Studying for exams

beagle001

Hey folks,
I am back as a mature student this year doing a general science degree with a specialty.
Started studying the past 2 weeks but unsure am I covering the right stuff and was looking for a bit of advice on how to plan fort exams,what sort of study I should be doing and maybe a few matures can share how they prepare for exams.
Mine are in mid April/May,any info would be great

paky

beagle001 wrote: »

Hey folks,
I am back as a mature student this year doing a general science degree with a specialty.
Started studying the past 2 weeks but unsure am I covering the right stuff and was looking for a bit of advice on how to plan fort exams,what sort of study I should be doing and maybe a few matures can share how they prepare for exams.
Mine are in mid April/May,any info would be great

im in the same boat. im just waiting for the xmas exam results. these results will be a good indicator of how much study is needed.

our lecturer said to us the other day that a study was done on students who passed and failed college. the only obvious pattern between the students who failed and the students who passed was that the ones who passed showed up for lectures and the ones who didnt didnt. you'll be suprised how much you take in during a lecture.

Larianne

Exam technique plays a huge part in doing well in exams. So I'd suggest looking at past papers to see how the exams are set, how questions are to be answered and look for trends in question setting.

I'd also recommend getting a few people together and doing some study sessions. I found these great to help remember things. Plus, if you are having difficultly in understanding something, there is always others who can explain it well.

Keeping a study journal helps. Write in what you study each day and what you intend to study and how much time you spent on a subject. Reviewing your entries allows you to see what subjects you are neglecting and keeps track of your studying.

Tom Dunne

A combination of past papers + learning outcomes are what you need.

I personally find just reading does nothing - you need to read and then write down what you read. That way you sub-consciously process the information and it is more likely to stick.

Just be careful with past papers - of course not everything is going to be asked in the examination, so this is where learning outcomes are important.

A study journal/plan is important too. Something like week 1 - unit 1, week 2, unit 2 and so on.

Also diagrams are probably important in science, along with definitions, I would imagine.

beagle001

Thanks folks,
I am going to start keeping a study journal now and a lot of your ideas are very helpful.
Been writing most of the material down but so much involved in it you just want to make sure you cover all the bases.

Naikon

Larianne wrote: »

So I'd suggest looking at past papers to see how the exams are set, how questions are to be answered and look for trends in question setting.

I think your advice is pretty sound, but this area can be a bit dodgy. Lecturers are under no obligation to keep the format even 50% similar to previous years. Basically, assume the markers/examiners/Lecturers are out to get you until you have the paper in your hand.

Never assume they are on your side. There is nothing worse than doing 4 years worth of previous exam papers, only to get totally shafted come exam day. Especially true in Final Year. Cover all bases imo. College ain't the Leaving.

Larianne

Naikon wrote: »

I think your advice is pretty sound, but this area can be a bit dodgy. Lecturers are under no obligation to keep the format even 50% similar to previous years. Basically, assume the markers/examiners/Lecturers are out to get you until you have the paper in your hand.

Never assume they are on your side. There is nothing worse than doing 4 years worth of previous exam papers, only to get totally shafted come exam day. Especially true in Final Year. Cover all bases imo. College ain't the Leaving.

Oh I know this, but it is important to understand the structure of exam papers and how to go about answering them. If its an essay type question or MCQ, practising answers by timing yourself etc.

W86indow

hi , im back as a mature aswell , finding it extremely difficult to get back in to a routine and im back in college since start of january ....

i have to say i did very well at christmas and i didnt do very intensive study the week or nite before even ... due to the severe cold sort of very stressed driving couldnt stay late to study -


i would recommend doing a little bit every single nite , read every question
get the bigger picture , for me understanding what i am learning is the best way to learn anything , ok that maybe an obvious statement but i find it really useful when im tryin to remember

the course is hard but i attend every lecture .



oh and ANY Study is good study ... whether its a solid half hour or taking your time at two hours
dont kill yourself you wont learn anything ........ no matter how small its really good ... all my little bits are adding up and its great
the best tip i can give is that ..... watch your approach to the questions

and best of all put down something ....anything .... try you will be so surprised how the attempt marks add up

i thought it was such a disgrace the younger ones in my class didnt even attempt to answer questions on their paper , they left out completely... and they lost marks.

Tom Dunne

Naikon wrote: »

I think your advice is pretty sound, but this area can be a bit dodgy. Lecturers are under no obligation to keep the format even 50% similar to previous years. Basically, assume the markers/examiners/Lecturers are out to get you until you have the paper in your hand.

Never assume they are on your side. There is nothing worse than doing 4 years worth of previous exam papers, only to get totally shafted come exam day. Especially true in Final Year. Cover all bases imo. College ain't the Leaving.

I would disagree for two reasons.

Firstly, as someone who writes exams and has done so for a number of years, if you change the format of the paper you have to inform the students. The golden rule is "no surprises". If it is a major departure from previous years, and a good percentage of students get low marks, questions will be asked at exam board meetings.

Secondly, to say lecturers are not on your side is not true. The purpose of an exam is not to fail a student, but to asses just how much a student knows (leaving aside the whole argument on how valid an assessment method a written exam is). Again, I have been in plenty of exam board meetings where the bias was towards increasing marks, not decreasing.

However, I do agree with you that past exam papers should not the sole method of revision.

Naikon

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I would disagree for two reasons.

Firstly, as someone who writes exams and has done so for a number of years, if you change the format of the paper you have to inform the students. The golden rule is "no surprises". If it is a major departure from previous years, and a good percentage of students get low marks, questions will be asked at exam board meetings.

Secondly, to say lecturers are not on your side is not true. The purpose of an exam is not to fail a student, but to asses just how much a student knows (leaving aside the whole argument on how valid an assessment method a written exam is). Again, I have been in plenty of exam board meetings where the bias was towards increasing marks, not decreasing.

However, I do agree with you that past exam papers should not the sole method of revision.

Fair enough if this is standard practice in your institution. I have experienced some awful standards in my own course though. Situations where 80% of the class fail an exam due to the paper being nothing like previous years. Not just reshuffles of questions, but complete rewrites of syllabus Q's. Appeals fall on deaf ears too. It does not help when the Lecturers in question tell you such situations are unlikely. So much for being on the side of the student.

Of course, they told the rep this before the summer and dropped all contact after. Next they will probably mention they don't have external audits of exams or other such nonsense. I feel my suspicions are based on poor expectations/standards. Some really good Lecturers too, but plenty of sub standard ones to boot.

Irish_Elect_Eng

beagle001 wrote: »

Hey folks,
I am back as a mature student this year doing a general science degree with a specialty.
Started studying the past 2 weeks but unsure am I covering the right stuff and was looking for a bit of advice on how to plan fort exams,what sort of study I should be doing and maybe a few matures can share how they prepare for exams.
Mine are in mid April/May,any info would be great

The open University has several good "Study Guide" Publications one of which is tailored specifically for those studying the sciences. I used this when I went back to study after a long break.

http://www.ouw.co.uk/store/product/Other-Resources,5669,300.aspx

http://www.open.ac.uk/goodstudyguide/index.php

[Jackass]

Absolutely CRUCIAL are lecture notes!

The more information you can take in lectures and the more detailed your notes are on the content covered during lectures, the better prepaired you are for exam studying.

For my lectures in the past, I found that the more organised you are with notes, the infinitely easier it is to study.

I divided each of my subjects into different notepads / folders.

I would have a binder, with a different section for each subject, and any printed notes handed out in class I would put in a single sleave, accompanied by any written notes I took down during these lectures, and divided my notes into week 1, week 2 etc.

Every single bit of information you will be examined on are in those notes. So, when it came down to exam time, I would take out my first week notes, go through them, jot down a bullet point page of everything I need to know, reading all the content, and move on to the next week and the next week. Obviously, you need to be concentrating with everything you write, but re-writing out everything you've learned makes it go in much more and once you have covered all the content, you then have a full study guide to read over and over leading up to exams with the content fresh in your mind (as you wont remember week 1 without going over it in detail leading up to the exams) and the more time you then spend reading your notes, the more of the information that will stick...then, BOOM! Exam time and it all poures out of your brain.

Exam technique is crucial also. I like to take the time to read the entire paper before attempting any question. As I go through the questions, I jot down on the exam sheet beside the questions little bullet points of information I would like to touch on when answering that question, I then re-read over the paper and can see clearly for which questions the information is most fresh in my mind and then I begin with my strongest question and work my way down. (Starting with your strongest question means that you get off to a good start with the examiner and set the precedent of being a good student in their mind, whilst also, you may spend a slightly greater amount of time on your stronger questions and put in as much information as possible and then slightly less on questions where you don't have pages and pages of information to write, as you get no marks for waffle or "filling out" your answers, so there's no point spending equal time on a question where you're waffling rather than earning ticks for every piece of information you provide).

Watching the clock in exams is crucial also, and knowing when to wrap up an answer and move on to the next question.

Group study or even a study buddy is a great way of learning too. Test each other or discuss the subject matter in order to have the free flow of information going through your mind, and lastly, the most important thing is to relax on exam day. Have a good nights sleep the night before, I like to have an hour or two to just read over all my prepaired information the morning of the exam over a coffee and some breakfast to freshen it back up, and then accepting what will be will be when entering the exam and just giving it my best shot, and that's all you can do.

Best of luck with it all anyway, hope you do great!

amtw

paky wrote: »

im in the same boat. im just waiting for the xmas exam results. these results will be a good indicator of how much study is needed.

our lecturer said to us the other day that a study was done on students who passed and failed college. the only obvious pattern between the students who failed and the students who passed was that the ones who passed showed up for lectures and the ones who didnt didnt. you'll be suprised how much you take in during a lecture.

I agree, I did a BA in Arts a few years ago in UCD and we were told that if you turned up at all of the lectures and tutorials and handed in all the assignments during the year you were guaranteed to pass. All of the mature students did this and I don't know of one who failed thier exams. Not all of the younger crowd got it!. Weekly essays might be only worth a few marks each toward your end of year results but every little in the bag helps in the long run. Also all of the lecture notes you take and all of the essays you write form the basis of your exam revision.

I remember panicing about this time of the year during first year because I seemed to have reams of notes and paper and I didn't know what to do with it. Get yourself organised now you have plenty of time. Good luck.

beagle001

Thanks for all the information everybody,it's very helpful and has given me a good planned path in how to approach the exams.