Chapter 2 - 7

07 Office Hours

Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor. Fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.

W: Hello, Professor Williams. Can I talk to you for a sec?

M: Of course, Ann. What can I do for you?

W: Well, you see, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with the tests for the class. I barely passed this last test. But I’ve been trying to study for them.

M: This class can be really hard, but the study guide should help. Did you use the study guide I provided to review the key concepts of this chapter?

W: Yes, and I think that’s part of the problem. The study guides don’t seem to reflect what’s on the test.

M: What do you mean?

W: I mean that I’ve been using the study guide. In fact, I practically memorize the information on the study guide, but then when I get to the test, I usually find a whole bunch of questions that were not on the study guide.

M: I’m still not sure that I understand. Would you happen to have a copy of the last test that we could go over?

W: Actually, I have a copy of the last test and a copy of the study guide. Let me just find them. Here they are.

M: OK. Now, let’s look at a question that you missed. Hmm… It looks like you missed question number ten about off-price retailers.

The question asked, “What is an off-price retailer?” The correct answer was C, “a retailer that sells goods at prices twenty-five percent or more below traditional department store prices”. You chose answer A, which states the definition of a discount store.

W: Actually, I just guessed on that one. I had no idea what the answer was. It wasn’t in the study guide.

M: OK, let’s look at your study guide. The word “retailing” is listed right here, but I see that you didn’t write much down.

W: Yeah, I just wrote down the definition. Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do?

M: Yes, but you also should have written down the types of retailing, like, for instance, off-price retailers. I see that you’ve defined each term in the study guide, but you didn’t go any deeper.

You should also have written down the types of retailing and anything else that we discussed in class or that was in your reading.

W: But it doesn’t specify that in the study guide. It only has the word “retailing”.

M: Well Ann, the exams test deeper knowledge than what’s listed on the study guide. The study guides list the key topics, but it’s up to you to explore these topics deeper.

And there’s one other major reason why I didn’t list the different types of retailing on the study guide.

W: And what’s that?

M: Conciseness. There are about fourteen different types of retailing that exist, and there’s no way I can list all of them on a single page.

W: Then how do I know what to look for?

M: We went through all the types of retailing in the lecture. Weren’t you here then?

W: Yes, I was. And I took notes on it, too.

M: Did you look over your notes for the test?

W: I glanced through them, but I relied mostly on what was on the study guide.

M: That’s probably the problem. You depend more on your study guide than your nodes. Ann, the study guide is just a guide.

It’s a rough outline of what will be on the test. It is not an in-depth list of everything you’ll need to know to do well on the exam.

W: So how do I study for the test if I can’t depend on the study guide?

M: You can still use the study guide. It lists the key terms and concepts you’ll need to know. However, it’s your job to explore and study these topics deeper.

W: How? I obviously can’t study all the information in the reading; that’s hundreds of items to memorize. How do I know what part of the reading is going to be on the test?

M: Do this by depending on your notes. Rather than just defining the terms in the study guide, take the concept listed and use that as a starting point.

Then go through your notes and write down everything that we talked about in class concerning that concept.

W: Well, OK. But that’s still an awful lot of stuff to study. We go over so much information in class.

M: It will get easier once you read through your notes a few times.

1) What is the student’s problem?

2) What advice does the professor give to the student about studying for tests?

3) What does the professor say about study guides?