Cannot retain revision. Stress!

MrsAtobe

I used to revise a particular subject to a specific band that I like - luckily I have catholic taste in music. All I had to do was start the tracks playing in my head when I got into the exams. I can still remember certain parts of my Physics course when I hear the Stranglers

Apologies to the people who had to sit behind me and watch me nod my head to the silent soundtrack, while trying to concentrate.

meritaten

been there - cramming the night before doesn't work for most people. you learned this stuff and the information is stored in your brain - revision is to 'remind' you of what you already know. Its there hun - trust it! and the brain works best when the body is relaxed - not tense or 'panicking'. next exam, DONT revise the night before. that is the time to relax and ensure you get a good nights sleep.
I don't mean go out clubbing and get hammered, but to pamper yourself and really relax - a well rested person does best the next day.
on the day of the exam ensure you get there in good time, but not too early. take the time while the invigilator is explaining the 'rules' to consciously relax your body and to focus. read the paper carefully and ensure that it all seems to be present and correct. I failed an exam because I didn't realise I should have had another page - I thought there was only one page and my horror on people saying there was two, I rushed back in but it was too late, I was told I should have checked when the exam began! I thought there was a very generous amount of time!!!!!!!!
do the easiest question first - you can pick up marks on something you know well. leave the hardest til last. make sure you clearly mark which question you are answering on your answer paper - I used to write the question as well as the number - it helped me to focus on what the question was really asking.
If there is a problem during the exam - (building works next door distracting you for eg) make sure the invigilator has noted that for the markers.
finally - trust yourself! if you got good marks during the year - then your mind KNOWS the subject.

marywooyeah

Op hope your exam went well, exam stress is the worst!

In future are you are able to get hold of past exam papers? My uni used to release the actual papers from previous years and I found it helpful to work out how to structure the answers, a lot of topics can have a good model structure that can be used faily universally. It also depends what you study I suppose, are you at college or uni? X

Georgiegirl256

MrsAtobe wrote: »

I used to revise a particular subject to a specific band that I like - luckily I have catholic taste in music. All I had to do was start the tracks playing in my head when I got into the exams. I can still remember certain parts of my Physics course when I hear the Stranglers

Apologies to the people who had to sit behind me and watch me nod my head to the silent soundtrack, while trying to concentrate.

I used to revise with music on too. I found I couldn't concentrate if the room was quiet, but if I had background noise it helped. I guess not many people would agree though, given my music of choice is heavy rock! :rotfl:

Luckylucy

Hiya,

Exam was a disaster! I left after about 90 mins as I was worried I was disturbing other people with my stress twitching. I ended up writing 4 paragraphs that were completely incoherent.

The questions were easy enough could I have had notes/open book but I just couldn't formulate answers to them from my mind alone. I think really in hindsight I should have skipped the first Q and gone onto the 2nd because by the time I gave up on the 1st I'd forgotten everything from revision about it.

I really struggle to expand on answers that in my mind have very short answers.

The question I really struggled on was something along the lines of can someone be a good manager but a poor leader?

I can't really see how to expand an answer on that beyond a sentence or two. Obviously you can as everyone else managed! But I just can't get my head round it!

Person_one

Have you been going to all your lectures and seminars, be honest!

RobotsinDisguse

Hi luckylucy,

I'm sorry to hear it went as you feared.

I know that feeling of "mind blank, simple answer will do it but that's no what's wanted, want to leave now". I'm dyslexic and got through school and uni ok, by finding what worked for me... Sadly by trying All of the great ideas given above!

- I'd rewrite and condense the handouts, my class notes etc. I'd colour code/highlight the original notes and reduce them to the main points & good argumentative points. So a whole subject would end up on 1 notecard. Easy to glance over, only having to remember half a dozen prompts as "triggers", not whole paragraphs or sections.

- then on opening up the exam paper I'd check the topic of the question, mark off the top 1/3 of the answer sheet and write 'brainstorm' or 'mind map' at the top. I'd then start noting down anything I could think of that was relevant to the answer. Sometimes it came out with a beginning, middle, end, and Sometimes I just ended up recreating my notecard!! Usually it was disjointed ideas, I'd connect then with lines and start writing them out below in the answer section.
Yes this is long-winded if you don't need to do it. But I did. It let me 'see my notes' and 'see where my answer was going'. AND if I did run out of time I'd indicate my opening mind map and pick up a few extra points.

Just something to think about. You'll find your way. And there are always people on campus/at college who are paid to help you find what works for you.

springdreams

Sorry the exam did not go well OP.

Is this the first exam you have sat?

Were you not taught exam technique?

You need to spend around 10 minutes reading the whole paper.

Make notes of things you think of relating to the question on the paper as you are reading. This will help you plan your answer later (see below).

Next, work out how much time you should be spending on each question based on number of marks and amount of time, less the 10 minutes for reading all the questions.

Then select the questions you can answer quickest, and do those.

Once the time you have allocated to a question has run out, leave it and move onto the next question you feel most comfortable with.

Start each question with a basic plan, which should consist of bullet points outlining any important information you can recall that is relevant to the question, and which you will use to answer the question. You should get points for these, even if they are not set out in the style requested (e.g. a letter or memo).

If you start running out of time, just do the basic plan for each of the required number of questions you have to answer, as you should gain some points for these.

As others have said, review past papers if these are available. These will firstly help you spot any questions that are asked year after year, so you can revise that subject matter, and will also give you an idea of how questions are asked and often come with suggested answers or examiners comments.

RobotsinDisguse

Luckylucy wrote: »

The question I really struggled on was something along the lines of can someone be a good manager but a poor leader?
it!

Yes, frequently.
Managers work with the detail, they plan how to get things done. Leaders might be good at that, but they are the leader because they inspire confidence in others. They help others find their way to completing the task.

*yeah, that's difficult!:rotfl:

Luckylucy

RobotsinDisguse wrote: »

Yes, frequently.
Managers work with the detail, they plan how to get things done. Leaders might be good at that, but they are the leader because they inspire confidence in others. They help others find their way to completing the task.

*yeah, that's difficult!:rotfl:

Yes perhaps but that isn't an answer worth 50 marks is it? An answer like that is easy enough for anyone. Where I struggled was backing it up with evidence from theories and case studies because I couldn't recall them.

I have used all the revision techniques above, condensing making mnemonics, listening to specific music even trying to relate names and dates etc to more memorable things. I used images in my notes aswell such as the head for the inner life theory or whatever its called and Maslow's Hierarchy of needs triangle.

I love colour. I learn better from linear notes but also use box charts, mind maps, brain storming, reciting etc, revision cards.

This is our first university exam, I had 3 exams at diploma level one was a recall one which I scraped a level two pass in and one was an open book which I got a level 3 Distinction. The last we were allowed to take in 3 lines of notes and I got a level 3 Merit in that one. So there is a huge gap between where I am at with and without notes in front of me.

I answered the previous answer paper but again I couldn't do it from recall with nothing in front of me.

TBH, I couldn't tell you what I gave my daughter for breakfast this morning or got her dressed in. Even though I only saw her 30 mins ago!