adminFredrick Qaphelani Mabikwa Successful Solutions
The examination period, which will soon be with us, is stressful for most candidates. Some don’t do very well in the exam because of not conducting themselves well during the entire period of the examinations.First I want to discuss the importance of making hay while the sun shines. Don’t say I’ll read when the exam is approaching, this is suicide. That time may never come. Exam preparation starts as much as two months before the exam. If you find yourself reading new information on the eve of the exam, you are gone. Within three days of writing a paper you should not be reading new information.
An exam study timetable is important, though some candidates tend to look down upon it and just study randomly. Make yourself an exam study timetable. Make sure you have allocated equal time to all courses per week. You might want to allocate a bit more time to those courses you find challenging.
Your timetable should allow for group discussions where you meet with classmates for exam discussions. Don’t make your timetable too technical and remove some important aspects of your life like church, sport and exercise. You don’t say “These days I’m not going to church because I’m preparing for exams”. You’re mystifying the whole thing.
Your timetable should cut on recreation. For adult learners, if you were one of those lucky fellows who drink every day, you cannot do this during the exam period. There’s need to sacrifice those times that are really idle times. You cannot watch TV as much as you watch it when not in an exam period. You cannot be on your smart phone as much as you would be when you’re not in an exam period. You can’t sleep like a baby during exam time. There’s need now for that extra mile in your walk. There’s need for self-management. I’ve seen some children expecting their parents to wake them up for study. I’ve seen some spouses expecting their partner to wake them up for study.
Most of us have phones now that have alarms and we should wake up for study without assistance.
During the exam period, avoid studying at home especially during the day. If you’ve an alternative venue for study, move away from home. If you can access a library, go there. If school or college offer study facilities for exam study, you’re better off there. When you study at home, there’s always the temptation to be in the kitchen now and again eating non-stop, this affects study.
There’s that temptation at home to say let me rest for 15 minutes on the bed and you wake up after two hours. I’ve seen people studying in bed. Can you really study effectively in the comfort of the bed?
My O-Level History teacher used to say “When you study in bed all you study goes into the pillow”. Maximum concentration cannot be achieved in bed. I’ve also seen some young people studying to music. Maybe it works, but how can you study with earphones on? Can the brain appreciate the music and acquire study information at the same time? I personally don’t think so.
I’m not teaching people how to study but just noting some habits I’ve seen to be very disruptive to study. When you’re doing the actual reading, you can’t read your material like you’re reading a novel. There is need to take down notes during study. You can make further notes from your notes. There’s also a need to extract the main points as you study and write them somewhere or in the text book in pencil, if it’s a personal copy. The version of the summarised notes is what you scan through the eve before the exam.
There’s this habit of “predicting” what’s coming in the exam. During our high school days, we used to call it “spotting”. Now there’s nothing wrong with this. The only danger is when you choose to ignore whole topics and concentrate on what you’ve predicted is coming.
What if what you’ve predicted is not in the exam? Then it becomes a disaster. Make sure you read everything there’s to be read about for the exam, and then you can allocate a bit more time on your “predications” having read everything. The habit of ignoring whole topics is very dangerous.
There’s also this habit of what I can safely say is “spiritualising exams”. You find during the exam period, someone is spending more time at church praying for the exam than on their studies. Let’s not tempt our good God — he will not suddenly give you information in the exam on things you’ve not read. Continue with your normal religious routines; don’t go to extremes because you’re facing an exam. You see someone going for an all night prayer on the eve of an exam — this is tempting our God.
I alluded to group discussions. This is a very important facet of exam preparation. You’ve to meet with classmates and discuss the past exam papers and other related exam issues. However, avoid those groups which are not serious. There’re groups where there’s more laughing and noise making than constructive discussions. Avoid groups with characters who want to dominate others, characters who look down upon others and think that their ideas are the best. Avoid such groups; they’ll crash your confidence.
Finally I want to say always aim for high grades. The gentleman’s mark, a grade “C” at O-Level and a “D” at A-Level and a “3” at university are passes but not good grades. Because of the stiff competition for college places and employment opportunities, you have to have very good grades to be able to safely compete with others.
The gentleman’s mark is really not encouraged. I used to say to my students during my teaching days “Cs” make your certificate ugly to look at — the shape of the symbol is on the awful side.
As for my adult learners, failing is not an option. You’re taking money from the family budget to go to school. You’ve no choice but to pass — not only a pass but to pass with very good grades so that you lead by example. Imagine when you’ve failed and the children get to know that you failed your exams — this can really destroy your confidence and self-esteem as a parent.
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