Examination preparation & writing

The keys to success

Take exams very seriously

• Never take examinations lightly. They measure what you know and what you can write on a specialised subject in a set amount of time. They represent an assessment of your ability in a subject as well as your level of commitment and dedication.

Some could be ‘must pass’ exams

In some subject exams, in some courses, you HAVE to pass the exam to pass the year. Find out if your subject falls under this category. If it does, you need to make even more sure than normal that you will pass.

Beware of exam stress

Exams can be fearful things and it is possible that you will encounter some depression during your study break. Counter this with positive affirmations: ‘I can do the work’, ‘I’m a champion thinker’ and ‘This is for my future so I’m putting everything into it.’

6. While you study, get plenty of exercise and sleep well

• Like you train for a sporting contest, you need to train for an exam – get both body and mind fit.

What do I need to know?

• Check with your lecturers or unit assessors EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE BEING EXAMINED ON. Make sure you get an absolutely clear picture of the scope of the work.

• Then assemble all your work and decide where it is deficient. Fill in the gaps in your notes either by contacting your lecturer and filling in the blanks, or by reading up on the parts you’ve missed.

Reduce knowledge to smaller chunks

• One brilliant way to study is to reduce all material to point form so that you can memorise sentences. By doing so, you can bring all the knowledge to your mind in code (i.e. through sentences you have memorised), and then use your memorised material to prompt you as you go from section to section.

Past papers are not generally available

It seems that in most of your subjects there are no past papers available. This is because lecturers like to recycle them. So if you can find a student who’s done the exam before, pick their brain as to the kind of question you can expect. However, do not rely on their understanding of things; the only person you can trust is you.

Prepare a study schedule

Successful steady depends on creating a study plan for yourself. You instantly double your chances of performing well if you create a timetable for your study schedule and don’t depart from it. You will start off feeling tired and stressed, but you will feel better as your study continues because this is what you’ve been waiting for – the chance to show your abilities and reap the reward.

Study schedule: clear and logical

• Using your good judgment, create a timeline for your study routine. Figure out what you can finish in a period of study and finish it. If it helps you, sit with other students in a library and enjoy the sense of studying alongside other students. It is important that your study program is clear and logical, allowing for appropriate time in which to tackle each subject. Make sure you tackle material in the correct order.

Take regular rests

• In a study session, remember that breaks keep you fresh and attentive. Work like this:

• 45 minutes – ‘On’• 15 minutes – ‘Off’ (Go outside; get fresh air)

• Maintain this regime so that it becomes a daily habit. You will get through a fortune of work.

Don’t get sidetracked

Some students can’t wait for a break to have fun, see friends and indulge their pleasures. The study break, however, is not like that. It is available for study and study must take up at least 6 hours of your day. Don’t go on a wild holiday extravaganza! Get into a strict working regime instead.

Know details; test yourself

Don’t study vague outlines of information. Break work into sections and learn the details of selected sections well. Test yourself by writing down your content ‘pods’ in acronyms. If you can’t write the material down in your study room, you won’t be able to remember the material in the exam room either. Test yourself against the clock, too, and aim for at least a page every 10 minutes.

Be ‘content rich’

Go into the exam ‘content rich’ and ready to put your knowledge down, page after page. Become a ‘machine’ that can churn out data, but stay intelligent too so that you can order material in the way required.

Answer the question posed

Questions test your ability to understand what is being asked of you. Each question is to be answered directly and incessantly. Chew the question like a dog chews a bone of meat. Never let the question go. Direct all your willpower into formulating an answer to the question.

Prior thinking is good, but …

Many students like to do their important thinking before the exam, so that all they need do in the exam room is reproduce a response that’s carefully prepared. Unfortunately, life isn’t always predictable and you might get an unanticipated question. Whatever you do, don’t PANIC! You have a good brain, so let it glide over the question in confident fashion and start sending you positive messages about it.

Be in the moment; trust the moment

Exam-room moments can be very exciting moments when you make mental breakthroughs and power on through the questions.Trust the moments in the exam room. Like a good Zen practitioner might say, “Live those moments, be in those moments, love those moments”. Prepare positively to meet, accept and overcome challenges.

Aim high, not low

Some students come into an exam with the thought running through their heads, like, ‘I only need 40% to pass the course.’ If you go into an examination aiming for 40%, you will – at best – score a little over 40%. But if you aim much higher, you will quite probably do a lot better than you would have done. Never go in aiming low, because low aimers hit low targets.

Ask if you don’t understand

If there is some part of exam procedure you don’t understand, or you think the question is missing something, don’t be afraid to ask. The worst that can happen is that you are not allowed to be told something by the invigilator. Don’t take this personally. Keep asking for what you need – ‘More paper, please, please turn the aircon down, please tell that student to stop coughing! I need the toilet!’

Never cheat

• It’s difficult to plagiarise in an exam, but if you have managed to memorise some useful quotes, please identify the author thereof. Just as in an assignment, layer your answers with detail and citations, where possible. Don’t cheat what ever you do – it could cost you your place at university. There is no honour, satisfaction or glory in cheating, and it can cost you a great deal, personally. Please don’t do it. It is immoral apart from being illegal. If another student tries to get you to cheat with them, SAY NO. Do not allow yourself to be manipulated emotionally by others.

Realising one’s potential

Some people prefer the carrot to the stick, and do their best when thinking positively about all the good things that can eventuate as a result of passing the exam. Not all of us are cheerful souls, however, and some of us face exams with feelings of great anxiety – either about passing, or – at a higher end of study – because of the pressure to do really, really well. Being afraid of not realising one’s potential can be a dangerous fear.

Let your fear work for you

Those of us like this often operate better when we fear exams and when we know a bad outcome can hurt us. If you’re a fear junkie, use fear as a powerful motivating force. It’s appropriate to be tense and to have adrenalin flowing through your system when facing challenges. Use this ‘good adrenalin’ and this ‘good stress’ to energise you and make you determined to succeed.

What if fear overwhelms you?

This is a bad scenario. One solution is to take several deep breaths until you have calmed yourself down, and then try to answer questions without thinking about how you feel. Collapsing or having to leave an exam room is not going to work in your favour in the medium term, so try not to reach such a state of incapacity. If you do, however, then surrender to circumstance, miss the exam, and try again later once you have seen a mental health professional. They have seen everything at least once, so they will know what to suggest to help you.

Strategise around time

At the start of the exam, look how much has to be done in the time allocated. Then decide on the order in which you will attack the tasks, and work out a quick timetable in your head. Generally, it’s best to tackle questions you’re confident with first, because this gets you into the swing of the exam, and you start to build up confidence as you complete sections of the exam. Also, buried knowledge tends to surface as you think and write.

Attack questions; be an aggressor

• Some students feel that in exams their knowledge (or lack of it) is under attack, as is their ability as thinkers and writers. Change that view around immediately. Tell yourself you can do the work. You, indeed, are not on the defensive in the exam room. They are going to let questions out of their safe little boxes and you are going to attack those questions with all you have. You’re the aggressor, and your attack is going to leave the questions fatally wounded. Spill the blood of the questions! It’s a feeling better than any other.

Never give up!

The first rule in life is , “Never give up”. It’s also the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rule. Be resourceful, be stubborn, be an immoveable object that cannot taste defeat. If you don’t know the answers, use your ingenuity to figure some out. The marker doesn’t know how you’re feeling, so don’t tell him/her. Don’t tell them, with self-pitying comments, that you’re struggling. Just keep writing and finding things to say. Where there’s life, there’s hope, and where there’s ink on a page, there’s a chance someone will think the ink has some kind of value.

Don’t believe bad news from the past

Previous failures in exams do not determine the future. You are young enough to learn new tricks. Previous failures can easily give way to ongoing success. It sometimes takes time to figure out how to do good Uni work, and there’s every reason to believe that you can improve as you move through the system. Exam writing, like anything else, improves with practice.

What will be will be!

• However you did in the exam room, once you’re out of there, there is nothing more you can do. Be philosophical about the outcome. It’s out of your hands and you must look ahead to the next exam. Take each one as it comes. Never look at the whole mountain you have to climb during the exam period. Climb one hill at a time. Little victories make up major battle successes. You never have to fight more than a day at a time.

Special conditions

Check exam special conditions on your timetable. Some of these can be very specific. Make sure you know these ahead of time. For example, if it is an open book exam, make sure you know exactly what sources you are allowed to bring in with you.GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR EXAMS!

Exercise

Using the courses you are taking now, draw up a two-week exam revision program which includes all of your other life commitments. Create a weekly chart, dividing days into study sessions and breaks, relaxation time, sleep time, exercise time, job time etc.Find out, via this exercise, how much study time you can pack into two weeks. How many hours do you think is a reasonable amount?

Example: Week 1Time Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun8.30 – 10.30 ACC GLOB ECO JOB GLOB ECO CORP GOV Sleep Late GLOB ECO

Break Break Break JOB Break Break Shopping Break

11.00 – 13.00 ACC GLOB ECO JOB GLOB ECO CORP GOV ACC GLOB ECO

Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

14.00 – 15.30 ACC GLOB ECO CORP GOV GLOB ECO JOB ACC GLO ECO

Break Break Break Break Break JOB Break Break

16.00 – 17.30 CORP GOV ACC CORP GOV ACC JOB ACC ACC

Exercise Exercise Exercise Exercise Exercise JOB Exercise Exercise

Supper Supper Supper Supper Supper Supper Supper Supper

19.30 – 21.00 CORP GOV ACC CORP GOVE ACC GLOB ECO CORP GOVE CORP GOV

Break Break Break Break Break Break Break Break

21.00 – 22.30 CORP GOV ACC CORP GOV ACC GLOB ECO CORP GOV CORP GOV

Relax Relax Relax Relax Relax Relax Relax Relax

23.30 Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep

Hours In this chart, you have allowed for the following revision times:Accountancy – 21 hoursCorporate Governance – 20 ½ hoursGlobal Economics – 19 ½ hoursTOTAL STUDY TIME per week = 61 hoursTWO WEEKS = 122 hoursIs this enough? Too much? What do you think?