Support for student success in exams

Our experts, the students, say that their teachers: Listen to us Have high expectations of us, so we do too. They also have high faith in us Teach us to think, question and remember. They talk about our brain and the stages of memory (encoding, storing and retrieving) so we understand how learning works Explain how the ATAR works so it’s not as frightening Show us, teach us, and force us to plan. We know we have permission to plan for leisure and relaxation and we know the difference between the two Continued next page

Teachers share tips for exams – like: you have to start work before teatime otherwise you’re motivated by guilt and it doesn’t work eating a banana a half-hour before lowers stress and provides energy memory thrives on organization – so you have to spend 10 minutes each night organizing your notes – and you have to use symbols and colour to do this ‘cos it reinforces the power of your memory

“Research shows that it is not intellect but rather the knowledge of how to study and learn that determines success” Canberra University study 2006

Strategies + Confidence = Success

Building strong memories Strategies that Work!

Our brains are designed to forget Why revise? Our brains are designed to forget Cramming doesn’t work

Studying all year gives you a big advantage Refine your skills as a writer and develop your handwriting under pressure Become more confident and less fearful of the exam – less (bad) stress

YOUR BRAIN IS DESIGNED TO FORGET IT IS NOT IN TUNE WITH THE 21ST C Your brain needs to know WHY you are asking it to remember things

We have inherited our emotional (reptilian) brain from dinosaurs.

The 4 Fs of Exam Fear Fight or Flee Feed Fool around Freeze

The Curve of Forgetting Our brains are designed to forget! You will forget 40% of what you hear today 10 minutes after I leave. 80% will be gone by this time tomorrow

100 Billion Neurons

Our memories are not stored in cells but consist of patterns produced by millions of connections between cells. Our memories decay because the patterns shift or become increasingly disconnected

Making strong memories Repetition (distributed practice) Emotion Association

Scheduled Revision Teachers support students to schedule two or three 15 minute study sessions per week for each subject

Strategies for remembering

Reflect of what helps you remember Sound (rhyming words of odd sounding words) Locus (associations with place) Visual associations (linking to or creating diagrams, photos, colour) Stories Music/song Movement (dance, drama, role-play) Explaining to or teaching someone else

Try saying these letters out loud twice JAJWUTHTFAPOWJFDABHCAJCTA Memory by Association Try saying these letters out loud twice JAJWUTHTFAPOWJFDABHCAJCTA

Write down as many of the letters as you can remember

Check against the original letters JAJWUTHTFAPOWJFDABHCAJCTA

Primacy and Recency Effect The brain tends to remember more from the beginning and end of an experience

Implications Lessons must be comprised of many beginnings and endings Highlight key learning at the beginning of a lesson, and summarise at the end of the lesson: “What are the three key things that you have learnt about today…”

How could you include more beginnings and endings to JAJWUTHTFAPOWJFDABHCAJCTA?

JAJWU THTFAP OWJFD ABHC AJCTA

Similarly, we are more likely to remember: credit card numbers because there are four sets of four numbers mobile phone numbers when divided into three sets of numbers So why JAJWUTHTFAPOWJFDABHCAJCTA?

Jack and Jill Went Up The Hill To Fetch A Pail of Water Jack Fell Down And Broke His Crown And Jill Came Tumbling After

Create stories and songs that incorporate concepts/terminology Utilise Acronyms CISS (Conformity, Imagery, Symbolism and Salvation) Create stories and songs that incorporate concepts/terminology Say this reminds me of… Use mind maps

Use online resources/apps Abbreviations eg Hi! - H He - He Lies - Li Because - Be Boys - B Can – C https://www.mnemonic-device.com/ http://www.wikihow.com/Memorise-the-Periodic-Table

EMOTION AND LEARNING Emotional information is tagged by the amygdala as being important and worthy enough to store. We remember emotionally charged events best Positive memories contain more contextual details Your emotions/mood/state affects what is noticed and encoded If we are anxious about learning, part of our working memory is taken up with this awareness, leaving less capacity for processing

Our school’s exam policy All students who sit for an exam will be involved in a thorough and ongoing revision programme. Students must be thoroughly prepared for material tested in all exams.   Teachers will explicitly teach exam techniques. These will include Decoding the exam question Improving memory – mnemonic devices and visual cues, chunking, rehearsal Note-taking/ keeping a revision journal/graphic organisers Writing to time Continued next page

Exam policy cont’d Practice multiple choice and essay questions within a time constraint Self-monitoring - teaching students to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own exam taking abilities allows them to improve their performance Study skills – organization and planning for study. Highlight the difference between homework and study. Encourage the use of student planners/calendars Stress management techniques

Exam policy cont’d Teachers debrief with students after an exam. While this is time-consuming, inadequate follow–up devalues the exam itself. Follow-up may include Solutions, essay plans or models of quality exam answers Suggestions for individual students on appropriate follow – up for them Re-testing Student reflections on their technique, understandings, and plans for improvement

Exam policy cont’d Stage 1 exams are held in all subjects that lead directly to Stage 2 subjects that have exams. The exam experience is not the exam itself but the preparation required in order to sit the exam with confidence.

What the exam policy means for a student It means they have a responsibility to: Use memory strategies and triggers Organise and review notes after each class Make up index cards as they go along Have a revision mentality all year Draw up a revision/study timetable – in addition to homework Work with others – arrange revision sessions with friends Ask for help – find out from teachers what else they can do Use past exam papers and practice! Stay healthy

Implications for Teaching and Learning Repetition of key ideas within lessons and across the teaching year Support students with time management and study planning Present information in a variety of ways (including video-recording of key teaching moments for homework and revision purposes) Create opportunities for students to interact with information in a variety of ways

Implications cont’d… Develop learning programs where key learning is presented in bite size pieces for effective cognitive consumption Support students to add emotion to their learning whenever possible Ensure lessons have many beginnings and endings – break up instruction Promotion of study journals and memory strategies – included as part of formative assessment

What are three key strategies that can be used to improve students’ performance in exams at your site?

Thanks to Mount Gambier High School, the Blue Lake Partnership and teacher, Ben Heathcote in particular for the information provided within. For more information or to provide feedback, please contact: Ben Heathcote Mount Gambier High School ben.heathcote240@schools.sa.edu.au