When you think about midterm and final exams, what comes to mind? You might think about key things to do to prepare for the test. For example, you might consider preparing a list of key vocabulary, a summary of main points and consider the scope of exam; in other words, you would create a study guide. In this article we are talking about study guides.

Have you ever used a study guide prepared by someone else? Most students want to receive good grades with the least amount of effort spent preparing for their exams. So, premade study guides have become popular and an almost indispensable thing for students in many universities. However, are study guides a fair way to prepare for a test? Many people use study guides to help them prepare, but some students feel they are unfair. Nowadays, sites which collect various universities’ study guides are showing up on the Internet. Some people sell the study guides to students and students pay some price for their study guide. Why have study guides become so poular?

First, let's consider the justification for using study guides. When some students prepare for an exam by studying with a study guide, they don’t want to tell their friends about using a study guide. When you see this, you can think study guides cause the pang of consciousness. Let’s see the justification about study guides by using their pros and cons. One of the advantages of study guides is gaining familiarity with the test. When you are a freshman in university, you can have difficulty about test. There are various forms of test that are different from high school. There are many way to prepare for the new types of exams, but most the most effective method is using a study guide. Looking at the previous forms of test is better than other methods. Study guides give the information about tests and what they should be studying based on the scope of the test. So, many students have their first experience with study guides as freshman to reduce their anxiety about test.

The second advantage of study guides is private tutors know about the tests. Study guides have examination questions that appeared on exams last semester. When students receive the study guide about a particular lecture, theycan receive a good grade on the exam without much preparation. How could this happen in university? The reason is the examination questions professor will give out. Sometimes, professors can give out the same examination questions that appeared in the previous semester. This is because the main points of the lectures are the same each semester. Multiple choice tests are even more unfair than essay tests in situations which students know the questions because multiple choice questions have an exact answer.

If there are advantages of study guides, there are also disadvantages of study guides. The first disadvantage to consider is the impartiality about tests. As mentioned earlier, when students see the study guide for a class, they can know about examination questions. How do students who do not use study guides feel about this? If we see the their point of view, this is like cheating on the examination. If examination questions are not the same as the study guide, isn’t it fair? No, it is still unfair. When you cheat on an exam but you still get the answer wrong, is it not cheating? Equally, it is the wrong thing to do regardless of whether your answers are incorrect or correct.

Another disadvantage of study guides is scholastic achievement gained from courses. Students paid some price to take classes. What is the reason students go to university? Maybe, the main reason is studying a certain major and finding their occupation after graduation. However, when students use a study guide prepared by someone else, can their scholastic achievement be high in their semester? The answer is no, because the method which can improve their scholastic achievement is studying themselves without a study guide. When they graduate from university by using study guides, they can experience difficulty in their working place.

Then, whose responsibility is that disadvantage brought about relying on study guides? This can be divided into two perspectives. One of the perspectives is students’ perspective. However, if you ask students, they may say the responsibility falls on professors. Why do students think that way? because students think professors didn’t change their examination questions. The reason is the main point is the same in lectures as mentioned earlier, so professors can’t change their examination questions. Furthermore, some professors use a multiple choice test. There are disadvantages and advantages from using that test type. Students who have a study guide can easily fill out the answers on multiple choice tests. Therefore, the combination of of multiple choice exams and study guides is a terrible thing for students who do not use a study guide.

The second perspective is that of the professors. Unlike students, some professors say the responsibility falls on students. In any case, the main point of the lecture can’t change, so professors can only give out the same examination questions. If some students don’t make and use the study guides, there is no inequality.

An easy way to solve this problem is changing the exam type. Essay question types are better than multiple choice types to solve the problem of study guides. Why are they better? The reason is writing forces students to think for themselves on tests. Though students have a study guide, essay questions can demand their thinking about the content of the course. Therefore, this problem can be solved a little by changing the test type.

Another solution is students’ mind. Though professors change the test type or the main point, study guides will continue to exist at universities. So, universities should educate students about scholastic achievement. The focus should be on how students can study while at university. When students are informed about the importance of mastering learning objectives, they should develop the maturity to study on their own. Furthermore, students should stop passing guides on to their juniors in university.

When we care about the integrity of university, there will be no inequality from tests. If you have a study guide, you need to look around at other people in your classroom and take a long hard look at yourself. Your undergraduate days are very short to study using study guides. I hope you don’t try anything you will regret later.

L.L.F Ha-Young Yang.