exam study techniques

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone....

Ive got to sit an exam in 2 weeks that I missed in the last semester due to breaking my arm, anyways, there is so much material Im struggling.

Ive only ever sat 1 exam in my life (English GCSE) when I was 29ish, I never did my gcse's at school ( i was a real truant at the time) therefore I've never really been taught how to "study" for an exam. When I did my GCSE most of it was course work and I still didnt really study for the exam.

So here I am, I've got a psych exam shortly and no amount of writing, re writing, condensing is making the stuff stay in my head. Im not debating buying a dictaphone, to talk my notes onto then listen to during day and before i go to sleep. Has anyone else done this? Is it worth while? does it work?

Anyone with any tips on helping me remember because Im really stressing and dont know what else to do.

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads/replies

SL x

hbloomers

I think you need to figure out what kind of learner you are... Do you learn best by reading, listening or doing? Then you can tailor your revision to suit you. I've always found it useful to actually get out of the house to revise.. to the library or if its a nice day, to the park. There are (usually) less distractions and during exam times there are other people studying too, so you are more motivated to study.

Make sure you take enough breaks. Perhaps study for 2 hours with small breaks every 20/30 mins, and then a longer break for dinner/a walk afterwards. Give yourself an achievable goal for the day, and then reward yourself if you achieve it

[Deleted User]

Hi hbloomers,

I understand what you mean about what kind of learner I am, I have to say I'mnot entirely sure but I do know I often have things pop into my mind hours after I've studied them.

Unfortunatley, getting out of the house is not an option for me. I am a mature student with 2 children (who are on school hols at the moment) although I am getting study done it is in the eve generally as i dont have a network to people to take the children off my hands.

I am setting myself goals and targets, but I'm also getting stressed becasue when I go back to re write notes, i've already forgotten what I've put.

Im very lucky that my degree is not exam based, and after this I only have 2 and they are both open book exams, or I don't think I could cope.

SL x

littlebird22

I had a dictaphone when I was at school and I really couldn't get on with it. I just couldn't stand the sound of my own voice. Just because this was my experience though doesn't mean that it will be yours. If your computer has a microphone attached then why don't you try recording a little bit and listening to it on there before you decide to go out and buy a dictaphone.

When I was doing exams at school (and now that I am a student teacher I have all my pupils doing this too!) I used to stick notes up all around the house. On the back of the toilet door works well as well as the fridge, bedroom wall etc. Anywhere that you think you will see regularly throughout the day.

littlebird22

Have a look through this old thread, you might find some ideas.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1481937

MrsManda

What is the layout for the exam? Is it essay based, short answer questions, MCQs...?
Get hold of some past exam papers so you know what to expect when you go into the exam. I had a psychology exam last term which was worth 100% of the module and consisted of writing 4 out of 8 essays in 3 hours. Because I had a week between my penultimate exam and this one I left revision until after the pentultimate one.
I revised by looking at what topics we'd covered and what type of essay titles were used in past exams to see if there was any similarities btween the questions.
I then spent the week writing practise essays from my notes. The first few I gave as much time as I needed, then I started doing timed essays as I know I'm not great at doing essays in a set period of time.
It did me well as some of the questions which turned up on the exam were the same as the ones I'd been practising and others were similar so I had a relatively good idea what I wanted to put.
I don't cope very well with learning facts then trying to write them into a coherent form in an exam so learning by writing essays helped me. But like hbloomers says it depends on what type of learner you are and also what the subject is.
Good luck

[Deleted User]

Hi,

littlebird22, never thought of that, I have a very broad northern voice so I may not like to listen to is continuously over the next week and half :-) I have to admit, I stay away from anwer machines for that reason!! but I will def take a look at the link you provided.


Mrsmanda, it's short answer questions and I do know that past papers were provided, but I cant seem to find them so Im going to call uni this morning to find out if they can still be accessed.

I think the main proble, is, my exam being lifespan development, and for each stage there is about 3/4 theores some very easy some (such as Piaget) are very long and split into 6 parts, each part then split again, so all that info, times but the number of theories then but the stages of developement= lots of info. As I have no clue which stage of development or theories Im going to have to write about in the exam means knowing them all very throughly..

Anyways,

Thank you all for your replies, will look at the link provided

SL x

pandora205

Why not make a list of the main stages of development, then list the theories relevant?

Make a second list for each theory, no more than 5 key points, including the vocabulary used. Write bullet points not sentences - these are just triggers for memory.

You could also put these on post its, perhaps even more condensed, and stick them around the house as suggested earlier

If you use a tape (and I have done this in the past and played it back as I was driving), then use it to expand on each theory, so that you remember what the key points mean.

As others have suggested, tackling old exam papers is useful. As your exam is open book, make sure you have the relevant texts and your notes to refer to.

PS If your notes are long winded look for summaries on the net. Other students have been there before: there will be masses of summaries of the work of Piaget, etc. You may find that A level revision guides are useful too. I know that many of the exam boards cover developmental psychology and that students have to learn a number of key studies.

[Deleted User]

Hi Pandora205.

I have already taken advice and put post it notes around my house, just trying to focus on the main stages at the moment rather than overload with too much info, like you suggested.

My psych exam isn't open book, I have 2 law exams which are, so no chance of having relevant txt available. I've also arranged for a pal to come over on Sat night so I can go through some bits with her, see how much I do know.

I WILL pass this exam!

Thank you for your advice :-)

SL x

frostyglow

Just another thought - I always found that talking through a subject is really useful. Even if the other person knows nothing about it/isn't interested in it, just telling someone about it really makes it stick in your mind.

It might also be good to write down some questions related to the subject then get your friend to ask you the questions in a random order and talk through the answer together.

Best of luck!

Bigun28

I seem to remember from my study years some philosophy that said if you hear something you will remember (don't quote me on %) something like 40%, hear it and write it and you'll remember about 50-60%, hear it, write it and read it and you'll remember 70-80%.

So in theory if you hear a lecture, record the notes, read again and then discuss with other students (to hear again), you should do fairly well. Discussion is always helpful because it will also check your understanding.

I know when I did my degrees I used to pin notes up in various key places around the house (bathroom mirror, study wall, kitchen fridge etc) that contained particularly difficult details and facts that I needed to remember. So, just by going to the fridge for something to eat, I sort of subconsciously read my notes pinned there each time and gradually remembered everything I needed to.

Another good tip I learnt was to revise in bite sizable chunks. Revision can be boring, and many people try to do hours of straight slog which is/can be counter productive. I was always told to do revision in 20-30 minute chunks with a 10 minute break. That tends to be the ideology behind most school single lessons being about 30 minutes or so long. After that time, students will just ‘switch off’ if they try to keep continually bombarding them with details and notes.