Exam Technique Guide By Nick Best

Transcription

1 Exam Technique Guide By Nick Best 1

2 Chapter The 40% improvement A Case Study Exam technique in written papers... 4 Chapter Why should you be doing a Question Plan Question planning A Case Study Clear structure Use the theory appropriately Apply to the scenario Better time management Stops waffle Ensures you have read the requirement before reading the scenario So how do you plan?...11 Chapter The 6 Stages of Effective Exam Planning The 6 Stages of Exam Planning Step 1 Read the first paragraph of the scenario Step 2 Read the requirements and create an initial structure Step 3 Brainstorm initial points Step 4 Read the scenario paragraph by paragraph adding notes to the plan Step 5 Brainstorm any final points Step 6 Plan your writing time How long should it take? Where do you plan? The plan doesn t have to be complete or perfect Practise, Practise, Practise...20 Chapter The 10 Rules for Writing an Excellent Answer A Case Study What mistakes do people usually make? Writing style The Rules An Excellent Answer...27 Chapter How to Maximise Marks in Calculation Questions Key errors in calculation questions The keys to getting the easy marks in calculations questions

3 Chapter 1 The 40% improvement 3

4 1. A Case Study A few years ago a student came up to me at the end of a course in a distraught state. He was studying the old CIMA Organisational Management paper, and despite working very hard on the paper in the past, he had failed 4 times. Not only that, but his marks were getting worse. His first attempt was in the 40s, the second and third in the 30s and his last attempt in the 20s. He didn t know where he was going wrong so asked if we could work together on a one-to-one basis. As we began working together I found out that his knowledge of the syllabus was excellent, as perhaps it should have been having studied this subject for two years! His problem lay in the way he approached questions and how he wrote his solutions. His answers did not address the question asked. They waffled on without saying anything specific. The points were not related to the scenario. In the initial scripts he handed in to me, he was getting around 20-30%, much like his recent exam performances. Over a 2-month period we worked together on his question planning and writing technique and transformed his whole approach. His marks started improving until he was passing every question he handed in. Could he reproduce this in the actual exam though? He certainly could. So much so that he scored 69%. Using the correct question approach and writing style he had improved his mark by over 40% compared with his previous attempt. 2. Exam technique in written papers I ve recounted that story many times in lectures I have given and have subsequently had many, many people approach me saying that they have exactly the same problem with the written papers. This short series of articles is particularly for those of you who find yourself in this situation. My hope is that you will be able to use the lessons herein to break through those barriers and get through those tough exams that are blocking your way. For those of you who already use good exam technique and do well in written papers, you should also find a few tips that could make the difference between passing and failing. In this 4 part series, I will be dealing with two key facets of good exam technique on written papers; question planning and writing style. This first article deals with the benefits of question planning and gives you some hints and tips for planning approach. The second article will walk you through a 4

5 step-by-step approach to planning your question, using a worked example to demonstrate exactly how to do this. In the third and forth articles I will deal with writing style, which I consider makes the most difference between answers that score highly and those which are poor. 5

6 Chapter 2 Why should you be doing a Question Plan 6

7 1. Question planning A Case Study I remember on one recent final level ACCA course I was teaching when I was taking a question based revision day. These are days where students practise questions all day long to help improve exam technique and approach and get quick feedback on their results. In true exam focused style, we started with a full 1 hour 48 minute case study. As I marked the solutions I was surprised when a very bright student failed all 3 of the questions that formed part of the case study. During the revision course he had handed in some high quality answers, so I wondered what had gone wrong. As we chatted it soon became clear that despite over 2 hours on the revision course being devoted to question planning he had decided that, for him, it was just not necessary. Unfortunately, his answers showed many of the signs of poor planning: no structure, unclear points, minimal relevant application to the scenario and poor time management. To his credit he recognised his mistake, and was now sold on the benefits of question planning. He started planning his answers and passed all remaining questions attempted that day. This was one of the biggest demonstrations to me that question planning works well. Another interesting factor I notice when marking student scripts is that those with even a brief plan at the top of the page on average score better than those where there is no obvious plan. Question planning can make a huge difference to the quality of your answers. Let s look at the reasons why. 2. Clear structure Question planning enables you to create a clear structure for your answer which enables you to clearly break the question down into its constituent parts, ensuring you attempt each part of the question, and create an answer based around the mark allocation. I regularly get students who only answer part of the requirement because they have not spent enough time up front breaking down each of the key parts of the question. I was recently working with a class around the requirement Explain the role and significance of... Initially very few of the class had broken this requirement down into its two constituent parts the role and the significance. As a result there was a tendency just to discuss the role and omit the important discussion of why it was 7