Take Home Finals

I had my first take home final this past semester. Obviously I have little good advice to give. I was given a week for my exam but I know people who have had 24 hour take home finals.

I will say this: create an outline even if you have a take home. I did not create an outline and spent a lot of time flipping around the book and my notes to find material.

What is the point of creating the outline even if you have the time to go through the book and your notes? In my opinion, organization and re-familiarization. Since I hadn’t created an outline, I didn’t remember a lot of what we had learned. I also had difficulty finding the material.

On the other hand, it takes me three or four days to create an outline from scratch. Would I waste that much time looking for information while working on the final? Of course not.

In the end, I think the ultimate result of not creating an outline for my take home final was an increased level of stress.

How about you, dear reader? Any advice for handling take home finals?