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EXAM STUDYING ADVICE
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•Successful students start intensive studying for exams at least three weeks before the
exam. Last minute and/or late night cramming does not work.
•For any given study session, you should limit yourself to one hour of intensive brainwork
in one sitting, and then take a break of 10 minutes or more. Your mind will not be
working as effectively after the 1 hour and you'll be wasting your time.
•Your exam should reflect the work done in class. For that reason, ensure that your
studying includes, as a minimum, going over all your classroom notes, quizzes, tests and
other assignments. It is important that you keep these up-to-date and organized
throughout the entire semester.
•It is very important that you work through everything the teacher may give you which is
called an exam review assignment. Often questions on the exam
review will be similar to the exam questions.
•Reading over the text book is "okay," but is not the best way to study. Focus only on those topics you actually did in
class. Some textbooks do not match the course very well, and there may be large
sections of the text which were not covered. Also, the teacher may have covered topics
which do not appear in the text.
•Listen closely to everything the teacher says about the exam, and be sure to write it down:
plenty of exam information and hints will be provided during the last two weeks of classes.
The best exam hints are given on the very last day of class before the exam. A student
would have to be very foolish to skip out on that last day.
•Early in your study schedule, you will likely focus on each unit separately.
However, the most serious
difficulty a student faces during any exam stems from the fact that exam questions are
taken from the entire course and are all mixed together.
The best way to prepare for this is to work through a few old exams such as the two I
have provided for you.
- •Teachers are required to post a "tutorial schedule" before the exams. Be sure to go the tutorial
with questions to ask. Very few
students attend tutorials so you will have the teacher all to yourself.
- •Before the exam, be sure you are well rested and eat a good meal before the exam. These
two points are important!
- •During the exam, keep an eye on the time spent on each section. For example, if the
exam is 90 minutes long and there are 20 multiple choice questions (out of 100 marks),
then you should spend no longer than 20 minutes on that section. If you cannot get a
question after some time, circle it as incomplete, and MOVE ON! You will likely be able
to work on it at the end.
It is very common for students to spend way too long on multiple choice questions, then
run out of time and then not complete other questions which are worth more marks.
- •Students sometimes experience "exam anxiety" when, in the middle of the exam, they
begin to panic because they can't get a particular question. This is very bad because you
cannot think logically when your mind is in extreme panic. This happens to everyone at
some point, often during important university exams.
The best cure for exam anxiety is to be well prepared for the exam. Also if you start to
panic, scan through the exam and do the easiest questions first. This will give you
confidence.
Most important, boost your own self-confidence during the exam by reminding yourself
that you are an excellent, well-prepared student. You can be sure that if you are having
difficulty, then it is guaranteed that almost every other student in the room is having the same problems.