gur workshop series effective exam preparation …...what have you done for your exam preparation?...
TRANSCRIPT
Date: 22 July 2020 (Wednesday)
Time: 2:30 – 3:30pm
ONLINE
GUR Workshop Series
Effective Exam Preparation(Re-run)
Intended Learning Outcome
By the end of this workshop, you would be able to:
❖Identify your own learning style
❖Learn effective revision techniques
❖Learn tips to deal with examination stress
Common Difficulties
Choose one statement, which can apply to you:
1. I am often frustrated during examination period.
2. I seem to spend a lot of time revising but not getting the good result
3. I am not sure if my techniques are the most efficient.
4. I mainly leave revision until it is almost too late.
Common Difficulties – Your Result
1. You don’t have an effectiveand efficient system of revision.Your memory strategies may notbe the most effective.
3. You get fixed in a particulartype of revision style and noone has told you how to reviseeffectively.
4. Your time managementneeds improvement!
2. Your revision may be
without a proper focus and
plan of campaign. You may
not know how to prepare for
revision.
Share in the chat box
What have you done for your exam preparation?
Common mistakes when preparing for exams
1. Do not have a PLAN
2. Try to memorize the note, rather than understand it
3. Study in the same way for all exams
4. Use passive study strategies
5. Study in chronological order rather than priority order
6. Rely on your teachers
7. Start too late
https://creatingpositivefutures.com/10-common-mistakes-students-make-when-studying-for-exams/
Before Preparing for Exams:
• Look at the learning
outcomes for every unit
• Check the assessment criteria for every unit
• Organize your notes by using
certain techniques
• Find past papers for revision –
knowing the exam format
1. Use five senses to stimulate learning
2. Develop a good habit of note-taking
3. Improve your memory skills
4. Handle stress and anxiety from exams
How to prepare your exams effectively?
Which of these revision techniques worked well for you and which didn’t:
Review your own Revision Techniques
Y/N Y/N
1. Writing out my notes again and again helped me to remember facts and information
8. Using color (colored highlighters, for example) to help me to summarize and understand key points and to remember facts and information
2. Reducing information into shorter notes helped me to remember facts and information
9. Reading my lecture notes (without any other activity)
3. Memorizing essay answers 10. Writing out essay plans from past questions
4. Writing out sample essay answers under timed conditions
11. Spending long periods revising a week before
5. Using mind maps or diagrams helped me to remember facts and information
12. Using memory triggers to help me remember
6. Putting important information on to audio tapes and playing this over and over again
13. Using key words as the basis for understanding
7. Revising with friends 14. Share any other method you have used
Jones, S. J. (from St. George’s Academy)
1. Different Learning Styles - Five Senses ❖ Sight (Visual-spatial Learners)
❄ Use visual aids to create a connection in
mind
❖ Touch (Kinesthetic)
❄ Learn from physical movement and touch-
based activities
❖ Hearing (Audition)
❄ Read out loud and experience a positive
feedback environment
❖ Taste
❄ Recall the experience and associate what
they tasted with what they learnt
❖ Smell
❄ Slightest odor can trigger a memory
❖Identify your own sense OR combine the senses of all in your learning style
❖Useful techniques could develop a productive revision habit
❖Keep using the techniques which work well (good result) for you and make changes on the others (poor result)
Productive Revision Techniques
“People generally remember • 10% of what they read, • 20% of what they hear, • 30% of what they see, and • 50% of what they see and hear.”
(L. Shams & A. R. Seitz, 2008)
A good habit of taking note will help you to:
❖Understand difficult concepts
❖Get an overview of the topic or unit
❖Remember the new terminology
❖Group all information in an organized format
2. Develop a Habit of Note-taking
Six Tips for Note-taking
1. Get the gist first
2. Circle the key words
3. Write notes to key questions
4. Chunk the notes
5. Use different colors
6. Use diagrams or tables
6 Tips for note-taking (QUEST Study Skills, 2016)
Using diagrams or tables can help you to:
❖Recall information and review the key concepts
❖Summarize information to compare with different viewpoints
❖Improve your understanding of a topic
❖For example:
1. List different methods in the first column;
2. Then in the second and third columns you can write the advantages and
disadvantages
Use Diagrams or Tables
Concepts A B
Advantages
Disadvantages
Use Diagrams or Tables: Examples
❖Use the diagrams or
tables to make
comparison on
different nature of
theories or years
1. Remember information through association
2. Encode your study into long-term memory by elaborating and
rehearsing
3. Develop cues when storing information
4. Relate new information to things you already know
5. Review material before going to sleep
3. Improve Memory Skills
Memory Games
❖Try to memorize a 8-item shopping list
❖We will develop a cue to help you recall the information
❖Try to create connections with your Five Senses to the 8 items and your past experiences
A Short Puzzle to Test Your Memory (Lee, J. C., Daniel, J., & Quealy, K, 2016)
Item 1 - Beans Item 2 - Milk Item 3 – Toilet paper Item 4 – Rice
Item 5 - Crab Item 6 - Almonds Item 7 - Fish Item 8 - Strawberries
Memory Games
❖Take a few seconds to memorize the 8 items.
❖Try to develop cues, create connections with the Five Senses to your imagined scenes
What are the 8 items ?
Almonds Apples Asparagus Bacon Beans
Beer Berries Cake mix Carrots Coffee
Crab Eggs Fish Grapes Ketchup
Lemons Medicine Milk Paper Towels Peaches
Popcorn Rice Salt Shampoo Strawberries
Tea Tofu Toilet Paper Vegetable oil Yogurt
What are the 8 items ?Almonds Apples Asparagus Bacon Beans
Beer Berries Cake mix Carrots Coffee
Crab Eggs Fish Grapes Ketchup
Lemons Medicine Milk Paper Towels Peaches
Popcorn Rice Salt Shampoo Strawberries
Tea Tofu Toilet Paper Vegetable oil Yogurt
Strategies to Improve Memory Skills
❖Exams can bring some degree of stress and burnout that can affect your studies:
❄Difficult to concentrate
❄Struggling to sleep
❄Getting headaches or feeling unwell
❄Worried about your exams
4. Handle Stress and Anxiety from Exams
❖Take a deep breath
❄Take 5 deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth
❖Listen to music
❖Exercise
❖Talk to someone
❄ Friend/ Family Member/ Student Counsellor
Ways to Feel Calm
❖Set realistic expectations
❖Take breaks throughout the day
❖Express your feelings instead of bottling them up
❖Set a healthy balance between work and leisure time
❖Focus on one task at a time, rather than trying to do multi-tasks
Tips for Handling Stress from Exams
❖Counselling service (SAO)
❖Self-care tips (SAO)
❖Health talks (UHS)
❖Online workshops (SAO)
Supporting Resources during the Pandemic
❖Revision is an on-going activity
❖Take advantages of structuring and organizing your notes
❖Improve your memory skills in strategic ways
❖Make a balance between study and rest
Summary
Help and Resources at PolyU
▪ Counsellor and Academic
Advising Officer from SAO
▪ Academic Advisor in your
department
Student Affairs Office
Counselling and Wellness
Section
ST308 | Tel: 3400 [email protected]
There is no shortcut to success.
