Examination Do's and Don'ts

  

Date Posted: 10/9/2011 6:16:56 AM

Posted By: walteym  Membership Level: Gold  Total Points: 1895

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Examinations are an important part of the educational process and therefore as a student, it is important to acquire some important examination skills. Preparation for examinations should not begin when the examinations near but rather as early as the beginning of the academic period that will be examined.
Preparation thus does not start and stop the night before the examination. Developing good habits when it comes to studying for exams will not only help you in the short term, but create something that will help you in future.
Below are some of the things that you should observe during the period before and after the examinations.

Two months before

It is recommended that you should start preparing for exams as early as two months before to avoid the stress that comes from not having enough time to prepare. During this period:
• Do create a study plan and stick to it.
• Do get enough food, sleep and exercise while studying to keep your mind as active as possible.
• Do take into account your lecturer’s focus and areas of emphasis. If your lecturer emphasized on certain concepts, then you should be prepared to incorporate them in your exam answers.
• Do not study materials and topics not covered in class as you will end up wasting your time on otherwise irrelevant materials.
• Do not study for long periods of time without taking a break. Take a break of 15 to 20 minutes during the course of study to relax and improve your concentration.
• Do not study one subject for long periods of time. Rather, study each subjects in small increments over a period of many days as this will avoid boredom.
• Do not rely on someone else’s study materials. You will best understand notes or materials that you prepared yourself.

Two weeks before

A review of what you have covered is essential at this stage. You

have enough time to go back to weak areas and give everything a last look over. Extensive revision should be carried out during this period.
• Do tell the people around you about your study plans as they get intensive and make them realize that it might take away the time you regularly have with them.
• Do take as many practice exams as possible under exam like conditions. Compare your answers with the model answers or those of a friend to gauge how you are likely to perform.
• Do revise with friends from time to time.
• Do familiarize yourself with the key concepts used in examinations and memorize them.
• Do not go to bed immediately after revision. Relax first and absorb what you have learnt.

One day before

By this time, you should have studied all your materials and finished up with your revision. This is thus not a time for last minute struggles but rather a time to brush up some few issues.
• Do review weak areas one more time and work through practice questions that you did not grasp well.
• Do get a good night’s sleep preferably not less than 6 hours and not more than 8 hours.
• Do prepare for the exam by gathering the materials that you will require such as pens, a watch and the like.
• Do not feel overconfident and relax or engage in other activities for long periods of time.
• Do not stay up all night reading or cramming until the early hours of the morning as you will end up taking the exam feeling weary.

During the exam

The time for what you have been preparing for all along having come, it would be important to remember and put into practice all the tips that you know.
• Do arrive at the venue of the exam early enough before the exam begins to familiarize yourself with the surrounding atmosphere.
• Before you begin answering questions, do read through the whole exam at least once. This will build your confidence and help you find answers to some of the questions.
• Do pay attention to keywords that indicate the context of the question. Circle words like ‘not’.
• Answer questions that are easy first and which will not give you a hard time then finish with the hard questions.
• Do time yourself well to make sure that the time allocated is sufficient to cover all the questions.
• Do not let your mind stray to other irrelevant matters especially when you are thinking up an answer. Try to concentrate on the matter at hand.
• Do not malpractice in the exam hall. It may affect your marks or you may not be allowed to take the exam again. Avoid writing answers to questions that you do not know as an exam is intended to make you proof yourself.

After the exam

Once you are through with the examination, you will mostly feel like you under-performed. It is important to realize that this is normal and getting hard on yourself will only affect your future performance.
• Do avoid a prolonged analysis of how you did the exam. Rather, take some time to be alone and think of how you prepared for the exam and what you might do differently for the next exam.
• Do not discuss the contents of the exam with your friends. It will demoralize you when you realize that you made mistakes and will affect your performance in the next exams.
• Do not relax thereafter and waste your time after you are through with the exams. It would be important to note that there is much more work to be covered.

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