Advice for the young grasshopper starting university -- Instructor feedback and the final exam

Last week of classes brings about two things:

• Exams are coming up
• Instructor feedback forms

The instructor feedback forms (called CEQ's at my university which stands for Course Evaluation Questionnaire) are meant to be use to gather information on how the course you are taking is being taught. From these things the instructor can either change the way the course is taught (like changing the textbook which changes how the course will be taught in the future) or continue on teaching the way he or she has been for the past who knows how many years (I will be saying something on instructors in my next post related to this series).

Be careful what you write on these forms. The instructor may recognize your handwriting so if you have something negative to say about the teacher do not write it down and keep it to yourself. As for funny comments . . . I guess I could leave it up to you but I suggest that you keep your comments to the point or don't comment at all and just rate the course.

Just for fun some students at a university in Singapore wrote comments for some instructor. I'm not sure if any other instructor does this:


Now for the final exam. Not all courses have final exams but out of all the first year courses I've been through there is a final exam. I could say the final exam is like the midterm where you might have a closed book, take home or an essay. Depending on what courses you take there might be other components that are set before the exam period like interviews or dictations for language related courses, but there are some things that make the final exam different than a midterm:

• the final lasts between 2 to 3 hours whereas the midterm is completed during class time
• the final is scheduled some time between the exam period so you might have to write it either on a Saturday morning or a Wednesday evening whereas the midterm is usually completed on a day where you normally have a lecture
• the final covers the major things you have learned over the semester whereas the midterm only covers thing learned up to that point
• finals tend to be worth more than midterms, it could even be worth the whole course if no midterm was ever given in the first place
• the final may or may not be held in a classroom. Most first year finals I've encountered are usually held in some large auditorium or gymnasium while the higher level courses are usually held in classrooms. You will most likely be in a classroom if your class is the only class that is there or if the combined number of people from more than 1 section is small. Also if your class had lectures in a lecture hall it will most likely not be in a classroom.

Like high school you pretty much show up to campus when you have an exam. There will also be other reasons you may show up on campus such as you're still working on that essay that counts for your final mark or you want to get away from some distractions and study at the library. Also you want to keep note of when your exam takes place and where it's located because the exam proctor may or may not be your course instructor and may not be lenient in giving you extra time. If for some reason you cannot make your exam on the scheduled date and time consult the instructor and university regulations as there you can get information on deferring an exam.

Just because the final is worth a lot and can be the make it or break it to passing your course, try not to worry too much. It's okay to feel nervous but just don't let fear take control of you (in the famous words of the bene gesserit: fear is the mind-killer). Same as the midterm don't overexert yourself with studying and do take breaks in between. Try to get enough sleep and eat something too as you don't want your mind to be thinking about sleep or what you want for lunch.

Hopefully this has been of some help. Good Luck! Bonne Chance! Ни Пуха Ни Пера!

Note: I've only seen the Dune movies and may have played some old DOS game so my Dune knowledge is quite limited.