1. Exam Strategies
Student Learning

4. Exam concerns
What are your concerns about exams? What do you need to know?
Use flipchart to write down people’s perceptions about the challenges in essay-based exams, MCQs and short answer questions

5. Steps to success Prioritise Revise wisely Anticipate
Maximise performance

6. 1. Prioritise
e.g. social psychology
Module Specifications

7. Topics
e.g. social psychology

8. Reading List

9. Past Papers
Social psych 2013

10. Revision plan

11. 2. Revise wisely Study Timetable time mon tues wed thurs fri sat sun
9.00
10.00
11.00
12.00

12. Study timetable Monday 9.30am – 11.00am Session 1 11.00am – 11.30am
Break (walk)
11.30am – 1.00pm
12 noon
Session 2
1.00pm – 2.00pm
Lunch
2.00pm – 3.30pm
Session 3
3.30pm – 3.45pm
Break
3.45pm – 5.15pm
Session 4
Evening Free
Total Hours 6

13. Encoding information Brainstorm
What learning techniques have worked best for you in the past?
Now let’s collate these ideas as a group.

14. Recall better than recitation
Don’t just read over notes!
Summarise!
Test yourself!
Cohen, Kim, Tan and Winkelmas (2013): students who completed a task requiring them to restructure their notes and submit a summary of them achieved on average 11 percentage points higher in the module examination
that’s one whole grade!!

15. Combine a mixture of memory strategies
Look at it
Repeat it with rhythm
Write it
Number it
Give it a shape
Turn it into
a diagram
Say it aloud + record
Video it
Draw it
Colour it
Act it out

16. 3. Anticipate

17. Time management Check the time Check the instructions
Beware of question choices and time division

18. Essay-based exams
Question 7 The period between 1965 and the publication of the White Paper: Charting our Education Future (1995) witnessed significant developments in the provision of post-primary schooling in Ireland. Critically assess the impact of three of these.

19. Essay structure 10% word count Ref 1 Ref 2 Intro Key point 1
Conclusion

20. Beware double negatives
MCQs
When products [destined to be sold in an international market] are [re-imported back into the home market] and [sold through unauthorised channels at lower levels than recommended by the producer], this practice is known as
Price deflation
Parallel importing
Trade-off
Price escalation
Discount importing
Beware double negatives
Know time per question

21. 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

22. 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)

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

24. 4. Maximise performance

25. Smart Food Plan Breakfast
Wholegrain cereal with milk, fresh orange juice or
Bowl of porridge with sultanas or
Wholemeal toast with chopped banana or
Full Breakfast with sausages, bacon, egg and toast (Grilled)
If you are too nervous to eat a full breakfast, blend a banana, apple, pear, cranberry juice and yogurt to make a smoothie.
Lunch
Vegetable soup with wholemeal scone/ bread or
Chicken/ham/egg sandwich or
Chicken and pasta meal with a sauce or
Tuna/pasta salad with wholemeal bread
2 glasses of water

26. Remain calm Do your best question first
Leave awkward question til last
Quick brainstorm to get going
Breathing exercise
Meditation podcasts:
Do a simple breathing exercise with the group. Everyone rates themselves from 1-10 on how stressed they currently feel. Keep the number to themselves. Now do breathing. Eyes closed or fixed on a spot on the ground. Hands on lap, back straight. Breath in/out, in/out a few times then breath in for 3, out for 4, in for 4, out for 5, in for 5, out for 6, in for 6, out for 7. Now everyone rate themselves on stress levels and see if feeling more relaxed.

27. During the exam
Read the entire paper first
Time management
Answer the correct number of questions
Number each question
Analyse questions

28. Further resources

29. Steps to success
Prioritise
Revise wisely
Anticipate
Maximise Performance

30. References
DCU Examination papers [Online]. Available from: [Accessed 28 August 2014].
Skills4Study Campus Exam skills [Online]. Available from: [Accessed 28 August 2014].