Exam Countdown

S is for Success, S is also for…

START!

It may sound glaringly obvious but if you haven’t started revising … then there is NO TIME like the present! It is never too late. If you don’t know where to start go back to basics. Start with the content of each examinable subject. Ask yourself: What is it I need to know? Your teachers may have already provided you with a form of syllabus. If not, obtain one for each subject. The syllabus will help you frame the content of each subject. What are the units, topics and sub-topics? What is the specific content within the sub-topics that I need to know?

It may help to map this content. This will give you an overview of the subject and allow you to see where topics fit in and with each other. Syllabus snapshots are available as free downloads on our website: www. amazingbrains.co.uk/syllabus-snapshots

Your next step is to gather together all the class notes, textbooks and materials you need for each subject. If you’re missing something then speak to your teacher about accessing that material. Next, organise your notes into different coloured files. Divide up units and topics using file dividers.

Organising and structuring your notes in this way should help you feel a sense of control.

When preparing your study planner make sure you allow time to cover all content. Check your planner tasks against your syllabus and teacher revision lists.  Then, get cracking – choose your first subject, unit and topic and begin the process of condensing material into bite-sized, memorable notes.

S is for STRIVE

Commit to the process and challenge yourself to be your personal best over the next 8 weeks. A little bit of pressure can be good for performance but too much can spill over and cause stress. Be careful. Set yourself some realistic target grades. These don’t have to be school predicted grades – they can be your own personal targets!! Are you sitting on a ‘C’ for a subject but know that with extra work and focus you could get to a ‘B’? If so set yourself a B grade target for that subject. Be realistic. If you achieved a D grade in one of your mocks three weeks ago, and are just beginning to revise now, then it is unlikely that you will achieve a Grade A. However, you may be able to jump up a grade or maybe even two!

S is for SPACE

By space we mean both physical space – the place you study and psychological space – giving yourself permission to take some downtime.

Physical Space

The ‘place’ you revise is crucial to your ability to concentrate, be relaxed and engaged in the individual sense-making activity that is studying.

That space may involve a desk and chair, a study wall, a bean bag – only you will know what works best. The important thing is that it is a relatively quiet space (particularly if you are engaging in revision of complex concepts) and it has no distractions.

With the best will in the world, it is near impossible to ignore phone notifications that are ‘pinging’ in the background as you work. For a start you are likely to think “I’d better check, in case it is something important, or in case I am missing out on something!!’ If you want to maximise productivity, then remove the phone from the study space. This requires discipline – but it will be worth it!

A common question we are asked by students is – “should I be listening to music when studying?” There is much contradictory research on this topic. Our advice is this. If you tend to listen to music then test whether or not it is of actual benefit to you as an individual. Try studying with and without the music and, then at a later stage of your revision session, test yourself by recalling what you have learnt. Be honest about the results!

Last thing – if you enjoy studying in your bedroom (and you are being productive) then by all means continue to do so. However, think also about other options for a study space – another room in the house, the local library or school (many schools offer after school study). Your bedroom can then become your sanctuary – somewhere for headspace.

Psychological Space

Speaking of headspace – give yourself permission to breathe and relax. Your body and mind will reward you for it in the long term: provided of course that you aren’t spending 90% of your time relaxing and 10% studying!! Maintaining a balance of work, rest, sleep and exercise is crucial to exam success.

S is for STRATEGY

Stick to the evidence in terms of study strategies.

·      Space out your revision and work in small manageable chunks (30-45 mins at a time).

·      Test yourself as you go and revisit material on 4 or 5 occasions (time permitting).

·      Try to retrieve from memory (on a blank sheet) the material you have been revising.

·      Generate questions from your revision notes and ask a family member to question you.

·      Teach friends or peers what you are learning.

·      Interleave topics – mix them up for more effortful learning.

·      Dual code your revision notes by using words and graphics.

Remember re-reading is only effective if it is used in conjunction with retrieval practice. Re-reading can give us a false sense of security. We recognise the information and so think we know it. This is fine if you are sitting a series of multiple choice tests! However, the acid test of whether or not we really know something is being able to recall it from memory without the aid of notes or textbooks.

S is for SUPPORT

Exam time can be stressful for some students so it’s really important to try to keep a sense of perspective. You can only do your best and no one expects more than that. You may feel lonely at times but remember you are never alone. There are teachers, friends and family members there to support you. Don’t be afraid to share your concerns.

Whatever happens on results day – it’s not the end of the world, it is just one moment in time, one part of your education journey! GOOD LUCK!

 

Roisin McFeely is Founder and Director of Amazing Brains, a Social Enterprise that works with 50,000 young people every year to help them develop the mindset and study skills to succeed in exams. She holds an M.Ed with Distinction from QUB and her research on Examining Students’ Views Of Intelligence And The Link To Motivation To Learn was shortlisted for a British Educational Research Association award. She is also a former international athlete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Study Strategy: Spaced Practice

We’ve all done it in the run up to exams… in fact when most of us were at school there didn’t seem to be an alternative option. That thing was of course CRAMMING!

Everything you had learnt in the previous 3, 6 or 9 months was crammed into your head, over a finite period of time, in the hope that it all remained in short term memory until the exam paper was set out in front of you – then bingo – it would all come flowing out majestically!

In those days we didn’t know an awful lot about the science of learning, about the importance of consistently reviewing information in order to transfer it to long-term memory or about the difference between recognising material and being able to recall it. We just got used to the cram mentality – I even remember a friend of mine taking caffeine drugs to keep them awake for an ‘all night’ study session.

 The Science Bit

Thankfully the science has progressed and we now have concrete evidence of the benefits spacing out revision over time has over cramming. In the science of learning we call this debate ‘spaced practice v massed practice.’ Although, really there isn’t much of a debate. The evidence is conclusive – spaced practice (or the spacing effect) improves recall in almost all circumstances.

The concept of spacing has its roots in the late 1800s psychology and in the work of Ebbinghaus.

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

In 1885 German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted, at the time, what was landmark research – he found that there is an exponential loss in the ability to recall information over time unless it is consistently reviewed. In other words, if we don’t review material we will forget it. Even though this might sound like common sense to most of us, for some reason we don’t always seem to help our young people apply this principle to their learning – and in particular to preparation for exams.

The forgetting curve appears simplistic but the principle behind it has, since the Ebbinghaus era, been well established in the literature.

We begin to forget almost immediately after the learning of new material. The more we review (at spaced intervals) the higher our chance of being able to recall the same information.

Spaced Practice in practice

When working with students I sometimes use the analogy of sport when talking about concepts like spaced practice.

For example, let’s say your child learns a new turn in football – the Cruyff turn. They learn the skill at training and plan to use it in the cup final in 3 months

Would they:

1. Learn the turn, practice it that night, forget about it until the night before the final and then stay up through the night trying to remember how to do it (whilst getting very little sleep).
2. Learn the turn, consistently practice it and by the time the final comes be proficient in how to do it.

Imagine these two scenarios – how do you think your child would perform on cup final day?

Now take that to a learning scenario – they are learning new concepts every day and often not revisiting them until it comes to the cup final – otherwise known as the exams!!

The reason spaced practice is so effective as a technique is that it provides us with a framework for ensuring material is transferred from short to long-term memory. When it’s in long-term memory we can dip in and retrieve it whenever we need – in this case, that time is during exams.

Ideally, spaced practice shouldn’t just begin when students approach exam time. To benefit fully from the spacing effect students should develop a ‘spaced planner’ immediately after learning, planning out, revisiting/reviewing/practicing the same topics at spaced intervals.

However, not all students will do this and to be fair many may not even know how effective this strategy actually is, never mind how to practically apply it.

As long as they begin the revision process early then there can still be enough time to ensure a number of reviews of the same material – thus enabling the transfer of knowledge and understanding to long-term memory. Of course there is a last resort – if your child has not completed any revision in the lead up to the exams then by all means tell them to cram!! Something is better than nothing.

The reality is – cramming causes exam stress and a feeling of ‘loss of control.’ Spacing creates calm and a feeling of being in control. Think back to you last set of exams – which of those feelings would you have preferred?

Roisin McFeely is Founder and Director of Amazing Brains, a Social Enterprise that works with 50,000 young people every year to help them develop the mindset and study skills to succeed in exams. She holds an M.Ed with Distinction from QUB and her research on Examining Students’ Views Of Intelligence And The Link To Motivation To Learn was shortlisted for a British Educational Research Association award. She is also a former international athlete.