Preparation for closed-book exam

[Bhakti Courses]

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Closed Book Exam pattern

The closed-book exam will include short questions, essay questions, and verses (with translation).

General Guidelines

1. The closed book exam for the Nectar of Instruction book will consist of the following:

45 short answer questions

knowledge of the Sanskrit transliteration and English meaning of 4 Sanskrit verses

There will be no essay questions

Each short answer question will carry 4 marks
Each shloka will carry 5 marks
The exam will be for a total of 200 marks.

2. The closed-book exam for all the other modules (ISO, BG 1, BG 2, BG 3, NOD) will consist of the following:

40 short answer questions

2 essay questions and

knowledge of the Sanskrit transliteration and English meaning of 4 Sanskrit verses

Each short answer question will carry 5 marks

Each essay question will carry 40 marks

Each shloka will carry 5 marks

The exam will be for a total of 200 marks.

4. Examinations should be completed within a three-hour session.

5. For Nectar of Devotion, only the first 19 chapters are considered for the exam.

The closed-book exam grades of each module will be updated within three weeks after the closed-book exam is over.

Short Answer Questions:

1. An individual should be able to write his/her answer to a short answer question within 1-2 minutes. This means an answer should not require more than three sentences.

2. Short answer questions should cover, in a balanced fashion, all sections of the required books.

3. Short-answer questions should be balanced between essential facts, key concepts, and analogies.

Essential Facts:

Shastra (scriptures) inform us of essential facts, such as those related to the Lord’s activities, the activities of His devotees, the organization of the universe, the different yoga systems, the structure of Vedic society, qualifications for an individual to become spiritually advanced, etc.
Devotees should know these essential facts.

Key Concepts:

Devotees should know the philosophical concepts that form the basis of Krishna consciousness, such as the transcendental nature of the soul, the law of karma, the influence of the modes of nature, the process and development of bhakti, the purpose of creation, the qualities and opulence of the Supreme Lord, etc.

Analogies:

Srila Prabhupada and our great acharyas have taught via analogies, which help us understand new concepts indirectly. We should know and be able to explain these analogies. Some examples are; the analogy of the man lost in the middle of the ocean, of the sun rising on the horizon, of the mailbox, of the eggs of the scorpion, of the green bird in the green tree, etc.

Essay Questions:

An individual should be able to write his/her answer to each essay question within 20- 25 minutes. This means an essay question should not require an answer of more than 150 words.

Required verses:

1. Candidates are required to learn a minimum of 47 verses.
The list of verses is provided in the miscellaneous course material.

2. Candidates are required to write the transliterated Sanskrit of all required verses.

Correct use of diacritic marks is not mandatory.

Candidates shall also be required to write a translation that contains each main concept of the verse.

An exact, literal, ‘book translation’ is not required.

 

Scoring system:

For each module, the grades are calculated as follows.

MCQs: 15%

Open book assignments: 40%

Closed book exams: 45%

You will be considered to have passed the module if you get at least 65% marks.

(The grade for each module will appear in the grade book within three weeks after the closed-book exam is over.)

A student will be considered to have passed the module if he gets at least 65% marks.

If somebody has scored less than 65%, he/she will be given a second chance.

 

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