Examination Hints and Techniques


(By G Lambert, School Psychologist at Rossmoyne Senior High School)

The way to maximise your exam score is through your effort and preparation over a period of time. Each of us is different and consequently the ways in which we organise ourselves to achieve our best will need to be determined individually. The following points on studying for and tackling exams should be seen as a guide for your thinking about and deciding upon what will work best for you.

STUDYING FOR EXAMS

~Know why you are studying- think about, and write down, your short term study goals. Refer to these regularly.

~Develop a good place to study- ideally one which is comfortable and well-lit, with resources readily available, and free of distractions.

~Formulate a study timetable- stick to it but modify it if necessary to make sure it works for you.

~For each subject develop summaries of the key ideas and processes- seek help from your teachers. Keep your summaries concise and manageable.

~Practise doing as many past exam questions as possible- ensure that they match the current syllabus content.

The key to success is active studying. Make sure you involve yourself in different approaches. Reading of texts and notes by itself is not enough. Your preparation of summaries requires you to analyse and sort out the work. The more times and ways in which study a topic the more familiar it will become to you. In the words of a famous football coach: "Don't think, just do!" - although you need to think a lot as well! Make studying an active process.

THE EXAM PERIOD

During the exam period you need to be aware of your needs and responsibilities.

You need to know your exam timetable.
~What exams?
~What day?
~What time?
~What room?

You need to be aware of the school's rules relating to exams. You should make an effort to familiarise yourself with them and ensure you take responsibility for doing the appropriate things.

For each exam you need to know what equipment you need to bring and what will be provided. Pens, pencils, ruler, highlighters, calculator, tables book, ... Whiteout fluid is generally not recommended as it can be a time waster.

Know the structure of each exam. Your teacher should inform you of the length of the exam, the number of questions, and its format- eg. multiple choice section, short answer section, essay section. For the TEE the front pages of each exam paper are distributed to schools well before exam time. Familiarise yourself with the information they provide.

You should tailor your study programme to suit your exam timetable. Don't leave it till the night before to try to 'cram' a semester's work into a few hours. Go to bed t your normal time and ensure that you give yourself the opportunity to relax and unwind.

EXAM TIME

On the day of the exam you should arrive at the exam room on time and well prepared in terms of your prior study, equipment needs, and expectations of exam structure and be physically comfortable (ie be in uniform appropriate to temperature and have attended to your food and toilet needs).

When in the exam room set out your equipment, read the front cover of the exam booklet- make sure there are no nasty surprises (like it's the wrong exam!), and listen carefully to instructions.

READING TIME

When reading time starts you should again note the instructions, particularly the number of questions to be answered and the time allowed for each. In most subjects you should be able to develop a rule of thumb to estimate the amount of time you could allocate per question. eg 180 marks in 180 minutes means 1 mark per minute, so a question worth 10 marks should take approximately 10 minutes.

During reading time decide upon the question you will answer, if you are given choices, and the order in which you will answer them. It may be better to answer the questions that you are confident about first so that you have a solid foundation on which to build your exam score. These questions may also take less time than your allowance and the savings can be used later in harder questions.

You are not allowed to make written notes during this time but you should be mentally noting key words and thinking about how you are going to answer your first question(s).

WORKING TIME

When you commence writing you should underline or highlight the keywords in the question- you should be quite familiar with these as a result of your exam preparation.

Take time to plan your answers- write down the points and general form of your answer. Use the keywords in the question to focus your thoughts. Make sure you are giving an answer which addresses the topic in the required way.

Stick to your time allowance- if you haven't finished the question leave space for it and come back later if you get time. If you are running out of time it is probably better to provide point-form answers to all questions rather than not give anything for some questions. You will probably get credit for your efforts.

Try to leave enough time at the end of the exam to check through your answers and that you have attempted the required number of questions.

Make sure you show your working in questions requiring calculations, particularly in maths, so that your reasoning can be given credit.

If you are working on multiple choice questions don't get bogged down on difficult items. Work steadily through all questions, leaving those which you can't readily answer. When you return to the hard questions try to eliminate incorrect options and then guess, if necessary, bet ensure that you answer all items. The only time you should avoid this last resort of guessing is when there is a deduction for incorrect answers (the instructions on the paper should tell you this).

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