Friday, January 15, 2010

Exam Preparation Strategies - Undergraduates

Bismiillah.

Assalammualaikum w.b.t.

 

 


Study enough? 

Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst

 


I'm certain that tips below are more applicable during final exam (in April-July). But, I post it early considering we must have a phase of preparation.


Hope, it will project a great impact as soon as it's published.

 



Lot of empty seats ? Afraid of exam? Why? Aren't you study enough? 
Then, why do you choose being absent?



Journey to MUMTAZ begin NOW ! 



1- Find out what overall percentage the examination has in relation to accessed course work

2- Make sure you know which courses or topics are examined - e.g. information from seminars (as well as lectures)

3- If work covered in seminars is assessed, find out who writes the questions - does each tutor (if there are several) contribute a question - which ones? Do different seminar groups follow slightly different patterns with different pacing? How far are they standard/non standard - how this reflected (or not) in examination questions? [ If questions are standard for all group, then it is in your interests to discuss seminar topics wwith members of different seminar group.] 






Copy from ONE, it's PLAGIARISM ; Copy from TWO, it's RESEARCH 

by Wilson Wizner

Can it be applied ? If yes , Are you a muslim ?



4- Old examination papers - get hold of these as soon as possible (many are now available 
    on the web).They will give you an idea of :


            a- The format and structure of the exams - how much/how little choice do you  
                have in answering questions?


            b- The percentage of marks per question. (ask)


            c- Potentially high scoring questions (e.g. questions with math/stats/calculations 
                can attract potential full marks - which essay-type question cannot do)

           d- Timing - overall time allocated  for the whole examination and time available 
               for ecah question, to give you an idea of quantity dan standard - how much you 
               have to cover within the given time limits.


           e- Likely questions - if you know what the likely questions are in terms of type of 
               questions as well as content, this will alert you to answers you come across in 
               lectures, reading etc. Look at question trends over a number of years, if 
               possible, to spot the 'chesnut' which are likely to be included.


           f- Study individual questions and try to break them down into sub-topics - i.e. the 
               little questions to be answered which make up the much bigger questions. 
               (Something similar to what you do with essay titles- this should help you identify
               what is relevant/irrelevant, but remember your time limits!).


           g- For individual questions, try to judge, by making lists, which points you think will
              attract marks.You should also consider which points you think may lose marks -   
              so that you can avoid such areas.


           h- Practise drafting answers - e.q. in five minutes write down all the main points 
               for e.g. a 30 minutes questions





i. Take a draft and expand it into a practice answer (time yourself). See what you have to do to complete your answer within the time limits.  This should also help you discover which type of question you are good at - and which not so good. Match this against how much choice you have. Can you safely leave out the type of question you are not so good at - or is this an area on which you need to improve?




ii. Get together with friends to discuss possible answers (see also 3. above) - you could all brainstorm for five minutes (see (i) above) and compare ideas on what you all think is relevant or irrelevant in the interpretation of the question. 

5- Remember, working together to prepare for examinations helps everybody. Preparation is non-competitive. In the actual examination, then you are on your own, but even so, you are mainly competing with yourself ande the examination paper - that it should not defeat you. Your good/bad marks has no effect on anybody else.


6- The best way to overcome the examination is to be well informed about it, so, I repeat - get hold of previous examination papers as early as possible. This means that you will know what to expect (to some extent), and the more you know, the less worrying the whole thing will be.


7- Model answers. Some school may provide you with model answer to questions. Find out who there were written by. Good answer to questions written by student who did well in the examination in the past can prove very helpful. Answers provided by tutor can be daunting as they will probably not have been written under examination condition which means : 


           a- They may well have used references which student have no access to in examinations.


         b- They are not often written within the time constrains of an examination and thus
             produce far more than would have been possible for a student within examination time
             limits.


         c- Tutors fell an obligation to provide a 'perfect' answer to a particular question - but they
             ignore (very often) the examination conditions under which students have to work.




In reality, a tutor/examiner would not expect (or able to get) such 'perfection' under examination conditions as might be suggested by their model answer.


Be aware of this if you get sample answer provided by tutors. Ask under what conditions they were written. (Occasionally, tutors do sit down and write examination papers with students - but this is rare). Bear this in mind and do not be too put off. Look at the main point the have included (some of the examples, expansion would probably not be possible under real examination conditions) and use these as your guide. - e.g. which theories/ideas are central -  in terms of bench mark/influence/application etc.


Prepare for examination as matter of daily routine - i.e. an outgoing task -  so that you spot relevant/important/crucial point as you read, attends lectures/seminars, write essays etc.


In this way, they will be less stressful and more a matter of the logical development of the part of your course.




Thank You.



Lastly, sharing is caring - always remember this wisdom (kata-kata hikmah - don't know  whether it's an appropriate usage or not.) - I've learnt it during my day in standard 2  (class 2H - 1994/95 - 2000) SJK (c) Pei Hwa (Batu 3, Jln Kuala Kedah 05400 Alor Star Kedah).     
 
       
Minda Kita Ibarat Payung Terjun , 
Ianya Akan Berfungsi 
Sekiranya Ia Terbuka .     



    
 

Concerning about the Repeaters - Here a Booster For You.     



I Will Not Say I FAILED 1000 Times, 
I Will Say There Are 1000 WAYS 
That Can Cause FAILURE.

-Thomas Edison-

                                       


Wassalam        

Reference : Kaunseling Online




2 comments:

Abu Ubaidah said...

segan ngan abg luwoh

nak jemput abg luwoh bg career n motivation talk?
kite buat lah program khas~

AbuHumairah said...

ow, gtu ko?
meme mantop la!

^_^