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Life at MDX – Tips for surviving and thriving during exam season

  • Friday, 15 April 2022

Exams and final assessment season is just around the corner for many of you. However, this important period of your academic journey doesn’t have to be stressful, especially if you plan and prepare as much as you can in advance!

We spoke to Siobhan McNiff, Learning Disability Counselor and IFP Tutor from the Centre for Academic Success, to get her best tips for surviving and thriving over the next month as you revise. Read on to check out Siobhan’s top five recommendations.

1.     When you’re revising, apply the KODF strategy to prepare for each exam.

KODF stands for Know, Organise, Develop, Follow:

  • Know how many exams you have to take and if you have all the course content you need to start revising. Ask yourself: do you have everything you need, or do you need to do extra research to fill in the gaps in your knowledge?

  • Organise the notes and study materials you already have based on the topics and format of each exam. For example, you could file your notes by topic in a physical binder or note-taking app, depending on if you prefer physical or digital notes.

  • Develop a revision schedule with realistic goals that allows for plenty of breaks. Take into account how much time you have to study and upcoming events that you may have to block time for too.

  • Follow your schedule! Choose your study area, take regular breaks and prioritise your tasks so you don’t get overwhelmed.

2.     Revise actively.

Passive revision includes activities such as reading notes and copying material. Active revision is when you do something with the information that helps you remember it according to your learning style.

Examples of active learning include:

  • Creating a mind map, table, diagram or chart

  • Brainstorming points for and against an argument

  • Creating revision cards or a poster containing key points that you can see easily

  • Forming a study group with your friends to teach each other about the topic

3.     Practice writing under exam conditions.

This will help you familiarise yourself with the format of your exam and help you increase your ability to recall the information you need quickly. Firstly, check what the format of the exam is: will it involve short or long-form answers? A critical essay? Multiple choice questions?

Ask your tutor what you can expect. Then, if there are any available for the module, work through past papers to get an idea of the types of questions asked. You could also try free writing for half an hour to see how much information about the exam topic you can remember.

As you also would in a real exam situation, became familiar with the vocabulary used throughout each paper – such as discuss, critically analyse, etc. – and ensure you have a technique to answer each type of question.

By practising these techniques, you will gradually increase your speed, strengthen your hand, train yourself to focus your thoughts, and identify any weak areas in your knowledge that you need to revise again.

4.     Get a good night’s sleep, take regular breaks, and prepare well on the day of your exam

When you’re tired and stressed, you’re not at your best. Exam time is busy and can create a lot of anxiety – so even if you’ve got lots to do, plan regular breaks and try to get a good night’s sleep each night to keep you healthy and on track for success.

On exam day, gather all the materials you need in plenty of time before you leave, arrive early to the right location, and ensure you listen to the invigilator’s instructions so you don’t miss out on anything important.  If you are doing online exams from home, make sure your internet is working well and your equipment is ready.

When you get into the exam, read it all through first, underline or highlight key words to help you analyse the question better, and plan your approach before you begin to write.

5.     Most importantly – stay calm, you’ve got this! Please reach out for help if you need it.

Don’t struggle alone. Exams are stressful, and we completely understand how you feel! There’s plenty of services at the University that you can reach out to.

For example, you can connect with the Centre for Academic Success team or your tutor if you need support and guidance during this important period. Visit www.mdx.ac.ae/cas for the CAS team’s contact details.

You can also contact the IT Help Desk on [email protected] or +971 (0) 4 367 8126 in case you have technical issues in online exams.

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