Taking the AIEEE online? Keep these in mind

The students will have to compulsorily opt for the online examination which will be conducted over a window of several weeks from May 7, 2012 to May 25, 2012.  The other locations in India will still conduct the examination in the traditional paper pencil format on a single day – April 29, 2012.

Let us examine some important points students need to keep in mind while taking the AIEEE examination in 2012 in the online format.

Run-up to the examination
First, convince yourself sufficiently before the examination that there is no fundamental difference between the paper-pencil format and the online format. The medium is different; the content will be the same.

For doing the above, students will need to familiarise themselves with online formats several times over. There will be a practice option available on the official site of AIEEE. Other than that, students should also enrol for a good online practice model exam series for exam-practice.

The actual examination
In AIEEE 2011 when the pilot for this format was conducted – (for the first one lakh applicants who wanted to take this format, though the actual number that opted for this was close to six thousand only) there were no technical snags that were reported from the test centres. So students should not give in to any fears of system malfunctioning, test screens not moving forward / backward etc. and should completely focus on the content of the examination.

One thing students will not be able to do like in a paper-pencil format is to make notes next to the actual printed question. Most students have the habit of placing quick pointers next to the question for problem solving. Additional paper will be given for rough work and calculations. It is important that students develop a system of not cluttering the working pages haphazardly. You would need to locate the relevant pointers of a particular question from among the hundred odd questions later. This has to be made an exam-habit through more model exams.

Students can go back to a question marked for solving towards the end of the exam window. In the paper pencil format, the students will be able to quickly start from where they left off. The same versatility should be developed for the questions on the screen also. It would be gross misuse of the exam-time if you were to start over again. The screen adaptation of  “mid-way interventions” needs to be practised several times over
Always keep in mind, the screen is just to read and click the appropriate bubble / block for the exam. Everything else happens in your mind and the working sheet in front of you.
(Course Director, IIT-JEE & AIEEE Training, TIME Pvt Ltd)