It's coming to that time of year for
all history students. Easter Holidays are usually the time where people
suddenly realise that exams are fast approaching. I know when I was going
through that hellish time that I would have appreciated some advice from somebody
who made it through.
This is the summary of a workshop I
deliver to my students. The truth is there is NO SIMPLE ANSWER to how to write the
perfect history exam. If there is one thing to take away from this post, it is that you need
to be prepared for the specific task ahead of you. A revision strategy will give
you confidence to go forward and tackle what can seem an impossible task.
In my finals I went teetotal for two
months. I got fit and healthy, distracting myself from stress by running, the gym and
socialising as much as possible outside of my revision hours. I made sure my
timetable was strict, but achievable, and stayed honest to it. In the end, I did OK. I
passed every exam with marks I was pleased with relative to my own goals. I was
satisfied that I could have done nothing more to reach my potential. That way I
knew whatever mark I got would be reflective and I would have no regrets.
Its certainly not the only way, and who knows what difference the healthy lifestyle really made. What I do know is that these things can help to focus your mind, prevent procrastination and keep you going. Any plan or strategy is better than not having one!
This is not an all-encompassing exam
guide, so make sure you get all the help you can from your home
institution.
Best of luck to all those poor
students!
Please leave any comments below - If people want to share their experiences, worries and ideas that would be great.
Outline
1. Revision Skills
2. Exam Preparation
3. The Exam
4. Q&A
Revision
Skills: Techniques
• Strategy:
o Timetables –
exam dates, times, allocate revision times, and allocate relaxation and fun too!
o Know your
task – plan out your revision in advance
o Balance
revision based on weighting/importance of each exam
o Mix it up –
keep it diverse and focussed
• Techniques:
o What type of
learner are you?
o What has
worked in the past?
o What didn’t
work?
o There are a
huge variety of techniques: e.g. Mind maps/Spider-grams, Colour-coding,
re-writing, lists, simply reading, diagrams etc. See Andrew Marszal's Daily
Telegraph article and BBC's Student Life page.
Revision
Skills: Past Papers
• Get to know the past papers THOROUGHLY – Know what to expect• Don’t predict questions
o Focus on
topics/themes that come up regularly
o Has your
tutor been focussing on certain themes through the module?
• “How Many Topics Should I Revise?!”
o Be realistic
with the number of topics you choose
o Be logical!
– number of questions per paper, number of topics in the module, how many do
you have to answer
• Practice writing answers – both under pressure and in your own time • Practice exam plans – do lots of example plans for questions – think out the structure of your answers
Revision
Skills: My Own Approach
This is not an tick list for you to follow - it's simply how I revised for my finals. It was very much tailored to the way I thought worked best for me.
o Decided on
how many topics I needed to revise
o Worked out
how much time I had for each topic
o Allocated
per day, per hour revision for the next 8-10 weeks
• Stage 2: Learn and Gather
o Went through
notes – re-wrote and gathered the good stuff
o Extra
research on each topic – historiography, names dates etc
o Collated
files for each section – easily accessible
• Stage 3: Revise
o Go through
stage 2 notes – re-write, revise, summarise
o A3 paper –
Side 1 – rough spider gram putting information into relevant sections – went
through each topic first
o A3 Paper –
Side 2 – Final Detailed Spider-gram – using colour themes, and visual
information
o Learned the
spider-grams – how much can I write out in rough?
• Stage 4: Exam Practice
o Untimed
written essays
o Timed essays
o Last minute:
Practice question plans – bullet point notes
o All the time
keep referring back to spider-grams
Revision
Skills: Basic Principles
• Do not ‘question spot’
o This NEVER
ends well - Revise broad topics instead.
• Engage in ‘active’ revision:
o Reformulate
and re-organise material to refresh its meaning in your own mind.
• Look for material ‘types’:
o e.g.
historiography; examples; case studies with DATES
• Try to read something new:
o Markers will
be delighted to see you refer to relevant material not already discussed in
class. This will really set your paper apart and reinforce what you already
know.
• Healthy body=healthy mind
Exam
Preparation
• Keep to your strategy – have confidence in it• Healthy Body=Healthy Mind:
o Eat well –
greens etc. – but not too much, too soon before exam
o Drink water;
take water with you
o Don’t force
sleep – sleep when tired, behave normally
o No BOOZE –
alcohol damages your memory.
• Check mitigations procedures:
o Many Universities have a 'Fit to Sit' policy - find out what the rules are for you
• Remember that panic is counter-productive
The
Exam: Getting there
• Check the University website first:
o Make sure
you know where you are going and what day and time you need to be there!
• Don’t start comparing revision/knowledge with friends
o This will
only worry you and its too late to change anything
The Exam
• Read the whole paper first (don’t forget to turn over…)
• Think on your feet
o Do not write a pre-prepared answer on autopilot
• Planning: • Allocate time for planning
o Structure is
essential – like any essay – make a plan and stick to it
o Allow time
at the end to check and change
• Try to write legibly • Don’t start comparing answers afterwards – its too late to change so why worry each other?!
• Celebrate when it’s over
Summary
• Before the Exam:
o Know your
Task – STRATEGISE!
o Plan and
divide into manageable chunks
o Know your
own approach
o Look after
body and mind
o Practice the
SKILL of exam writing
• In the Exam:
o Don‘t Panic!
Keep Calm
o Read
thoroughly
o Think on
your feet – ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!
o Time
Management and Planning!
