CENTRE FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

1. CENTRE FOR STUDENT SUCCESS Success Strategies

2. Quizzes, Tests, and Examinations Examinations are not merely academic mountains over which you must climb toward a diploma. They are yardsticks for measuring your knowledge and they can help you to learn. Furthermore, exams are not peculiar to academic life. You will not leave tests behind you when you leave school. Examinations will always be with you. Fortunately for you, however, you can prepare for those you take at school. The practical suggestions that follow may mean the difference between a pass and a failure. In order to do well in examinations, you should be prepared for the examinations (A) emotionally, (B) insubject knowledge, and (C) inthetechnique of writing examinations.

3. Emotional Preparation • Lack of preparation breeds fear. Therefore, be well prepared especially in subject knowledge. • You can avoid fear of a test, not only by preparing directly for the test, but also by getting acquainted with and practicing with test materials, until the how of test-taking is no longer a problem. • Try to go into the test alert, but calm. Try not to become too tense and anxious. • Think of what you have to do in the test rather than any of the unpleasant things which you fear the results of the test may do to you. • Be prepared to do your best and expect that you will rate a decent mark.

4. Subject Knowledge • There are no tricks or short cuts that will help you if you don't know your subject. There are two kinds of review: • In REGULAR review you set aside time each week all during the term to reread your textbooks and look over your notes, vocabulary, formulas, etc. Have this review time set aside separately from your work on daily assignments. • In INTENSIVE review you start at least a week before major examinations. If you have more than one examination to prepare for, you will have to start your intensive review earlier. Have other work and assignments completed at least a week before the examination so you can spend your time on intensive review.

5. Subject Knowledge (con’t.) • In reviewing for an examination, it is necessary to memorize and understand a considerable amount of factual data. But this is not enough. You must synthesize, find the organizing principles, and see relationships: • Go through your textbook chapters, your reading notes, your lecture notes and pick out the main topics. By looking at these you will be able to see the over-all development of ideas. Once you understand how ideas combine into a logical whole, you are ready to study details and supporting materials. These will be easier to remember because there will be main points around which they can be organized. It is useful to organize, summarize, and rewrite the material you have into a set of summary sheets. Then use these summary sheets for the final reviewing.

6. Subject Knowledge (con’t.) • Review in short chunks every day - at the most, two hours at a time. (If you work more than that, brain-fog sets in and you're wasting time.) If you must work more than that, give yourself a deliberate, unexciting break of ten to fifteen minutes, before you start again. • Relieve your mind by reviewing your worst subject first. A lot of what is called review is really learning something for the first time, and naturally this will take the most effort. • Do a final review on the night before the exam. Avoid recreation or other activities that will interfere with you remembering the material you have studied. If you have time, do a quick review of the main points in the morning.

7. Subject Knowledge (con’t.) • If you have to cram - cram. Do not try to read all the material. Skim and search each chapter on your lecture notes and select the main ideas or principles and any necessary supporting details. Write these in your own wordsas summary notes. Study these notes and then rewrite them to yourself until you know them. Then move on to the next chapter or section. However, organized review is far superior.

8. Techniques of Exam Writing • Before the Exam: • Find out what the exam will cover . This will give you a mental set for reviewing. No exam covers everything taught in a course. • Find out what kind of an exam it will be: objective, essay, or a combination of both. If it's an essay exam, find out whether there will be several short questions of this type, or whether there will be one or more long ones, or both. Objective exams require s specific type of response from you; essay exams require something just as specific, but different. There are successful techniques for preparation and for taking each kind. (See the handouts or attend workshops on "Essay Exams” and "Objective Exams”)

9. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • Make sure you know certain elementary additional facts about the exam, such as where it is, when it is, and what you are expected or allowed to bring with you. • Have a good rest on the night before examinations. Wind up your study early, and try to get a good night' s sleep. Remember, you can't fly with the owls at night and keep up with the eagles in the daytime. • Get up early enough that you don't have to rush.

10. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • You should arrive for the examinations on time, but not too early. Five or ten minutes is early enough. • When you do arrive, avoid discussing the subject with other students. Such discussions will serve only to excite you, for chances are that some of the questions which will be asked will be on things that you are not familiar with; and at this stage it is difficult, if not impossible, to master them. • Make sure that you have with you the required equipment, such as pens, calculators, math tables, etc. • Arrange, if possible, your working conditions - papers, pencils and so on - so that you can work with the least loss of time and effort, and with as little wear and tear on yourself as possible.

11. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • Don't let it bother you if you if you are excited before an examination. Most people feel excited before they write. In fact, some people claim that they don't do well in and examination unless they are "Keyed up.“ If you are extremely tense, try taking deep breaths, yawning, stretching, letting shoulders droop, or other physical exercise to relax some of the tenseness; or think (briefly) about other pleasant events. (See handout or attend workshop on Positive Self Talk)

12. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – but before you start writing: • Glance over the whole exam. This does two things for you: • It gives you a " set" on the exam: what it covers, where the emphasis lies, what the main ideas seem to be. Many exams are composed of a series of short questions all related to one particular aspect of the subject and then a longer one developing some ideas from another area. Jot down the things that come to your mind: e.g. the mathematical formula that pertains to the problem. Later on when you are working under pressure, your thinking may not be as clear. • It relaxes you, because if you look all the way through it, you are bound to find something you feel competent to answer.

13. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – but before you start writing: • Observethe point value of the questionsand then figure out a rough time allotment. If the total point value for the test is 100, then a 50 point question is worth about half of your time, regardless of how many questions there are. Stick fairly closely to your time allotment. • Read the directions very carefully. Underline all significant words in the directions. Many hapless students have penalized themselves because they did not see the word "or" in "Answer 1, 2, or 3.” You do not get extra credit for answering three questions in that case.

14. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – but before you start writing: "Enumerate" does not mean " discuss.“ (See handout or attend workshop on "Essay Exams”) Be sure you understand the directions for the test and just what each question is asking of you. Take any practice questions seriously. If you do not clearly understand the directions, ask the proctor. Follow the directions of the test closely in giving your answers.

15. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – when you begin to work: • There usually is nothing sacred about the order in which the questions are asked. Therefore, tackle the question that appeals to you most, generally the easiest first. Doing well on a question that you feel relatively sure of will be reassuring and will free your mind of tension. The act of writing often unlocks the temporarily blocked mental processes; when you finish that question you will probably find the others less formidable. On the other hand, some people want to get the big one off their minds first and save the easy one " for dessert.“ If you are writing in an exam book, be sure to identify the questions clearly.

16. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – when you begin to work: • Keep the point value and time allotment in mind. This may save you from a very common and panic-producing mistake such as taking twenty minutes of an hour test to answer a five-point question, and then finding you have five minutes left in which to answer a twenty-point question. It is impossible to score more than five points on a five-point question! Regulate your speed in the test to fit as well as possible your own habits of work and the time available. Do not hurry to the point that you feel nervous and panicky. On the other hand, do not spend a lot of time on decisions which should be made quickly.

17. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam – when you begin to work: • If the answer requires an organization of materials or the formulation of a response, think carefully before you begin your answer. • If answers are to be written, be sure to write so that the examiner can read your answers with as little effort as possible. • Assess your answer, as soon as your complete it. Does it answer the question that was asked? Is it reasonable? Is it complete? Are the units correct? How are the spelling and punctuation? • Regard lapses of memory as perfectly normal, and do not let them make you anxious or afraid. If you seem to be blocked at one point, after a reasonable time leave it for a while and come back to it later.

18. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • During the Exam - when you are finished: • Check over your entire paper for several purposes: • to see if you have left out any questions you meant to tackle later • to see if you have followed directions • to catch careless errors • to see if you can improve your answers. Note: Don't take time to recopy answers, unless you're sure they're really illegible. You are graded primarily on accuracy, not neatness. • Make sure your paper and all related sheets are clearly identified, either with your name or examination number. Make sure it is complete. Hand it in, in a neat, logical order and not in a mess of twisted, loose sheets. If there is a stapler, use it.

19. Techniques of Exam Writing (con’t.) • After the Exam: An excellent way to learn how to take exams is to analyze what you've done on one. When you get your paper back, go over it, noting not only what you did wrong, but why. Time spent in this way may be extremely valuable. See if you detect any point-eating tendencies, such as getting the main idea and then rushing sloppily through the proofs, or simply not following directions, or bogging down on relatively unimportant items, or misreading questions entirely. The next time you face an exam, consciously watch yourself for the weakness. Also note what you did right! This may save you hours of worry the next time around. That question on the English test, that haunted you for the next several days, may prove to be the one you did best on. Why did it get such a good reception? Often such analysis proves genuinely reassuring.

20. Test Anxiety • Approach the test day in a systematic and organized way. • Take the necessary materials with you. • Arrive on time. • Deliberately avoid people who ask such questions as, “Did you study such and such?" This may set off a panic button, and lower your confidence in the fact you have made choices, and have done YOUR best. • Deliberately choose a seat in a non-distracting section of the room. • Carefully listen to the verbal instructions.

21. Test Anxiety (con’t.) • Pre-read the whole exam. Sometimes words or ideas in the latter part of the exam may start some associative thinking and stimulate some ideas for answers to earlier questions. • Look at the marks allotted to the various questions and use the equivalent percent of time to answer that section. • Do the easiest questions first to boost your confidence and calm you. RELAX!!! WHENEVER YOU START TO FEEL THE TENSION RISING, TAKE A DEEP "BELLY" BREATH TO SOOTHE YOURSELF.