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Smash Cadet
As many people on SWF have exams coming up I decided to make an exam guide from my own personal experience. I have been successful in all the examinations I have taken and it has much to do with the following. But remember that this is just a guide. Different methods work for different people so don’t rely on these tips. FIND A METHOD OF REVISION THAT BEST SUITS YOU! This guide aims to provide a starting point to those who have exams, help them revise and reduce any stress they may be feeling.
Feel free to post any other exam tips you have to help me improve my guide and please let me know if it has been of any help to you!
I also know there are other threads on exams but none of them are comprehensive guides with hints and tips.
Anyway - Here we go:
1. Find A Place You Enjoy Studying In
When I was studying for my exams I revised in different places until I found one that best suited me. This place was my garden. It was coming up to summer so being in the sun helped me relax. When your outside noises don’t seem to be as loud or annoying as well. Although this isn’t always possible due to rain. Make sure there is somewhere quiet and comfortable where you can revise such as your room, school, university or a public library
etc.
2: Set Realistic Goals:
A person who has an A average gets a B in an examination. Another person who has a D average gets a C in the same exam. Who is more successful? The person who got the C! This person has shown a personal improvement. These are your exams so what other people get is not important. If you have a C average set an aim of a C in your exam. This will help reduce your stress and make you feel more content when you get your actual result. But put pressure on your self to try to improve on this grade. This makes sure your are working to your maximum potential. Remember that Stress and Pressure are two very different things.
3: Organise Your Study Well In Advance
Make sure you know everything that you have to study. Make sure you know the dates and times of your exams. Check and Confirm! In advance it may be a good idea to make a revision timetable. This can help motivate you to do some work. It also lets you know how to divide up time between subjects. It is very easy to study the subjects you enjoy and are good at and ignore the ones you don’t like or find harder. If you have any problems make sure you have left yourself enough time to get them sorted before this exam. Do this and stress levels will go way down!
4: Don’t Leave Everything To The Last Minute
This ties in with Point 2. Starting at an appropriate time will allow you to identify problem areas and get them sorted. It also means you will not get stressed out. And if something pops up that means you cannot get studying done at the last minute you have done some beforehand.
5: Summarize Your Notes At Least Once:
Make short but detailed notes on everything you have learned. These should include Definitions, Formula and Key Points. Use your Syllabus or Revision List to make these notes. This forces you to go over all your notes. This notes are also handy because they can be read on the day of the exam to keep things you have learned fresh in your mind. Also if you only have a short space of time to revise in then they are ideal to spend a few minutes going over.
6: Try A Number of Different Study Techniques:
Different people learn in different ways so try different methods to find one that best suits you.
Audio-learners learn by hearing things. If you are one of these pay more attention in class as it will greatly reduce your workload. It is a good idea to record you notes onto an Mp3 player. This allows you to listen to them and learn them. When doing this say the notes in you head as you hear them. This is good for memorizing definitions.
Visual-Learners learn by looking at things. Make use of lots of colours to make your work stand out. Use spider/flow diagrams, highlighters and colouring pencils etc. Make use of pictures and diagrams to illustrate your point. (These are not they only types of learners - just the ones I’m aware of.)
7: Practice:
This is the best way of testing your knowledge. Answer questions from textbooks and worksheets. Do lots of Past Papers. When doing these use two colours of pen: One is for questions you can answer without your notes and the other is questions you can’t answer without them. This will help you track your progress as the amount of one colour increases and the other decreases. When working through past papers keep within the time limits set by the exam as this will help improve timing skills which are very important to success.
8: Read Notes From A Number Of Sources:
If you have a number of resources such as textbooks use these to supplement your notes. This will provide you with a more concrete and detailed understanding that will allow you to answer the harder questions with greater confidence.
9: Relax:
This is very important if you want to do your best. Never study for more than a period of an hour (unless you are timing yourself in a past or mock exam) without taking a ten minute break. This will help clear you mind making it ready to absorb some more information. If you are having difficulty studying take a half hour break and then start again to see how you feel. Don’t spend all day studying. Make sure you spend time doing the things you enjoy (Smash anyone?). All these measures will reduce the stress and improve your performance. But remember not to go overboard!
10: Study with friends:
If your friends are doing the same exams as you it may be a good idea to study with them provided you have the intention of doing proper work. Friends help make studying more enjoyable and broaden the opportunities to vary your study. Make games etc and have fun!
11: Don’t Panic:
Put everything into perspective. Failing an exam is not the end of the world so don’t worry about it. Some exams are ore important then others. There may also be opportunities to repeat exams or make up marks elsewhere: such as coursework, projects and practical exams.
12: Read Questions Carefully:
The words Explain, Show, Describe, Prove, Why, How etc. all mean different things. It is important to understand what a question is asking you. It may be a good idea to underline all the keywords in a question so you know for sure what it is asking you. If a question to tells you to draw something and label it ‘A’ you may draw it correctly but if you don’t label it ‘A’ you will not get the mark! Maths questions may need to be rounded to a certain number of significant figures or decimal places. You will lose marks if you do not do this.
13: Check Your Answers:
If you have any time after you have finished an exam don’t waste it! Go over everything you have done and make sure you have left nothing out. However don’t rush the paper so that you do have time to check answers as you will be more likely to make a mistake.
14: Time yourself.
All exams will have a time limit. Don’t rush through them but don’t work at a leisurely pace either. Rushing increases chance of mistakes and too slowly means you won’t get it finished. Don’t pay attention to how fast you think others are working through the paper. Make sure you know how much time you have for the exam. Most exams have a system of ‘a mark per minute’. So if there are 60 marks you will most likely have 60 minutes to answer. If there is a question you can’t answer don’t dwell on it. Move on and come back to it later. Make some sort of attempt at all questions if even if you have no idea what to do.
15: Good luck!
Feel free to post any other exam tips you have to help me improve my guide and please let me know if it has been of any help to you!
I also know there are other threads on exams but none of them are comprehensive guides with hints and tips.
Anyway - Here we go:
1. Find A Place You Enjoy Studying In
When I was studying for my exams I revised in different places until I found one that best suited me. This place was my garden. It was coming up to summer so being in the sun helped me relax. When your outside noises don’t seem to be as loud or annoying as well. Although this isn’t always possible due to rain. Make sure there is somewhere quiet and comfortable where you can revise such as your room, school, university or a public library
etc.
2: Set Realistic Goals:
A person who has an A average gets a B in an examination. Another person who has a D average gets a C in the same exam. Who is more successful? The person who got the C! This person has shown a personal improvement. These are your exams so what other people get is not important. If you have a C average set an aim of a C in your exam. This will help reduce your stress and make you feel more content when you get your actual result. But put pressure on your self to try to improve on this grade. This makes sure your are working to your maximum potential. Remember that Stress and Pressure are two very different things.
3: Organise Your Study Well In Advance
Make sure you know everything that you have to study. Make sure you know the dates and times of your exams. Check and Confirm! In advance it may be a good idea to make a revision timetable. This can help motivate you to do some work. It also lets you know how to divide up time between subjects. It is very easy to study the subjects you enjoy and are good at and ignore the ones you don’t like or find harder. If you have any problems make sure you have left yourself enough time to get them sorted before this exam. Do this and stress levels will go way down!
4: Don’t Leave Everything To The Last Minute
This ties in with Point 2. Starting at an appropriate time will allow you to identify problem areas and get them sorted. It also means you will not get stressed out. And if something pops up that means you cannot get studying done at the last minute you have done some beforehand.
5: Summarize Your Notes At Least Once:
Make short but detailed notes on everything you have learned. These should include Definitions, Formula and Key Points. Use your Syllabus or Revision List to make these notes. This forces you to go over all your notes. This notes are also handy because they can be read on the day of the exam to keep things you have learned fresh in your mind. Also if you only have a short space of time to revise in then they are ideal to spend a few minutes going over.
6: Try A Number of Different Study Techniques:
Different people learn in different ways so try different methods to find one that best suits you.
Audio-learners learn by hearing things. If you are one of these pay more attention in class as it will greatly reduce your workload. It is a good idea to record you notes onto an Mp3 player. This allows you to listen to them and learn them. When doing this say the notes in you head as you hear them. This is good for memorizing definitions.
Visual-Learners learn by looking at things. Make use of lots of colours to make your work stand out. Use spider/flow diagrams, highlighters and colouring pencils etc. Make use of pictures and diagrams to illustrate your point. (These are not they only types of learners - just the ones I’m aware of.)
7: Practice:
This is the best way of testing your knowledge. Answer questions from textbooks and worksheets. Do lots of Past Papers. When doing these use two colours of pen: One is for questions you can answer without your notes and the other is questions you can’t answer without them. This will help you track your progress as the amount of one colour increases and the other decreases. When working through past papers keep within the time limits set by the exam as this will help improve timing skills which are very important to success.
8: Read Notes From A Number Of Sources:
If you have a number of resources such as textbooks use these to supplement your notes. This will provide you with a more concrete and detailed understanding that will allow you to answer the harder questions with greater confidence.
9: Relax:
This is very important if you want to do your best. Never study for more than a period of an hour (unless you are timing yourself in a past or mock exam) without taking a ten minute break. This will help clear you mind making it ready to absorb some more information. If you are having difficulty studying take a half hour break and then start again to see how you feel. Don’t spend all day studying. Make sure you spend time doing the things you enjoy (Smash anyone?). All these measures will reduce the stress and improve your performance. But remember not to go overboard!
10: Study with friends:
If your friends are doing the same exams as you it may be a good idea to study with them provided you have the intention of doing proper work. Friends help make studying more enjoyable and broaden the opportunities to vary your study. Make games etc and have fun!
11: Don’t Panic:
Put everything into perspective. Failing an exam is not the end of the world so don’t worry about it. Some exams are ore important then others. There may also be opportunities to repeat exams or make up marks elsewhere: such as coursework, projects and practical exams.
12: Read Questions Carefully:
The words Explain, Show, Describe, Prove, Why, How etc. all mean different things. It is important to understand what a question is asking you. It may be a good idea to underline all the keywords in a question so you know for sure what it is asking you. If a question to tells you to draw something and label it ‘A’ you may draw it correctly but if you don’t label it ‘A’ you will not get the mark! Maths questions may need to be rounded to a certain number of significant figures or decimal places. You will lose marks if you do not do this.
13: Check Your Answers:
If you have any time after you have finished an exam don’t waste it! Go over everything you have done and make sure you have left nothing out. However don’t rush the paper so that you do have time to check answers as you will be more likely to make a mistake.
14: Time yourself.
All exams will have a time limit. Don’t rush through them but don’t work at a leisurely pace either. Rushing increases chance of mistakes and too slowly means you won’t get it finished. Don’t pay attention to how fast you think others are working through the paper. Make sure you know how much time you have for the exam. Most exams have a system of ‘a mark per minute’. So if there are 60 marks you will most likely have 60 minutes to answer. If there is a question you can’t answer don’t dwell on it. Move on and come back to it later. Make some sort of attempt at all questions if even if you have no idea what to do.
15: Good luck!
