It has been ages since I posted anything on my blog page.
I am really excited to have started my fourth module LB160 'Communication in business'. I'm really enjoying it so far. Mt tutor group seems friendly and the student forum is lively. I have missed TGF.
I have to say I didn't enjoy my last module DB123 ' personal finance' but I think the reason for this was because it wasn't the module I had originally signed up to and I was hoping to avoid this having to do it. Also because there was a mix up on modules I was 6 weeks behind when I started and I had already missed my first TMA, I felt rushed and thrown in. But all good I achieved high marks in all TMA's and I'm just about to write my EMA, fingers crossed I pass and I can leave this module behind me
I have also enrolled for my 60 credits module that starts in September. I'm dreading that one as there is a written exam involved and I am not good in exam situations. Any tips for then would be much appreciated.
Hope you all have an amazing day.
Happy studying xx
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I was lucky with exams. For the last two years at junior school we did exams at Christmas and June. At secondary school we did the same, exams in all subjects, twice a year. By the time we did O Levels, we had all already done nine lots of exams and in my case 13 lots. Exams are easy when you've had that much practice.
My technique works like this:
The key thing is time management. Spend five minutes at the start of the exam carefully reading the paper, working out which questions to do, whether you feel you'll find them hard or not, and estimating how much time to give to each question based on how many marks each is worth. Allow at least five minutes at the end of the exam to check your work.
For papers with more than one question I actually make a plan of how I will spend my time during the exam:
and I have that on the desk visible all the time. Sometimes I have spent as much as 15 minutes preparing before writing anything.
Don't be shy of writing on the question paper. Mark the questions you will or will not do. Write how many minutes you can afford to spend on it.
Be aware that it is usually not possible to write everything for every question. The idea is to put down relevant material for the question without robbing time from other questions. If you get ahead of yourself, fine. If you still have things to say about a question when you have used up all the time you gave it, leave a big gap and move onto the next question. If you have any time at the end, go back to it. It is more important to spend some time on every question than to answer one question fully.
For essay-style answers, write an essay plan before starting. If you have 40 minutes to write a few hundred words, spending 5 minutes planning the essay will save loads of thinking time later. You can concentrate on getting the words on the page knowing you have already considered the main points and the conclusion.
Don't be shy of making notes on the answer papers. Write NOTES and then put your bullets or mind map or whatever and when finished with, just put a single diagonal line through them. We were told at school that marks can be earned by including a point in one's notes, then forgetting to include it in the answer, but the marker can see you do know your stuff. Whether the OU does that I do not know, but my father — an examiner for a professional body — used to give marks that way.
The five minutes at the end (allow more for long or complex question papers) are not for rewriting answers (I believe there are statistics that suggest one should never change answers in an exam). They are for checking you have answered all the questions you need to answer and then ensuring you did mention the key points for each. Try to think "But have I actually answered the question they asked?"
Take spare stationery. My O Level English Language paper must have been a pig to mark. It was written in blue biro (which died), black biro (the little ball fell out of the tip and sticky black ink went all over the place) and finished in chunky red felt tip. I wrote an apology to the marker and got an 'A' so it must have been alright!
If you find yourself getting flustered or going blank, use a relaxation technique to clear your mind. Thirty seconds with your eyes closed, doing controlled breathing, are far more productive than ten minutes fretting and getting wound up.
It's funny how 90 minutes seems an awfully short time for an end-of-year exam, but it's an incredibly long wait for a bus!
I firmly believe good time management - so you get down the main points for each question - is more important than knowing the subject inside-out.
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It was very kind of you Simon for taking the time to comment, and thank you for the really useful tips. I will be sure to take it all on board. I agree that time management is key And it is something I have been practising within my home and work life. One of my modules dealt with time management and I have a very useful book on the subject. I never thought of using the concept for exam situations.
Thank you again😊