preparation, you should be quicker to think, not relying on someone else for answers.

Open the book to refer to it

The one thing that is going to be extremely useful is the simplest of things – practising without your tools.

Attempt to answer possible questions from memory first before referring to notes. Afterwards, compare your answers with the text and find out what you missed. This will show the gaps in advance of the actual test.

The effects of retrieval practice in education have been explored numerous times. However, a university field experiment showed that students who practised without their materials but later received a test with those materials recalled more information than students who practised with their materials, indicating that active retrieval can be beneficial even when the assessment can be supported by materials (Roediger et al., 2019).

The lessons to be learned are very plain: Knowledge must always be backed up with access to information, but access should not fully replace knowledge.

Real Kind of Thinking is a technique 

It's not enough to just practice reading a lot of questions. Practice making choices as they will be needed in the actual exam.

Ask yourself a question, have a reasonable time limit and then choose resources that you actually need. Practice the skills of questioning, outlining, and answering without having to continually consult your textbook.

For open book exams, it is strongly recommended that students practise beforehand and UCL cautions that the use of reference materials can be a crutch, rather than a help. This is particularly important for an assessment which asks for analysis or synthesis, as opposed to recall.

The closer the practice is to the actual exam, the less it will come as a surprise.

Don't clutter your desk with too many files and documents

An increase in information does not necessarily lead to increased assistance. The clutter on desks of teachers, students and the entire classroom can result in decision fatigue.

Select some trusted sources. Create and label digital files. Highlight and bookmark key parts of the book, and eliminate duplicate pages.

Before the exam, consider what will be gained from opening another source of information in preparation and during the process of writing the answer to the question. If you know the concept, looking for a better explanation might be a waste of time since you already know the concept. And just remember you can always get help from services like ‘Take my class for me’.

Answer the Question Before Chasing Information

One of the typical open book errors made is to do research before you determine exactly what the question is asking.

Pay attention to the words you are asked to read. Is it an explain, compare, evaluate, calculate, justify or apply question? For that wording, you will need that evidence.

Create a short answer strategy prior to searching. If you have a method/argument, your resources will be the tools you need to use, not the ones you feel you have to use and search a library for.

Conclusion

It is hard to do open-book exams, just because the information is available. They turn the problem of memorising all of the information into being able to know what is important, be able to locate it efficiently, and apply it intelligently. The best preparation is retrieval practice and the use of organised resources and realistic timed practice. Make notes which are easy to navigate, know the basic ideas and concepts well enough to be able to work without referencing notes, and practice answering the questions rather than reading through the material.