Examitis

Hopefully you've all recovered from the grueling three hour exam - well for the half dozen who managed the entire time. It was good to see so many hang in there for so long though. Most of you will be preparing for your next exam so it will be the weekend before you get a chance to check out the exam and ask yourself where you could have done better.

Now is not the time to become agitated about how badly you think you might have done. Better to look ahead to how you can improve both your knowledge and your practice.

KNOWLEDGE.

Lets face it its almost impossible to become an expert in everything that happened between 1800 and 1900 in New Zealand. Already most of you have chosen a period to emphasise, but are you studying smart?

Preparation is the answer. Careful preparation is the key. Think about what you did in the lead up to this exam, what did you study? Almost no-one took away their write-on Notes...

1. Did you look at the lists of essay questions in your booklet?
2. Did you look at the list of essays you got from me last week?
3. Did you compare what was asked for in each question and what might have been used to answer the questions?
4. Did you look for commonalities in these questions and their answers?
5. Did you consider the generalisations that might have helped you?
6. Did you look at the essay format of the 2004-5 papers?
7. Did you ask questions of other students?
8. Did you ask ME questions?
9. When are you going to start revising for the end of the year - about 7 weeks away?
   

PRACTICE.

1. How did you prepare for the exam?
2. How many hours did you put in?
3. How and where did you study?
4. Did you get plenty of sleep?
5. Did you organise a study group?
6. Did you eat properly beforehand?
7. Did you bring the right equipment?
8. Did you read the questions?
9. Did you have a plan about which parts you would do?
10. Did you stick to a time plan?
11. Did you check your answers - spelling and grammar especially.
12. Did you slip any cash into your answer booklet?

Cheers.