Revision & Exam Skills
Exams are a fact of life. Some students feel intimidated by the whole exam process. Here are some hints to consider on making your revision and exam period a less stressful time.
Why are exams necessary?
Exams give you a chance to make sense of your learning and to apply your knowledge under time-limited conditions. In a sense, this is the kind of skill you need in the workplace; rather like 'thinking on your feet'.
Revising
The best advice is to make a habit of reading through your lecture notes at the end of each week. This helps to consolidate the concepts in your mind and helps you identify areas where you might need more information.
In reality, we often leave revising until the last 2-3 weeks before the exam period. It is still possible to give a reasonable account of yourself provided that you follow a structured and organised approach to revising.
Revision tips from students
- Create a revision timetable
- include work slots and breaks
- Add the exam dates to the timetable –note when & where and how long they are. Add a code to show what equipment you can take in.
- Schedule one weekend day which is completely free from work
- Keep bullet points on crib cards for reading during 'dead times' e.g. on the bus.
- If you like to 'talk' your revision, record your bullet points onto your iPod or a tape
- Eat and sleep properly –don't start a diet or work through the night cut down on your evening / weekend job
Revision tips from lecturers
- Pick out the key topics and ask yourself questions to make sense of your subject, e.g.
- what is the cause and effect?
- How can I justify this conclusion?
- How do these areas relate to each other?
- If necessary, brush up on your reading and note taking skills
- For every hour you work, take ten minutes off. Don't work longer than 3 hours at a time. Do something completely different e.g. play sport
- Don't go straight to bed after revision –relax first
- From time to time revise with friends –discuss topics
- Practise writing answers under timed conditions - but don't gamble on a particular question coming
up in the exam
Exam skills: before
The key is to find out as much about the exam beforehand. Obviously knowing the questions would be nice but in the absence of these you can help yourself by checking:
- How long is the exam?
- How many questions do you have to answer?
- Are some questions compulsory?
- What types of questions are there –multiple choice / essays etc.?
Exam skills: during
Some students find it useful to keep to an exam plan. For example:
- Read the whole exam paper through from start to finish.
- Decide which questions you are going to answer and in what order. Underline the key words in the question and be clear about what the question is asking.
- You might feel better about starting with the question you feel most confident about.
- Brainstorm what you know and plan how you will answer the question. Take care to sequence your ideas logically.
- Write your answer but remember not to write everything you know - always keep in mind what the question is asking.
- If you like to write your answers 'in rough' first, make sure you have allowed yourself enough time to copy them into your answer book.
- Allow yourself time to read through each of your answers as you write them and again at the end of the exam.
Exam skills: after
Avoid a prolonged post-mortem outside the examination hall. Instead take some time to be alone and think about how you prepared for the examination and what you might do differently for the next examination. Ask yourself questions e.g.
- Did you revise the key topics in a structured way so that they were easy to recall?
- Did you run out of time?
- Did you fulfill all of the exam's requirements?
Answering Examination Questions
In answering examination questions it is not just what you know that counts, but how you say it. A great deal of emphasis is placed on being able to use what you know to argue a case that relates directly to the specific question you are being asked. Whether it is answering a question in a written examination, or for a piece of coursework, how you interpret the question is the most critical factor if you want to gain maximum marks.
Here is some study advice which should help you to think about how to interpret questions so that you can answer in the most effective and appropriate way.
Analysing the question
The following three steps will help you to interpret what the question is asking you to do:
Identify the subject
- What is the question about?
- What is the topic you are being asked to write about?
- What is the principal issue or concept
Identify the instruction
- What are the key words that indicate the approach your answer should take?
- What are the key verbs?
Identify other significant words
- What aspect is being asked about?
- What other words alter meaning?
- What is the scope of the question? Wide-ranging or restricted in a specific way?
Finding questions
It is always helpful to look for examples to analyse. You will be able to find a wide range of questions in places such as:
- Past Exam Papers Online
- Textbooks
- Tutorial sessions
- Handouts
- Coursework assignments
- Case studies
- Newspapers
- Develop your own –ask yourself how you would test someone's knowledge on the subject.
What am I being asked to do?
In most questions there will be a keyword which guides you towards the required approach. In order to successfully answer the question you will need to highlight and interpret these keywords, targeting your writing accordingly.
Common keywords
Here are some of the most common key words and a suggested meaning for each:
- Account for: Explain the cause of
- Analyse: Separate down into its component parts and show how they interrelate with each other
- Annotate: Put notes on (usually a diagram)
- Assess: Estimate the value of, looking at both the positive and negative attributes
- Comment: To make critical or explanatory notes/observations
- Compare: Point out the differences and the similarities. This question needs to be carefully organised to produce a logical answer.
- Contrast: Point out the differences only and present the results in an orderly fashion.
- Describe: Write down the information in the right order.
- Discuss: Present arguments for and against the topic in question. In discussion questions you may also give your opinion
- Distinguish: Identify the difference between.
- Evaluate: Estimate the value of, looking at both the positive and negative attributes
- Explain: The word 'explain' means that you have to give reasons. You have to explain why rather than just define.
- Justify: Here you will need to present a valid argument about why a specific theory or conclusion should be accepted
- Outline: Give the main features or general principles of a subject, omitting minor details and stressing structure.
- Relate: Either –show how ideas or events are linked into a sequence or –compare or contrast.
- Review: To make a survey of, examining the subject critically.
- Suggest: This question may not have a fixed answer. Give a range of responses
- Summarise: State the main features of an argument, omitting all that is only partially relevant.
- To what extent....: Asks you to justify the acceptance or validity of an argument stressing the need to avoid complete acceptance.
- Trace: Follow the development or history of a topic from some point or origin.
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