Preview of: LDT101_1

Do you feel that sometimes you don't do yourself justice in exams? Perhaps you've never taken an exam and are wondering how to prepare yourself. It may have been a long time since you took an exam, and...

Most likely, you are reading this unit because you feel unsure about your ability to do yourself justice in exams. You may never have taken an exam and are wondering how to prepare yourself. It may have...

2: Identifying key concerns

Each one of us has a different set of concerns about preparing for and taking exams. It is worth spending a little time reflecting on these concerns and identifying what your individual needs are, in order...

3: Revision

Revision is not, as the word suggests, simply 'looking again' at the material covered in a course - it is a more active task. It involves organising material and finding ways of remembering it, that suit...

As a first step, it is a good idea to find out as much as you can about the exam paper for your course. Find out how your exam paper is set out, the way the questions are organised, and what weight each...

You will need to gather all your course material and lecture notes together, and organise them properly. Your course material or texts should contain an overview of your course. Keep this to hand, as it...

In Stage 2, you will have reminded yourself of the scope of the course, and you will also have a sense of the range and breadth of topics you have covered. Now you need to decide what to revise.Stages...

There are no hard and fast rules about when you should start to revise. Some people say you should have a revision strategy set up from the start of a course, typically involving careful and systematic...

Simply reading and re-reading the course materials will take you more time than you can afford, and is not an effective way of learning material for an exam. Adopt what is called an active approach to...

Exams are rarely tests of memory, but much more to do with the selection, presentation and interpretation of materials. When you have understood what you have read, you can think about it and use it. Nonetheless,...

Just like assignment questions, exam questions should be read carefully, because you need to demonstrate in your answer that you have understood the question. Examiners frequently complain that students...

Mathematicians use process words with slightly different meanings, as in Table 3.

It is worth noting the difference between exam answers and assignments. Inevitably, a much lengthier and more polished answer can be produced in an untimed assignment. In the short time available in the...

Multiple-choice questions usually involve you in selecting the right answer from several possible responses. The questions are frequently short, and your answer requires no writing. However, finding the...

Mistakes often happen because students are anxious and pressured for time when preparing for an exam. We suggest that, a week before the exam, you check and make notes along the following lines.The date...

4: The exam itself

When you arrive at the exam centre, you may prefer to stay quietly on your own, rather than chat to other students. Do what suits you best and helps you to feel calm and positive. Once you are in your...

Check the instructions first to make sure that they are what you expected from looking at the specimen paper. Misreading instructions can lose more marks than poor revision!Students often describe feeling...

Using the ideas outlined in Section 3, mark the key words in the question to make sure you identify the topic correctly. Then mark the process words to help you to understand the instructions within the...

5: Managing exam anxiety

You may find that exams provoke levels of anxiety which are highly uncomfortable, and that you do not produce your best work under such pressure. If you tend to be a perfectionist, an exam can be particularly...

Here are three relaxation techniques, which you can use before and during the exam.This is an exercise that can be done during an exam without drawing attention to yourself, or disturbing others.This exercise...

Creating calming pictures or images in your mind, or 'visualising', can really help you to relax.First of all, do some of the relaxation exercises we have described above. Then imagine yourself in this...