Testing Times – How to Beat Stress During Exams

Sarah Scrafford has very kindly submitted this post to Brain Milk to discuss how to control that exam beast, stress. Thanks very much Sarah; here you go ladies and gents:

No matter how many lessons you take, how much advice you receive, and how well you’ve studied, stress and exams are a pair that go hand in hand. One is never seen without the other. While a small amount of tension is needed to boost your adrenaline and make you want to do your best, you have to be careful of letting panic take over and making a mess of all the good work you’ve done over the year. So if you’re looking for ways to stay calm and collected when you’re preparing for or writing an exam, here’s what you need to do:

Study throughout the year: No amount of cramming a week or even a month before the exams will prepare you as well as a slow but steady process of studying throughout the year. Most of us have the tendency to study only when exam dates loom large, but if we were to adopt a routine of setting our own test schedules as and when each lesson is completed, you’ll find that preparing for your finals at the end of a term is a breeze.

Understand your lectures: If you don’t understand what you’re supposed to learn, you’re facing an uphill climb when you attempt to recollect the answers during an exam. Take the time to understand your lectures much before the exams. The ideal time would be a few days after your lecture’s over, the one that went over your head and seemed more of Greek and Latin to you. Seek the help of your classmates or your professors, much before your exams are due.

Set time limits: Whether you’re preparing for or writing your exams, you need to set time limits for finishing each portion. Set schedules for revising your topics, and when writing your exams, try and finish each question in the time you’ve set to answer it. This kind of forward planning helps you eliminate last-minute jitters and panic cramming (or writing), factors that don’t help your scores in the least.

Do things in the right order: You need to read the questions properly before you attempt to answer them and understand them properly. If you rush through your paper, there’s a high probability that you’re going to mix up your answers. When you think you don’t know an answer, take time to compose yourself and think back to your revision without freaking out. Panic is your worst enemy when you’re looking to score good marks.

Don’t discuss your answers: It’s not wise to rehash your exam and go over it question by question once you’re outside. If you realize that you’ve made a mistake, it’s going to weigh heavily on your mind and ruin your preparation for the next exam too. You can’t do anything about the answer you got wrong, but you certainly can avoid the stress of knowing you were wrong. So just focus on preparing for the next exam at hand, or if it’s your last paper, on relaxing and letting your hair down.

This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of radiography technician schools. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

What to do this week?

chunyang @ Flickr

Exams are suddenly no longer just around the corner. Nerves are creeping in; you lot are (anxiolytically?) checking the blog more often per day than you were this time last week. As people feel time pinching up, the questions have taken on a common theme: how to use it most effectively in the coming days.

My answer to these questions is this:

1) Pace yourself - There is a temptation to up the pace now the hours are getting tighter, to pack more in to each one and to work more of them. This is fine but don't lose sight of the reason for all this work - the exams. If you are not fresh (fed and rested) for them all that hard work is pointless.

2) Learn by plans - If you were told to commit to memory all the characters in The Godfather films, how they relate to one another and their individual journeys through the plot, which would be better technique: learning them off a list or watching the films? I think the films, which is why I am a fan of learning references by planning essays; the arguments become the important bits and the refs are easily picked up collaterally. So, instead of just writing out references again and again blend them into arguments. The nice thing about this is that if references are absorbed in context, when it comes to wringing them out all the related references drip out too. In cognitive speak, one reference can act as a cue to activate the others, and before you know it you have a paragraph in the exam.

3) Get social - Get out of the cubicle and chat. This is good because it forces you to test your knowledge without the crutches of your notes, thus sweeping away the self-deception that is so rife with individual study. For some reason, it is also a whole lot easier to learn those references by chatting them over.

Watch something

kevinsteele @ Flickr
Don't resign your TV to the bin during revision: it's probably good for you.

I am a little bit addicted to shows and spent way too much time watching them during revision. You may think it is very weird advice to promote this activity during what are your most important exams to date. Surely you should be working? Well, all work and no play makes Jack more than a dull boy: it makes him lose the rag. Many of you will have left it a tiny bit too late and be slogging it - or will be soon. Slogging it is fine but working every second of the day is counter-productive because when you stretch quantity across the day quality gets thinner.

Punctuating your revision with entertainment means you work fewer, better hours. It gives you something to work to - nothing like dangling a carrot for yourself - and it stops you going revision crazy. Well, that was my justification anyway. Here are a few series that you might like to get into - allowing yourself only one, oh go on, two episodes a day. Seriously, self-control required. Shows are linked to streaming content where possible.

Comedy
Scrubs
Friends
South Park
The Simpsons
Alan Partridge
Family Guy
American Dad
Green Wing
The Mighty Boosh,
The US The Office (different to ours but still great)
Trailer Park Boys
Arrested Development (this is one of the sharpest shows ever written; I can't find it online though)
Peep Show
Thick of It

Action
24
Prison Break
Rome
Lost

Drama
Nip/Tuck
Greys Anatomy
House
Six Feet Under
Carnivale
Brothers and Sisters
Dirty, Sexy Money
Entourage
Californication (only for the prurient though)
Dexter
The L-Word

and a whole lot more.

Soul balm

I have blogged about listening to music during revision here. The headline: don't do it.

But for when you're not revising and feel like relaxing, I have created tag-mashup playlist (basically, automatically selected songs based on descriptions) of hopefully emollient music that you can stream from the 'music cloud', courtesy of the great LastFM. I haven't listened to each song, so no judging me! It's now over there on the side now, underneath the book store >>>

There are about 150 tracks in there at the mo, which the widget wont show. It plays a shuffled selection from this. Refresh the page to re-shuffle. If you would like a track added, just write who it's by and what it's called in the comments and I'll add it.