EXAMINATION TIME AGAIN, OOOH NO!

Regardless of how far one has gone in education or the academic sector, say two doctorates, an examination is still and always one of the most intriguing and sometimes rather frightful part of academia.

Let’s picture a scenario in the world, whereby each and every question you are asked (whether in or out of the classroom) is marked or graded. Well in my opinion, very few people would actually open their mouths to utter even a word. The question now comes, what makes an exam so interestingly scary?

Well it’s not a single dimension answer but perhaps every answer a student or examinee gives may be justified. Of course the most common of all responses to an exam announcement or session is “Am not ready yet”. But the question comes again, when will you be ready? And you quickly respond next week or next month? A heavy sigh of relief crosses you and you patiently wait for that “next week” or “next month”. Then it finally arrives and alarmingly enough, you realise that you’re still not ready, so again you’re asked you when will be ready? The truth of the matter is, and all bias or confidence levels aside, “you'll never be ready”. So how best should one prepare or rather be in the “ready for an exam” situation? I cannot point out one straight or direct procedure as it is multidimensional taking various factors into consideration such as;

·         The subject in question; different courses or subjects have different approaches to studying them and mastering their core components. Mathematics, accounts and any mathematical related subjects will require you to be dedicated enough to at least practice or solve a question probably every day. Other more informative subjects will require you to be constant reader and collect as much information about the topic(s) in question so as to get the best grade possible.

·         The examiner and his/her methods of setting up an examination should also be keenly looked at. This includes an individual examiner or the examination body that administers the overall exams. It is for this reason that dedicated examinees will collect as much past material or examination questions so as to get a good reference of what to expect in the upcoming exam.

·         The syllabi in question; this is a core principle to getting ready for an exam. Most students take little regard to what content they should actually be studying and instead just consider only the material submitted to them by their teachers, lecturers or instructors. However students must consider that their instructors may not always cover everything in the syllabus within the stipulated time so they should always have syllabi in hand to know what items to cover in totality.

·         Your capacity to absorb material and understand that material. Well it’s no rocket science that we all possess different IQ’s so the amount of time we spend to study and understand particular material may vary from person to person. In other words, you should know your own potential and brain power especially during times of stress and panic. This will help you determine a timeline in your preparation for the exam. One student may need to prepare for an exam a week in advance while another may require even two months to get ready, so “know yourself”.

·         Most of all listen to your examiner, especially when exam times are closing by. In the case where the examiner or instructor is very strict or might give a student a twinge of fear even for his/her examination, remember that your examiner ultimately always wants you to pass his exam and so he/she will always do his/her best to give out hints of how to go through the exam. So, talk to your teachers, lecturers, instructors and examiners.

“Know yourself and prepare adequately for your exam”

So with those few hints, let’s hope that they’ll help turn your exam experience around and turn your fever or phobia into a much more exam welcoming atmosphere, hence giving you that satisfaction of believing that you’re ready and sure of yourself.