REVISION TECHNIQUES:
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PREPARING FOR EXAMS
There is a lot to read here but it is well worth having a good read through - there are some excellent ideas here!
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PREPARING FOR EXAMS?
ORGANISING GROUP REVISION SESSION
Read the statements below and over the page and decide which ones, if any, apply to you. If you wish to add a comment about any item, or you feel any aspects have been omitted, please add them at the end.
1.I find it difficult to begin revision while we are still doing new stuff
2. I sleep badly the night before an exam.
3. I'm always certain I'm going to fail exams
4. I can't draw up a realistic timetable
5. I can't concentrate on my revision for long enough at a time
6. I forget things so easily
7. Other people feel so confident
8.I can't get down to revision until the last moment
9. I don't think I work hard enough
10. Sometimes I feel like giving up
11. ..................................................
12.
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(from Habeshaw, Habeshaw & Gibbs 1987 53 Interesting Ways of Helping your Students to Study)
Recognizing how you feel is a big step towards being able to improve things. If you compare your answers with a friend's, you may also find that worries you thought were yours alone are actually quite commonly experienced. The following sections are designed to help you manage you fears about exams, and to do your best.
To do well in exams, you need to:
For that last point, it's important to start by knowing what your exam will look like.
Can you answer the following questions about the exams? Fill out slot a) for your first exam, b) for the second and so on:
3.1 Make A Timetable Early on - perhaps 6 to 8 weeks ahead, including other unavoidable academic / work / family commitments, and time for relaxation, exercise or social events, exam dates and times, and the times you can set aside for revision and library visits. It's worth doing this well before your exam, because people often find that by the time they include their course work and other commitments, they have far less time than they thought. It's much better to find this out while there's still enough time to do something about it than find out a month beforehand when there's nothing you can do.
3.2 Prioritise Your Topics You may wish to allocate more time to your weaker areas; decide whether you prefer to spend a complete unit of time on one area, or whether you will change between areas at, for example, hourly intervals.
3.3 Exam Alert! It's a good idea to explain to those around you how important the exams are to you, and persuade them to help wherever possible (eg. with the household chores or with time off work if you can arrange it). You can promise to repay the favour when the exams are over!
By now, you should have some copies of past papers. If your course is new, you should ask your tutor what the best way to prepare for the exam is. They may be able to give you sample questions similar to those set in the exam.
5.1 In some subjects there are key areas which come up most years. It is worth trying to spot these by looking through previous papers to see what are the areas which come up most frequently.
5.2 Easier questions tend to be very specific, and on self-contained areas - ie. if you learn everything about one topic, and you can be sure you will be able to answer a specific question on it. Harder questions require you to draw on ideas and facts from more than one area - you have to both have a broader knowledge of the subjects, and be able to think on your feet in the exam. Students sometimes pick more general questions in exams, thinking they will be able to get away with some waffle. This should be an absolutely last resort strategy, since most tutors can spot waffle from miles off.
It's worth making yourself familiar with the kind of topic which come up as self-contained areas, and the kind which come up in far more general questions.
5.3 Use past papers to get used to the way questions are worded. Some will begin with quotations and ask you to discuss them. Some will list different areas and ask you to write a few paragraphs on each. It's also a chance to get used to the kind of language used in exam questions.
5.4 When you have decided which areas you will be revising, look for previous questions on those areas. Make essay plans of what you would include in your answer -- either as a mind map, in spider diagram format, in a linear plan, or whatever method you prefer. If you want more practice at writing essays, you can write practice exam answers. Remember if you do this that most people cannot write more than 4 pages an hour ( more if your handwriting is very large, less if it's very small, obviously). If you are allowing 45 minutes per essay, therefore, you will probably be writing three page answers. Take this into account when you are planning exam answers, and try and include all your most important ideas in three pages. However, if it takes you longer than 45 minutes to write three pages when you are practising, don't worry! When they are actually in the exam, most people find that their minds become more focused, and their concentration improves.
Without question, one of the best ways to revise is with other students. The advantages include:
As you can see, there's a lot to be said for group revision, so it's worth contacting other people on your course and agreeing to meet up. This can be as often or infrequently as you like. You can even do it by phone, fax, e-mail or letter! Even if you think there's no one on the course you know well enough to ask, give it a go because you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.
1. Working in your fields, write a list of topics you have covered to date on one of your courses.
2. Break down each topic into at least four composite parts i.e. the thematic concerns, the various strains of scholarship or historical aspects that make up its structure. Try to break each topic down into the most simple parts possible. (This will provide good ground knowledge that may be sifted and applied to any variety of questions that could come up on a topic.)
3. Prioritize. Which are the most important points relating to this topic? Rewrite list in order of importance.
4. Convert each point into a question, which you can then try to answer. These should form the basis of critical inquiry for your revision.
5.Write a list of sources from where you will find answers to these questions. You must be selective. Most students over-revise in this area. You will gain more marks from depth than superficial breadth of knowledge.
6. Write a short list of issues and questions that arise out of these topics; think beyond the questions for a moment. How do these issues relate to the wider issues dealt with on the course as a whole? This exercise is intended to enlarge the perspective on which you base your conclusions. Often students fail to connect close study with conceptual overviews.
Part of using your revision time effectively involves recognizing your own preferred times of working, and the ways you work best. For example, you need to know the answers to these questions:
It helps if you identify which kinds of activities you are best at doing at different times of the day. Most people have a point in the day when their energy levels at highest, and that's the best time to tackle new or difficult work, or something you have been putting off because it makes you anxious. On the other hand, we all have periods of 'low ebb' and it's best to have something mechanical to do at those times for example, writing up notes, tidying your files. Don't waste your most productive slots doing things like tidying or ordering - else the more difficult parts of your revision will never get done!
ALERT LOW EBB
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It's important that you make your revision as active as possible, and don't allow it to become passive. Many people come unstuck in exams because they haven't realised that there is a difference between recognising the material in their notes, which can be achieved by passively reading through them a few times, and being able to recall that information, which can only be achieved by active revision methods. In order to be sure that you can actually recall what you need to know in your exam, you need to practice using the information. You can do this by summarising it, making maps or charts showing the key points, by quizzing yourself, getting friends to ask you questions on it, or by setting yourself mock exam questions. You might, for example, follow these stages:
1) Make sure your notes are complete. If they aren't you'll need to visit the library or complete them from your own books.
2) Reread your complete set of notes and begin to summarise them, checking you understand the relationships between the ideas as you go.
3) Many people find the best way to summarise their notes is in diagram form - as a bubble map of a tree diagram. This will allow you to show the links between the main ideas and to include examples and illustrations.
4) From your summary, produce a single summary sheet which outlines everything you will need to learn on that topic for the exam. You will be able to keep referring to this and checking you understand the relationships between the different areas.
5) Make yourself a checklist of key questions, which you can ask yourself, or get someone else to ask you. Aim to be able to answer all your own key questions.
It doesn't really matter whether you revise in this order, or even whether you use these particular techniques. What is important is that you keep your revision ACTIVE not PASSIVE. Many people spend a lot of time reading and rereading their notes without realising that their understanding is not increasing, and that they won't be able to recall anything of what they've read. The important thing is to 'do things' with your notes, other than just reading them.
10.1 One of the best ways to do this is to prepare well for the exam, so you feel confident. However, sometimes it is impossible to prepare as well as you would like, and if it is an important exam, however well you prepared, you will still probably feel nervous.
10.2 Anything that makes you laugh will help you relax - you could get something funny out on video or go to the cinema.
10.3 Try to have a routine worked out for the night before and the day of you exam - what you will wear, how long it will take you to get to the place of your exam, and if you are driving, where you will park. These are things which can worry you otherwise, making you more tense, and having a plan will help you stay calm.
10.4If you find you are continually thinking negative thoughts (‘I can't do this', ‘I should never have started this course', ‘now everyone will find out how little I really know', ‘This was my one chance, and I'm going to blow it'), these in themselves can be very destructive and interfere with your performance. To block them, make a list of positive things (‘I was good enough to start it so I'm good enough to finish it', ‘I can do anything if I try hard enough', ‘I'm intelligent, organised, committed, and I can do it') and repeat them to yourself when the negative thoughts start. It may seem a very artificial exercise, but it really can help.
10.5 Don't forget to try and eat reasonably well -- small amounts more often will help keep your blood sugar levels on an even keel. If you eat fewer, larger meals, you are more likely to go to sleep immediately. Vitamin pills can help your general health; Vitamin B complex in particular are good for your nervous system. Eating fruit and vegetables boosts your immune system and helps you avoid getting run-down and ill. Try to keep your consumption of alcohol fairly low -- you don't sleep so well after drinking, and therefore you won't be able to work so well the next day. Exercise helps keep you healthy, increases your stamina and helps you get rid of stresses and worries. A brisk half hour walk will do the trick - or a cycle ride, a run, an aerobics class or a swim. You could also try yoga, or tai chi, or any other exercise which concentrates on relaxation and breathing.