1. ‘On Your Marks’ Student Learning Exam Strategies

2. Workshop objectives We will cover:
Strategies to help you prepare well for the exam
Tips for revising
The importance of self care
Focus on the exam

3. Types of exams What prevents you from doing well in exams?
Use flipchart to write down people’s perceptions about the challenges in essay-based exams, MCQs and short answer questions

4. Preparation - Steps to success
Prepare for study
Revise wisely
Self care
Exam preparation

5. 1. Prepare

6. How do I know what to study?
Use your course overview or module specification
e.g. social psychology
e.g. social psychology

7. How do I know what to study con’d?
What topics have I covered this semester?
What topics do I know well?
What topics do I not know well?
Work out the minimum number of topics you need to revise for each paper.

8. How do I know what to study con’d ?
Learn from the past
Use past exam papers - access through the Student App
Link questions to areas of the course
Find the common thread!

9. 2. Revise wisely

10. Revise Wisely
Bring together all the information you have about the topic you are revising.

11. Summarise your notes
Exams give you the opportunity to show you understand the work covered on the course.
Avoid learning off paragraphs of information.
Engage with ideas and concepts and make sure you understand what you are learning.
Reduce your notes to key headings, concepts, points, names and dates.

12. Mind map
Free to download for all DCU students

13. Flash cards There’s nothing wrong with pen and paper or
try making flash cards with Quizlet free from Chrome

14. Combine a mixture of memory strategies

15. Tried and tested strategies
Repetition
Self-testing
Practice - timed and
untimed

16. Manage your time carefully
Start as early as possible in
the semester
Write out your priority list
Use a revision timetable
Start revision

17. Anticipate

18. 3. Self Care
Keep a positive mindset - work on your motivation and attitude towards exams
Set up a small study group
Ask for help
Eat nourishing food, have fresh air and exercise, sleep and take plenty of breaks

19. Stay calm

20. 4.Focusing on the exam Check the time Check the instructions
Write your name & number are on all sheets
Check the time
Check the instructions
Beware of question choices and time division

21. Doing well in exams Grading - know what gets you good marks?
Keep focused - note any ideas that pop into your head for other answers
Answer the question
Structure your answer - outline, headings, clear language
how is the exam graded
what will get you good marks?

22. Ways to lose marks in exam
Not answering the question asked
Time wasting - writing out the question
Waffle, padding, taking too long to get to point
Over complicating - giving too much information
Unbalanced answers
Poor handwriting/ poor English

23. Essay-based exams Read instructions carefully Work out your timing
Read questions carefully and re-read
Choose your best question
Work out order for additional questions
Structure your answer - show outline
Remember one point per paragraph
1 - are there compulsory questions
2- allow for checking over answers
3 - some of the topics you studied might not be immediately obvious in a question - take time to read

24. Essay-based exams
Do not write everything you know on a topic show breadth and depth of knowledge
Summarise your points
Reference should be able to name main theorist, give relevant dates, names and statistics - no long quotes
If you get a blank - breath, relax
Running out of time - be economical with points
put down the pen, take a deep breath, relax for a moment. Read over what you have written. If nothing comes - leave a gap and start next question

25. MCQs MCQ exams - require accurate knowledge
Revise using flash cards - think vocabulary,
terms, concepts, definitions.
Read instructions carefully
Answer the questions you know first, mark the ones you are fairly sure of and go back to them
Cover the options, read the question and try to answer
Know time per question

26. MCQs Answering difficult questions
Eliminate answers you know to be incorrect
Check the answer fits grammatically with question
Watch out for double negatives
Always guess if there is no penalty
Don’t guess if there is negative marking

27. MCQs e.g. Introduction to Marketing
Which of the following is not a part of the communication process model?
Feedback
Chaos
Noise
Receiver
Source
Watch out for negatives

28. Short Answer strategy Analyse and interpret question
Think in your own words
Use key words, ideas, concepts
Be concise - stick to point
Answer all parts of the question

29. Short questions e.g. Web Design
Explain what is meant by the following terms, and state why each is used (9 marks)
SFPT
HTTP
SMTP
Routers, hubs, gateways and repeaters play an important role in transmitting data all over the world. Explain what each of these devices is, and what they’re used for. (8 marks)
Remembering the IP address of a webpage can be difficult for users. What system has been developed to provide an easier mechanism for users to open a page in their browsers? Briefly explain how this system works. (8 marks)

30. Final preparation
It’s the night before an essay-based exam. What are the final materials you would like to have ready to look over before the exam the next day?

31. Visualisation
Imagine you are in the exam hall, completing the exam. Re-create the conditions – do a mock exam in a similar environment

32. Further resources

33. Steps to success
Prepare your topics
Revise wisely
Self care
Exam preparation

34. References
Skills4Study Campus Exam skills [Online]. Available from: [Accessed 28 August 2014].