Coping with Exams Introduction If your course in College involves examinations, this can be a really stressful time for you. Some students cope well with exams, others do not. Like coursework exams are there to help you demonstrate what you have learned and how well you have understood the course material. Most exam questions take a similar format to those assignments already discussed and will tend to resemble ones you completed for coursework. In this section we look at how to cope with: Exam stress How to prepare for exams How to organise yourself in an exam. Coping with Exam Stress Some students find that a little stress can help concentrate their mind and keep focussed. There are even people who don t function well in tests without some stress. Too much stress however can make you feel ill and vastly reduce your performance in exams. It is important to know when you are stressed and what to do about it. If you find yourself losing a lot of sleep, feeling tired and irritable all the time, feeling sick and unwell, have a racing heart rate, it s time to take action. Here are a few ideas to help you cope. Get plenty of sleep! Exams are not a great time to relax by going out clubbing, staying up all night gaming or maxing up on energy drinks. While some of these may de-stress you, sleep deprivation won t help your performance or final grade. By all means de-stress for a short while before bed but not all night! 1
Remember to eat properly! This isn t easy if you feel sick but try to make sure that you eat a healthy well balanced diet and avoid too much coffee or energy drinks. Like playing sports, examinations take their toll on your body. Make sure you hydrate well and eat sensibly. Try not to skip breakfast on the morning of an exam. If you are healthy and properly fed, you (and your brain) will perform better. Get plenty of exercise. Exercise whether it is yoga, running, swimming or playing sports will help you to de-stress naturally, promote better sleep patterns and keep you healthier. If you are fit and healthy, your brain will perform better and you are better equipped to cope with stress. Find a revision routine that works for you. Revising helps to remind you of all that important stuff you did towards the beginning of the year but you only half remember now. There are many ways to revise. Try to match your revision style to your preferred learning method. If you learn by listening to others reading your notes aloud may help for you. If you re a visual learner try to create pictures and diagrams from your revision notes. If you learn by doing you may need to recreate some practical activities to help fix ideas or knowledge in place. If you are an IT student for example try recreating a spreadsheet using formatting tools you need to know about. Try not to compare notes with others. This may be tempting, it is very lonely revising on your own. Talking too much to others though may lead to you stressing because you feel they know more than you or are getting ahead. That sort of stress isn t helpful. Give yourself rewards. Some students find it useful to break up their revising into small chunks and give themselves a reward (a short break, 10 minutes on a game/facebook, a treat etc.) Breaking your revision up into stages will make it more effective too. Be warned however, to use this sort of approach you need to plan ahead and structure your revision: If you leave everything until the last minute there will be no time for breaks or rewards. 2
And finally Keep things balanced and in perspective. Yes it is important at this time to but leisure activities to one side so that you can get the best grades but don t take this to the extreme. There is more to life than exams and coursework. You should not need to jeopardise your health, well-being and important relationships to pass exams. If you relieve the stress you may well do better than you think through not being too nervous in the exam itself. Preparing for Exams There are many websites offering advice on this topic. Some are more useful than others. Do some research for ideas by all means but don t devote more time to planning revision than actually doing it! Some students plan elaborate timetables for themselves only to find they can t keep to them! Here are some tried and tested tips that work. Avoid long periods of revision in one go. Two 20 minute stints, each followed by a 10 minute break is likely to be more effective than 1 hour s solid revision. Keep revision timetables simple and realistic. Don t over estimate what you can do in one session. Factor in reward breaks and time to chill and rest too. Try Study and Revision Guides. These are available for some subjects. They tend to be good for highlighting the key facts to revise, giving sample questions as well as telling what the examiners are looking for. Always do practice testing! You ve revised that section, now practise giving a little presentation in front of a mirror on it or try a question from a past paper. If you think this is silly and pointless, think again. Many students find that if they learn and then immediately have to re-explain it to others, remember better. If you do answer questions from past papers always allow yourself 3
the same amount of time as you would get in the exam. Test yourself. If you have formulae or important facts to remember and memorise ask someone to test you to see if you remember. This can be your Mum, a friend or anyone, just preferably not another student. Revising with a fellow student CAN work but it can also involve worrying comparisons about variation in your knowledge. Organising yourself in an exam Once you are in the exam there are a number of things you can do to help yourself perform better. Here are some key pointers. 4 1. Read through the whole paper, carefully, first! Look at which questions carry the most marks. Work out roughly how long you can afford to spend on each question. Give the most time to questions which carry the highest marks 2. Feel free to make notes and jot down workings out. Everything you submit will be considered when marking. Workings out can show stages in answering a question or the correct method. Marks can be given for a correct and systematic approach even if you get the final answer wrong. 3. Write as clearly and legibly as you can. You will lose marks if the examiner can t make out what you have written. 4. Read each question VERY carefully. Look out for options. Beware of questions that require you to answer either A B or C: Do not answer them all! Underline keywords in the questions If a question carries 5 marks, try to find 5 key points to include in your answer
Do not leave multiple choice questions empty. If in doubt make an intelligent guess. Make sure you attempt all the compulsory questions. Even a brief answer will attract a few basic marks whereas no answer will gain you nothing. 5. If you finish early.. Do not leave the exam room. Continue to check and re-check your answers. Use any leftover time to proofread, check spellings and to see if you have left anything out. 5