IMS5048: Information Continuum exam
1.Examination content

1.1.Coverage.

Any topic that was discussed as part of this unit is assessable. This includes, audio-recordings of classes, the content of the unit website, the discussion forum, and all presentations by students and visitors.

1.2. Format.

The exam will require you to answer 5 questions in essay form.

1.3.Relationship to the objectives.

Remember that the original objectives of this unit were to:

  • analyse the socio-legal, cultural and technological environment in which information is created, stored, recalled and disseminated.
  • articulate the relationship between information management and other professions concerned with communication and information.
  • demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of relevant theories and models.
  • articulate information continuum theory and models, including the relationship between society and business, technology, knowledge categorisation and metadata, and individual, group and collective memory.
  • explain how information science theory in general and information continuum theory in particular applies to the practice of information management and specialised librarianship and recordkeeping professional roles.
  • explain the relationship of theory building to research in general and the discipline of information science and information practice.

It is very likely that the exam questions will relate to these.

2. Preparing for the examination itself.

2.1. PUBLICISED KEY EXAM DATA, known to everyone:

There is a large amount of basic information before the exam that is well known. For example:

The exam be held in the morning on Wednesday 26 October.

For on-campus students, the exam be held at the Caulfield Racecourse.

For off-campus students, the exam will be managed by the Examination Unit.

Three hours is available to complete the exam.

There is 10 minutes separate reading time.

You cannot take any books, notes, or supportive materials into the exam room.

The exam is worth 50% of the total marks for the unit.

You need to answer 5 questions. Thus there is 36 minutes for each answer.

Each answer is worth 10% of the unit mark.

2.2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE REVISION:

There are three key aspects to feeling well-prepared and confident about exams:

  • systematic revision during the semester,
  • thoughtful use of pre-exam time, and
  • a planned approach to each exam.

The main uses of a plan are: to prevent procrastination, and to assist you in managing the large scope of your task.

Engage in on-going revision over the next preparatory days, to avoid cramming towards the end.

Make summary notes of each topic, gradually reducing them in size, as you learn them.

Study intensively in short bursts, then break for quick exercises and relaxing activities.

2.3. PREPARATION DURING THE PRE-EXAM PERIOD:

2.3.1. Revision in advance.

Know your own revision timetable.

Allot time equally, according to the value of the exams.

Check any gaps in your own coverage of the unit as a whole.

Pose yourself simple exam questions, imagining that you are the examiner testing relevant knowledge.

Test yourself, as you learn.

Make your revision goals achievable: focus on your concentration and memory.

Reward yourself between exams with special forms of relaxation.

2.3.2.Practice questions.

2.3.2.1.’The reasons for isolating ‘Technology’ as a strong agency in the ICM are self-evident in an information age’. Discuss.

2.3.2.2.’Governments of all types can be major beneficiaries of the lessons of the ICM’. Discuss.

2.3.2.3.’There are a number of essential internal relationships within the ICM, without which it would fail’. Discuss.

2.3.2.4.’The ICM is of no of practical value’. Discuss.

2.3.2.5.’It is impossible to describe ‘Memory’ as part of Agency/Structure without taking storage into account’. Discuss.

2.3.2.6.’Time-space distanciation is just a far-fetched sociological fantasy’. Discuss.

2.3.2.7.’Metadata is an excellent example of the necessity for categorisation of knowledge in a networked world’. Discuss.

2.4.2.8.’The most important modality is normative’. Give reasons why or why not.

2.4.2.9.Describe an information situation where all the ICM purposes are of equal significance for analysis.

2.4.2.10.Explain how – in the ICM -- a creator of knowledge can also benefit from pluralisation of knowledge.

2.4.2.11.Describe a information professional role which involves every dimension of the ICM. Explain the connections.

2.4.2.12.Describe whether the ICM is the best sort of model for its purpose.

2.4.2.13.Identify an information case study which illustrates every aspect of the ICM well.

2.4.2.14.Analyse each of the three purposes in the ICM and describe whether they cover every relevant purpose adequately.

2.4.2.15.’The ICM is so far removed from its theoretical origins, that they are almost unrecognisable now’. Discuss.

2.3.3. Everyone has their own best learning and revision styles.

The way in which you learn will affect the sort of memory technique that

you might use. People tend to be divided into three basic categories of

learners:

  • visual learners,
  • auditory learners, and
  • kinaesthetic learners.

Visual learners. Approximately two thirds of students are visual learners. They learn best when they can see or visualise their information. This could be in the form of notes, diagrams, symbols, pictures, maps.

Auditory learners. About 30% of students are auditory learners. They learn best by taking their cues from sounds. Information becomes more meaningful for them when it is spoken out loud.

Kinaesthetic learners. Kinaesthetic learners (about 5% of students) learn best through using touch, movement and space. Learning most often occurs through imitation and practice.

Nobody is exclusively a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner. However,

one style of learning will tend to predominate for you. You will need to adjust techniques to suit your own style.

Try different methods, to see what works for you. For example, use posters, diagrams of major ideas, mind-maps, or definitions, and display them in a prominent place.

Use different techniques for memory – e.g., stand in front of a large mirror and pretend that you are teaching a friend out aloud: imagine that you are teaching the key concepts of a topic verbally.

2.3.4. Fear of the unknown.

With exams, a fear of the unknown or unexpected is most likely to dominate

your thinking sometimes. You will probably ask yourself questions like:

Will I pass?

Do I know enough?

Will I be able to remember everything?

What if they ask me something that I do not know?

These are normal questions to ask yourself about any personal evaluation, but they will not cause excessive fear if you follow accepted preparation methods.

Revise only a summary of the unit just before the exam.

2.3.5. On the way to the exam remember that:

  • you need to allow plenty of time to get there,
  • you have worked consistently all semester,
  • you have attended all the required classes, passed all the other

assignments, and done the required reading,

  • even though you have prepared thoroughly for the examination you

will never be totally prepared,

  • you will never know everything there is to know about your subject

so focus on the main issues, ideas and points,

  • you do not have to give perfect answers,
  • exams are designed to test what you know, they are not designed

to fail you,

  • there are worse things than exams to endure,
  • most people end up passing most of the time.

Thinking about the exam in advance will almost certainly raise a range of anxious questions in your mind, but the above points will help to cope with them.

2.3.6. Outside the exam room, before it starts, remember what you are there for.

This is a potentially risky time because you will be surrounded by many

other students feeling just like you -- anxious and stressed out. There are several things that you can do to minimise being influenced by others’ negativity:

  • Keep reminding yourself of all the positive thoughts that you have had about

preparation for the exam.

  • Avoid discussing with other students which areas you studied (or did

not study), what you know (or do not know), and so on.

  • Avoid discussing possible exam questions or topics with other

students, at this time.

  • Try to stay relaxed by focusing on calming and positive thoughts.
  • Relax yourself by taking some deep breaths, hold them in and then

count slowly as you let them out.

  • Do not worry about an exam that you have already sat earlier in the

examination period. You can no longer do anything to influence the

outcome of that exam. However, you can still influence the outcome

of the exam that you are about to do.

  • Focus your thoughts on what you are about to do, not on what you

have already done.

  • Remember that you have done all that you can possibly do to prepare for

the exam. The time for worrying about what to expect has long passed.

3.During the exam itself.

Good preparation provides the most confidence.

Show off all of your knowledge in the exam (make the most of what you know).

Plan the time to spend on each question, and keep to your time limits.

Underline key words on the paper itself.

Ask yourself not only, what is the answer to that question, but also: why is that question being asked?

Make sure that you understand the questions that you are asked, and just keep to the point in your answers.

Where special words are used in the exam questions, like “recommend”, “compare and contrast”, “advise”, “give reasons”, “discuss”, “describe” “justify”, make sure that you take note of them, and follow them.

Do not repeat yourself in different questions.

Draft your rough answers on the left-hand page (unmarked) of the exam booklet.

Give relevant examples to illustrate your main points.

The content and quality of the answer is assessed; your ideas must be comprehensible to the examiner.

Use the full exam time allowed.

4.Examiner’s expectations.

4.1.Basic requirements.

There are some expectations common to most exams that you should understand, in order to make the most of your preparatory thinking.

Normally, your examiners will be looking to test your:

  • level of factual knowledge,
  • ability to synthesise different aspects of the unit content covered during the

semester,

  • understanding of how to link key ideas together,
  • skill at constructing an argument to defend your own view on pre-set topics,
  • ability to produce a solution-answer to a case study problem,
  • within a limited time frame, simulating pressured decision-making such as

occurs in real life.

4.2.Marking criteria.

Students frequently want to know how they are evaluated in exams.

In exams, you have less time to show what you know than you do in other forms of assessment. Examiners look for precision. Examiners look to your content more than the style of your answer; waffle is extremely wasteful. Examiners ask these fundamental questions, then assign marks according to the adequacy of your answers:

1. is (are) the set question(s) answered?

2. are the key concepts understood?

3. is the core knowledge used?

4. has a proper understanding of the topic been demonstrated? Are there

gaps?

5. is the answer structured in a logical, understandable way?

6. is the exam answer relevant and accurate?

7. has a lot of useful effort gone into exam preparation?

8. is the content well-reasoned, balanced, unbiased?

5.What if you fail?

Normally failed students are permitted to re-sit the exam, or re-submit any other piece of failed assessment. Occasionally the lecturer-in-charge will make a judgement that a student cannot cope across all of the forms of assessment, but this is rare.

In any case, whether of near failure, or clear failure, the lecturer will contact the student to visit and discuss the lack of progress personally.

The failure rate in this subject on average over time is the same as in any other MIMS subject.

6.After the exam.

Relax, have a break, and don’t worry. There is nothing that you can do during the marking stage that will change your result.

Monash advises you to stay in Melbourne until all results are released. If you intend to leave the country, then that is a risk that you choose to take.

References:

Academic Skills Unit, La Trobe University. http://www.latrobe.edu.au/otd/aw/asu/exampreparation.pdf.

Exams, Northern Territory University, at http://learnline.ntu.edu.au/studyskills/ex/ex_ea_ex.html.

Graeme Johanson, October 2005.

Johanson: 5048 exam preparation: 1