If you’re about to start revising for examinations, you’ll want to remember everything you need to get top marks. Here’s what to do ;
- Obtain the course syllabus from your tutor, and study it. Fact; the majority of students sitting for examinations never read whole syllabus. Results; they cannot revise properly. Tip; internal examinations set and marked by the technikon , universities or colleges do not have formal syllabus. Wise; use topic and sub-topic headings from lectures notes and handouts to build up the full picture.
- Take a sheet of paper for each subject and list the principal topics and sub-topics in columns down the page. Next; use your own symbol system to indicate the amount of ‘interest’ ‘knowledge /understanding’ ‘ease / difficulty of learning’ and ‘importance’ of each. Example; ‘iii’ very interested, ‘ii’ quite interested, ‘I’ not interested.
- Establish your priorities. Beginning; topics with positive symbols for both ‘interest’ and ‘knowledge/understanding’ are a good starting point, as learning these will be the easiest; thus boosting your confidence. Have a trial period of one week to make sure your schedule feels right for you. Then; mix in more topics with negative symbols as your confidence grows. Important; vary subjects and topics to keep your interest going – it’s your enthusiasm that will carry you through.
- Spot the likely examination questions. Internal; pay attention to topics that have been emphasized by the tutor and set during the course. External; in many papers , a core of topics will appear with some variation from year to year. Typical; one topic will be included three or four times in a five-year period.
- Tackle various questions on the same topic- you’ll improve your flexibility and readiness. How; list past exams questions, grouping them by type and emphasis. Add ; any related question raised during the course; plus others you can think of. Tip; check to see which questions occur most frequently on past papers. Try to identify that ‘banker’ question.
- Streamline your course notes. Original; class and book notes, handouts, assignments essays. Cut; to ‘key word revision cards’- brief outline notes written onto postcards. Aim; to use the minimum numbers of words necessary to highlight the key points of a subject. And; ‘spider diagrams’- a visually creative way of remembering important points. How; draw a circle (the spider’s body) in the middle of a page with the topic name written inside it. Add lines (the spider’s legs) highlighting one key points per line. Useful; these can be reproduced quickly at the start of an examination.
- Set clear and specific revision targets and timescale. Bad; ‘I must do it.’ Good; ‘I must do it by the last day of this month.’ Revise tasks that are sufficiently demanding. Verify your success in learning a topic by testing yourself. Example; write an essay under examination conditions- then mark it. Useful; many examinations boards sell past papers and marking schemes. Generate a feeling of accomplishment after learning a topic. It raises your interest and enthusiasm. Personal example; record your revision tasks in pencil on a large sheet of white card and rub them out as and when completed.
No comments:
Post a Comment