It's exam time people, let's go out there and excell!

Exam Preparation Exams, for most students exams are synonymous with swear words, somewhere on a par with root canal and a month of Noot-vir-Noot re-runs. But truth be told, exams can be useful and the expectation of the difficulty of doing exams often far exceeds the reality. Exams are designed to test your knowledge and understanding of the course and require you to recall and apply information and theories. To maximize your chances of passing exams, you need to: • Prepare…well in advance. • Overcome nerves and anxiety. • Develop appropriate strategies to use when writing the exam. Take a look through the Exams section on VUMA! for some practical advice on how to get the most out of exams. Exam Preparation Studying for an exam should be more than just a frantic cramming session the night before; successful studying is an ongoing process that begins with the first day of classes and involves managing your time and learning effectively from lectures. A few weeks before If there’s more than a few weeks to go until your exam and you are already at the books, then well done, you’ve already mastered the trick to exam success ….starting early! If not, here are a few guidelines to get you going…. Review material regularly Reviewing allows the brain to consolidate and integrate information, so that cramming should not be necessary! The trick here is to review, not relearn. • Daily review- Edit notes as soon as possible after class and review notes quickly before class. Start this early on in the year and it will soon become habit. • Weekly review- Spend an hour or so at the end of each week on a structured review for each subject. Make summary notes of important concepts and information. • Major review- Begin an extensive review a few weeks before the exam. Organize your time Create a weekly study planner and use it to organise your time. Cross out the times when you know you can't study because of other commitments (e.g. lectures/sport/work). Then plan time slots you will use for studying. Divide your available time and your work load into manageable chunks. Remember to schedule in time for regular breaks. Try and make use of short study times and use your time creatively. As little as fifteen minutes can be ideal for revising your lecture notes. Why not use the time spent waiting for your taxi to arrive or those few minutes between lectures to review your notes? Remember to also take into account the times you study most effectively. Are you an early bird or a night owl? It’s no use scheduling time to study in the evenings when you can barely stay awake past 7pm! Make a study area Choose a quiet place away from distraction (noisy siblings, fridge, tv) and make yourself comfortable. If possible, try and study in the same place to establish some form of routine. Don’t try to study everything in one go. Instead, divide the subject up into topics you need to revise. Organise your subject material Make sure that you have a complete set of lecture notes for each subject. If you've missed any lectures, see if you can borrow copies of the notes from another student. Develop an understanding of what you don't clearly understand. You can use study tools such as concept maps or flashcards to help pinpoint areas of weakness. Remember that you will need to spend more time studying the subjects that you find most difficult, so schedule these first. Set study sessions and goals Don’t study for longer than 50 minutes without taking a break. Remember the saying, “quality”, not “quantity”? Well, same goes here. It is better to study for a short intense period of time with sustained concentration than long periods of time when you are tired and not engaging well with the material. Set yourself a goal for each study session. This will help you keep track of what you are learning. Write them down as soon as you begin your study session, or set them at the end of the study session for next time. Find out what kind of exam you’ll be writing Different types of exams will require different approaches. Check out the section on exam types for more information. Review past exams If possible, get hold of some past papers and work through them to get an idea of the kinds of questions asked and what is expected of you. Remember, the style and format of exams often changes, so check with your lecturer about what is required. To make the most of it, practice doing the papers under exam conditions and carefully review your answers. Form a study group Motivating yourself to study can be a daunting task. You may feel that there is simply too much to do and you have no idea where to start. Or perhaps you are simply prone to distractions. Whatever your reasons for avoiding/delaying study, studying in a group or setting mutual study goals and discussing key concepts and ideas with a friend can be helpful. It can also help you to stay on track. If you do try it, there are some pretty important things to think about. Studying with a friend/s can't be an excuse for a chat. It is a mutual commitment to encourage and support each other, not distract and sabotage. If you really want to make it work, it is important to establish ground rules before beginning: 1. Don't support the excuses of the other person as to why they "can’t" study at a particular time. 2. Don't let the other person down if you have arranged to study together. 3. Arrange to have breaks together at particular times. 4. Decide in advance what you would like to do in the break (exercise, lunch, coffee etc). 5. Determine how long your breaks are going to be and commit yourselves to sticking to them and returning to study no matter how much you are enjoying the walk, talk etc. 6. Keep a list next to you whilst studying and if you think of something you would like to say to your study partner jot it down rather than interrupt them. This also helps you to let go of the thought and concentrate on the task at hand. 7. Act as mentors for each other when tackling difficult tasks. 8. Regular rewards for working well are also worthwhile e.g. going to the movies together at the end of a successful week of study. The Night Before Contrary to what you might think, now is not the time to start studying! Instead, use the time to: • Read over any revision cards that you have made. Focus on recall, not on learning new material. • Check that you have everything you need – e.g. spare pens, pencils, calculator, ruler etc. • Make sure you know the exact time and venue of the exam. Arriving at the wrong exam hall, or wrong campus for that matter, is not a story that will amuse your lecturer. • Set two alarms…just in case. • Get some rest! On the Day If you are writing a morning exam, get up reasonably early to allow yourself plenty of time. Try and avoid the temptation to revise before even the birds have come out. Any minor gain in extra learning will be compensated by loss of freshness and energy. Get everything ready to go well before you plan to leave. And don’t forget to eat some breakfast, or your energy levels will start flagging soon. If your exam is in the afternoon, check over a few notes or things you have found difficult to memorise, but don’t overdo it. Try relax for half an hour or so before leaving (listen to music, watch some TV) and eat a light lunch. Remember to allow plenty of time for your journey. Arrive about 10 minutes before the exam starts, but avoid anyone obviously anxious - it is infectious! Take a few moments to relax, breathe and set a positive mood for the exam. During the Exam Its crunch time! But don’t panic, if you have prepared, you’ll be fine. Just remember to breathe and follow these useful tips: 1. Read through the exam paper, then read it again, marking possible questions to answer as you go. 2. Note any specific instructions or compulsory sections. When you have decided which questions you will answer, allocate time for each (including outlines) plus ten minutes at the end. 3. Start on the easiest question first. This gets you off to a confident start, and may leave extra time for the more difficult questions later on. 4. Don't start writing out your answer straight away. Spend a few minutes writing brief notes (or a spider diagram, etc.) showing key points you will cover, and possibly how you plan to structure your answer. 5. Focus on just one question at a time. 6. Don't copy out the questions, and don't spend too much time on introductions to your answers. Try and use words from the questions in your answer - this will link them together. 7. Keep an eye on the time. 8. Leave a question if it's taking too much time. You can always return to it at the end, even if you have to finish it in note form. 9. If your mind goes blank, just take a few deep breaths and relax a little. Do not try really hard to remember something specific – it is likely to come back if you think about something else. 10. At the end, spend ten minutes or so checking through your answers, tidying up if necessary. After the Exam It’s over, there’s not much you can do about it now. Avoid scrutinizing every single aspect; it will just increase anxiety about any later exams and invoke a serious case of the “post-mortem blues”. A constructive look at your time management or presentation, however, could be useful. Try and have some fun and lighten up before the next exam. REFERENCES http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/llsu/resources/exams/exams4.html http://lis.newport.ac.uk/sz/publications/Maximising_exam_performance.pdf http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/online/examtips/ http://www.adelaide.edu.au/counselling_centre/brochures/studying.html Taking Exams: Six Big Ideas That Go Beyond Studying Okay—so you've studied just like you know you should. You've used your lecture notes to guide your reading. You've outlined the text, made study guides, seen a tutor and talked to your professor. You've even been carrying flash cards around in your bag all week. You're ready to ace the exam, right? Well, maybe. When it comes to exam prep, studying may well be most of the work, but it's only half the battle. A healthy approach to testing includes practicing mental and physical preparation and taking a strategic approach to different test types. Here's how to fine-tune your testing game plan and raise your chances for getting the grade you want. 1) The Head Game You've studied well, so chances are you're carrying around a head full of facts and figures. But that head needs to be in peak working order to fire out answers when you need them. Here are a few tips: • Curb the party animal. A hangover may feel gone the next day, but the chemical imbalances created by a night of drinking or using drugs actually take days to return to normal. Any slowing down of brain functioning is going to work against you on a test, so stay away from these substances. Use those hours for review time instead—and you'll have something to celebrate later. • Get some sleep. Early to bed on the night before an exam. Sleep is all about resting the brain, and a rested brain is a happy brain. Sleep well the night before, but don't try power napping on test day—unless you are 100 percent sure you can wake yourself on schedule. • Close the books an hour or two before the test. The amount of information you'll acquire in the last hour before a test is very small. This time may be better spent doing something to raise your energy level and bring your emotions into balance. Take a walk, read something relaxing or call a friend. Just don't watch TV—it can actually slow brain functioning down. • Take your medicine. If you are on ADHD medication, or any which would help you to focus or think clearly, be sure to take it on schedule so that when you hit the classroom your brain will be running at maximum efficiency. For a short boost of energy, try a candy bar or a cup of coffee or tea—a tall one, but no more. Too much can work against you. • Eat on schedule. If possible, eat an hour or so before you test. Going in on an empty stomach will mean reduced brainpower. Remember, though—you want the mental energy good food provides, but you don't want to suffer from having too much of your blood circulating to your stomach and not enough to your head. Give yourself a little time to digest. • Arrive early, and settle in. If you're in a hurry to get to the test site, your anxiety levels will skyrocket. Arrive early, set up your materials (pens, pencils, scratch paper, etc.) and settle in. If you're feeling a bit nervous, now is a good time to do some slow breathing and self-affirmation. 2) Essays—It's All About the Framework If your test involves essay questions, remember—you can organize your answers and stimulate recall at the same time. Read the prompt carefully, especially with an eye for instructional words (e.g. list, compare, analyze, explain, describe) that tell you how to organize your answer. Then do the following: • Use a standard essay format. This may be half of the battle all by itself. They're called essay questions for a reason. Even if your answer is only to be a paragraph or two, it should follow the essay format. State the main idea or assertion first. (Try writing a one-sentence answer to the question). Follow it with supporting detail, then re-frame or restate your main idea. • Draft an outline. Even if you're in a hurry, outline the answer first. This is especially helpful if you can't quite remember all the details you studied or can't piece them together into a thesis, because it will allow you to use what you remember to activate what you can't recall. Jotting down one idea will help you recall others. So get the ideas out first, then shape them into an answer. • BS (before statement). While outlining, feel free to even add stuff that you know isn't exactly on point. You may be "embellishing," but you're also jogging your memory further. If you're lucky, your creative turn can lead you down the path to the right memory. Just don't forget to strike out any BS work that doesn't belong in the final answer! 3) Multiple Choice—The Answer's Right There! Multiple choice tests can seem like a paradox: The answer is right before your eyes, but it can seem even more difficult to find than if it were a blank to fill in, because it's surrounded by similar looking wrong answers! How to crack the code? • Play the game. Start by remembering that a multiple choice question is a puzzle. Like all puzzles, it has a structure—a pattern which can be unlocked if approached strategically. • Preview. Scan through the test for a couple of minutes before digging in. This exercise will guide you to the easier questions and help get your background knowledge activated a bit for the more challenging ones. • Start with what you know. Once you've spotted some comfortable questions, answer them first. It will build confidence, secure points and start jogging your recall. • Eat the stem first. The question stem—the part that precedes the answers—is the first part of the puzzle. Start by blocking the answers and looking at the question stem. Underline key words, such as: Words that show value or limitation (e.g. several, nearly all, none) Words that make meanings opposite (e.g. "Which of the organs below is not a part of the digestive system.") Key vocabulary terms Any sentence or phrase which seems especially relevant After you have spotted the key words, try crossing out any information which seems unnecessary. Then, write a one sentence statement (in the form of an question) to summarize the stem. • Explore the answers. Once you know what you're being asked for, it's time to mine the answers—the second part of the puzzle. Remember, if the one best answer doesn't jump out at you, try to: Read each out loud, as part of the stem. Sometimes hearing and speaking the words will jog your memory. Eliminate the ones you know are wrong and then focus on the finalists. Remember that if you eliminate one answer, you must eliminate all answers, which include that answer (i.e. the answer "C. Both A and B are correct" is wrong if choice A is wrong) Eliminate answers that are absolute in value such as "every" or "none" (except for "all of the above" or "none of the above"). Eliminate answers that seem either lacking in detail or overly burdened by detail. These methods aren't all foolproof, but they can help you to focus more closely and think your way through so that the right memory eventually gets triggered. Remember, too, that by eliminating answers you know aren't correct you raise your chances of guessing correctly-even when guessing is the best you can do. • Go with your gut. When you guess, guess with some confidence—if you studied, your guess may be better informed than it feels. Trust your instinct too when thinking about changing an answer. Your first answer is usually the best one. Unless your memory has been jogged to a point where you are changing with confidence, go with the first answer. 4) Problems, Problems, Problems Problem solving tests present their own unique challenges. Whether the questions are multiple choice, open-ended or fill-in, there are several basic things to remember and do to maximize your chances of answering correctly. • Understand the test. Is the question asking you to solve a problem? Prove or disprove a solution? Find an error? Read each problem carefully, and jot down what your task is on your note paper. • Determine what you need to know in order to answer. Start planning how you intend to solve the problem. What operations do you need to perform? What information is there to help you? What information (if any) appears to be missing? • Plan your steps. Break the problem down into parts. What steps should you follow? If you aren't sure, remember that you learned the steps through problem solving practice. Start solving the problem and see if the activity jogs your memory. • Find the familiar. Your professors will often challenge your conceptual knowledge by changing problem types that you've studied. If you see something you don't recognize, don't worry! Your prof hasn't simply thrown in stuff that hasn't been covered. Just look for what you do know, and what appears different. Ask yourself what the difference is, and what it means. • Stuck? Don't worry! At some point, your going to get stuck searching for something you can't remember. Keep in mind that a lot of good problem solving involves being patient and thinking things through slowly. Give yourself time to think, and don't worry about being stuck—the worrying impedes the thinking. If you've studied well, the information is in there. Try working on the problem, or on others, until the memory gets accessed. • Review your answer carefully. Often, good work goes wasted-the work was done right, but the answer was not what was being asked for. Once you've solved a problem, review the question again. Does this answer make sense? Is it what was asked for? Next, review each step you took. Does the sequence make sense? Did you miss any steps or fail to account for any information? 5) Your Old Tests—Cracking the Professor's Play Book! Regardless of how well or poorly you did on a first exam, take that puppy home and study it. A returned exam is a goldmine of information on how a professor poses questions, what she or he wants you to do with the information you study, what kinds of tricks are thrown in-you name it. Most professors write all of their tests very similarly. Re-read each question, whether your answer was right or wrong. Try to break the question down and determine what you were thinking at the time of the test. Look especially for what kind of information you're being asked to remember and the professor is asking you to do with that information. If you got the question wrong, figure out why. What were you thinking at the time? Do you recognize the right answer now? If so, you may not have been recalling it clearly enough at the time. Stress, fatigue and insufficient study can be causes of this. In general, use what you learn in your review to gain insight into how the professor tests. Keep that information in mind when you are studying from now on. 6) Get a Coach—and Practice, Practice, Practice Test taking is serious business. These tips can help you get started on learning to test better, but reading them alone won't turn you into a whiz kid overnight. To really improve your test-taking skill, you need to put these things into practice with the help of a tutor or academic skills coach. Get help reviewing your old exams. Talk with someone about test taking strategies. And remember—no exam day test-taking tips can fully compensate for inadequate study. Crack your books, and start writing and taking your own practice tests. It's a form of note-taking study that links your text review directly to the performance you'll be expected to give on the big day. After all, you need to go out there and succeed...for we can do everything through Christ who strengthens us! All the best bahlali.