Preparing for Exams
Preparing for Examinations
This Exam Prep Document gives a lot of good strategies and tips for being well prepared and reducing stress and anxiety.
Here are some other tips for students.
Make sure you have all necessary course notes.
For each subject, list all sections (topics) you have to cover and decide how well you know each one and whether some are more urgent than others.
Organize the material you have to study into meaningful segments. (The more meaningful it is the easier you will be able to remember it.)
Associate new things you have learned with things that you have learned previously. (The more associations you can make, the better you will remember new material.)
Study actively. Don’t just read the material over and over and hope that it will sink in. Try to understand what you are learning rather than just memorizing it.
Use recitation – it is both effective and versatile.
Avoid interference between your last study session and the exam. Do only a general overview the night before the exam and then get a good night’s sleep.
Use a schedule to organize your study time and stick to it. (Don’t leave things to the last minute or you may find yourself in a panic situation.)
Use mnemonics to aid recall. Mnemonics are a good way to help you recall a list of items (e.g. Use ROY G. BIV to help you remember the colours of the visible spectrum – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
Take breaks when studying. Don’t try to keep concentrating for excessively long periods of time. You will stop taking in information at a certain point. Take time to revive yourself and then start fresh again.