Preliminary Report on E-Learning Strategies in Secondary Education

During the period of the lockdown I have been inspired by the possibilities of e-learning and the amazing things that educators have been doing across the world to support students of all ages. With a background in e-learning, I was excited to see what was possible in supporting our students. What began as a few attempts to inspire and engage Y13 and Y11 students in March, developed into a much more extensive research project – I wanted to find out what cognitive scientists and pedagogical experts had to say about e-learning and the potential for technology to revolutionise education. Unable to attend school day-to-day, I immediately began to reflect on how I could support the learning of students in history from Y7 through to Y13. It soon became clear that there were going to be issues reaching and supporting all students. There are some well-recognised problems with attempting to teach new content to students, some of whom do not have the internet, laptops, mobile devices – or even a quiet, calm place to work.  Nevertheless, my team and I wanted to work as hard as possible to support as many students as possible. We have sought to develop engaging online resources, supported by physical counterparts. While this was going on I was speaking to colleagues and reading up on the literature. A conversation with Vincent McInerney was hugely helpful in providing some guidance for my energies. He encouraged me to read the work of Daisy Christodoulou and invited me to meet virtually with a member of his SLT, Jem Osman, who had overseen the remote learning offer at Highlands. I am indebted to them for sharing their own experiences.

This report comprises a case study of the work done at Highlands, followed by a reflection upon the research and experience I have gathered during lockdown. It is written to promote thought and discussion about the opportunities available to schools and to reflect upon some of the lessons learned through trial and error amidst an unprecedented period of turbulence in education.

Highlands Remote Learning Offer

Highlands School uses Google’s suite of tools to provide resources and e-lessons to students. They were caught in transition as the Covid-19 crisis struck. They were able to issue 2 hours training in how to use Google Classroom in the last week before lockdown and so staff have been somewhat prepared in how to use at least the basics.

Staff were asked to pause teaching on new material after Summer Half Term. The aim was to mitigate the attainment gap between students.

Staff were required to use Google Classroom to set work for students. The guiding principle of everything they have done has been to ensure clarity of instruction rather than focusing on particular methods of teaching in a lesson. They have aimed to ensure that their approach is deliverable by every member of staff to start with. They plan later to train staff to do more sophisticated training to make more of the tools they have available to them.

Their SLT lead, Jem Osman, has established a clear and achievable structure for the delivery of online learning. They have carefully consulted with staff, assessed the range of technical expertise, or lack of it, among staff, and established a simple and consistent guide for lessons.

E-Lessons at Highlands – An Analysis

Guiding principle: Narrated Presentation

Rationale: It is realistic to expect staff to be able to use simple audio recording software within a browser.[1] Staff were given simple training in how to carry out recordings and how to prepare and send out their lessons to students via Google Classroom. This approach allows staff to model activities, providing audio descriptions which can be played by students as they move through the Google Slides lesson.[2]

E-lesson structure:

Phase	Activity	Pedagogical Rationale
Starter	Every lesson begins with a low-stakes quiz recalling information from previous lessons. This comes in the form of a link to a Google Form. The quiz is multiple choice and produces instant feedback via a mark.	See Christodoulou, Kirschner, Rosenshine et al for the benefit of spaced revision and active engagement with content. Evidence shows that low-stakes quizzes can be highly effective in storing first order concepts and knowledge in long-term memory
Guided Practice	The second phase of the lesson currently focuses on recapping skills and knowledge that have been previously acquired. Staff are expected to provide detailed explanations with worked examples, followed by scaffolded semi-independent tasks. This would resemble the kind of learning we would expect in a normal classroom activity.	Based on Rosenshine, Kirschner, Hendrick et al’s understanding of the effectiveness of directed-learning.   See an example here of how this might be achieved.
Independent Practice	If appropriate, a further phase of learning would include more independent forms of practice – this might be short to medium sized activities – e.g. a series of questions and short paragraph answers; a small exam question; a longer exam question with scaffolding.	Ibid
Plenary and Assessment for Learning	Once per week, staff send out an ‘exit ticket’ which students are expected to complete.   This comprises a longer multiple-choice quiz which, if carefully designed, can effectively: a)       Indicate the level of student engagement b)      Indicate the level of understanding and outline misconceptions Staff are required to feed the learning from these quizzes into the planning for their next lesson (e.g. featured in the starter quiz)	See D. Christodoulou, Teachers vs Tech? (2020). See in particular Chapter 4, especially pages 124-125
Outside of lessons
Teaching Clinics	Once weekly, ideally during timetabled hours of teaching, students are invited to engage ‘live’ with staff via Google Classroom in a ‘Live chat Q&A’. This means they are able to log on at a regular time and ask as many questions as they want and teachers will be able to share their answers with the whole class. This is delivered without the need for staff or student video.	The main omission in this form of ‘recorded teaching’ is the inability of students to engage in instant Q&A with staff. In live teaching this is much easier when using the ‘chat’ function.
Feedback	Rather than attempting to provide individualized feedback to each student for their work, staff are advised to provide collective feedback for each class. There is strong evidence that this can be as effective in promoting student progress and can still feel personal.	See D. Christodoulou, Making Good Progress: The future of assessment for learning (2017)

 

Critical Reflection

Software

Software like OBS[3] may offer a more intuitive method, as can be viewed in some of the lessons we have delivered in history.[4] However, it was judged that further training would be required to achieve consistent results – it may be possible in future to allow staff to choose either narrated presentation, or full intuitive ‘live-style’ presentation using OBS. This was something that is planned for review for September at Highlands.

Recorded e-lessons vs live e-lessons

There is strong evidence that recorded lessons can be more effective than live lessons. Although there is a natural inclination to assume that live lessons are better – by dint of being closer to a normal lesson setting – there is strong evidence that the distractions and deficiencies of such lessons outweigh any social advantages. For example, during live lessons staff may be faced with the need to manage behaviour remotely, face ongoing safeguarding issues etc. Furthermore, teaching unions are not fully supportive of live lessons and advise staff that ‘these should be arranged in consultation with the teacher and not necessarily expected at the same time and day as on the normal school timetable.’ [5]

There are major advantages to sending out recorded lessons, some of which may actually exceed what is possible in a normal face-to-face lesson. Namely:

·  the potential for students to pause and recap before completing an activity

· pacing of lessons can be self-guided (there are some issues with this as identified by Christodoulou.[6]

· More possibility of differentiation, especially for mixed ability classes

·       Evidence suggests that being able to see a teacher’s face in a live lesson may actually be distracting for students. Richard Mayer’s principles of multimedia learning are particularly valuable in this regard. He warns against ‘redundancy’ (i.e. providing multiple audio and visual stimuli and that we should aim to keep lessons as coherent as possible by keeping e-lessons clear of extraneous audio, graphics or words.[7]

Lesson Resources

One of the issues with e-learning is how we successfully monitor student classwork. There are various technical solutions that have been widely available for the past decade in higher education, but which have been slower to take hold in secondary and primary settings.

VLEs

Perhaps the most effective form comes from VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) which can be designed, bespoke, for education institutions. Software like Moodle allows institutions to design a huge range of tools for students and staff (including web pages, online reading libraries, exam scores data processing). The most valuable aspect of this in schools would be in the potential to create structured lessons which would allow students to view lesson videos, respond to multimedia resources and record their answers in a range of activity-styles. Student responses are then collected for staff automatically, and staff feedback is returned instantaneously to students. See the demo here in full.

Figure 1. Examples of online teaching using a custom built VLE.

Using Moodle would possibly require significant investment. Having spoken with the IT Resource Manager, I am aware that the school has only recently invested in Microsoft Office 365 and so may be unlikely to look to further investment. This software also requires some training to use and in a school setting, might require specialists to set up courses on behalf of less technically savvy staff.

Google and Microsoft

In the history department we have been organically drawn towards the software offered by Google. Much of this is entirely free to use and we have seen effective implementation of pedagogically sound lessons. I have met with the IT Resource Manager to discuss how the methods we have used with Google could be transferred to Microsoft and he is sure that we already have the capability, if not the training, to deliver the same thing from within Office 365.

It is possible to mimic the more advanced VLEs by using Microsoft Forms or Google Forms to create lesson activities. My department have produced a range of lessons which allow us to:

·       Create engaging and accessible content

·       Structure learning and break down complex tasks

·       Provide video guidance to model activities to students

·       Engage in low stakes testing and use the data to inform future learning

·       Provide rapid and formative feedback to students

·       Conduct GCSE and A Level assessments and feedback activities

Figure 2. Examples of using forms for online teaching resources and data gathering

My preference as a teacher would be to use software like this because:

·       It immediately captures and saves student responses

·       We can monitor responses ‘live’

·       Feedback is much easier to deliver when the students’ work is broken down onto a spreadsheet

·       We are able to provide high quality student work for their records and future revision

As was the case at Highlands, careful consideration of the ability of staff to adapt, the technology available and the capacity of students to engage with lessons should be paramount in any new e-learning policy.

Online Assessment and Feedback

Group assessment means that staff are able to respond effectively and expediently to students on a very regular basis. This falls in line with Ofsted’s recent emphasis on prioritising staff welfare and workload. It also does not detract from the progress students are able to make. It is also highly conducive to E-Learning in that staff can view student work as soon as it is produced and begin the process of feedback instantly.

Individual assessment is also possible and potentially beneficial in some circumstances. For example, in our online forms we were able to quickly offer an effort grade and a brief ‘even better if’ statement after each form was submitted to allow students to improve in their next lesson. This can also be offered through automated quiz scores.

Figure 3 An example of consolidated student work and teacher feedback

Responding to the current crisis and beyond

Short-term

Highlands plan to continue this approach in September. Their expectation is students may not be in for a full timetable of lessons, meaning this approach will form a vital underpinning of their teaching and learning for the foreseeable future. As the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, recently admitted, ‘“I would be surprised and delighted if we weren’t in this current situation through the winter and into next spring. I think then, let’s regroup and work out where we are."[8] It seems prudent to assume that distance learning and e-lessons are going to continue to play a role in the lives of teachers and students at least into 2021.

Long-term

In the longer term, there are significant potential gains to be had from adopting this approach:

·     Staff will be more technically skilled and experienced, and thus more capable of engaging with technology

·     Senior and middle leaders will gain greater insight into the potential of technology to advance, supplement – even revolutionise – our ability to support student progress

·       Students will be equipped with a range of new technical skills which are relevant to the world of work

·   The simplistic and consistent approach should minimise the potential distractions of online learning.[9]

·      Within the strategy there are elements which can significantly improve face-to-face learning. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the directed-learning approach to education. Kirschner et al have shown the benefits of low-stakes testing, spaced revision and breaking down skills into their constituent, and more accessible, elements. Online technology such as Google Forms or Microsoft Forms can help us to develop low-stakes testing and lesson activities which can be used not only to help students acquire and retain knowledge, but also for teachers to use data acquired from these assessments to challenge misconceptions and improve their planning.

 

Patrick Longson

Head of History

Jo Richardson Community School

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[1] As opposed to downloading a programme like OBS to desktop which would require significant work from IT and a guarantee of certain basic hardware for all staff

[2] Google’s equivalent to Microsoft PowerPoint

[3] https://obsproject.com/

[4] https://youtu.be/HN_DzvFmsbQ

[5] See for example https://neu.org.uk/advice/coronavirus-distance-teaching-and-learning-secondary-teachers (Accessed 12:336 02/07/2020)

[6] Christodoulou, D. Teachers Vs Tech? The Case for an Ed Tech Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2020) pp. 55-59

[7] https://sites.google.com/site/cognitivetheorymmlearning/home (Accessed: 03/07/2020 10:52:52); Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning (3rd ed.). (San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, 2011)

[8] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/chris-whitty-uk-dealing-coronavirus-2021-a4477941.html (Accessed: 02/07/2020 12:58:34)

[9] See Christodoulou, Teachers vs Tech?, pp. 141-142

The First World War: What Can We Learn a Century Later?

In response to the respected War Historian Prof Gary Sheffield’s recent article for History Today entitled ‘The Great War was a Just War’ I felt it necessary to offer my own opinion on the subject. Regardless of the context, the idea of any war being 'just' is morally ambiguous at best.

While it is essential, as Professor Sheffield rightly argues, to encourage a balanced historical view, it remains highly contentious to declare who was or was not to blame for the war (See Chris Clark's The Sleepwalkers (2012)). While I would not argue that Germany did not seek to seize upon the opportunity to attack once the war broke out, the suggestion by Sheffield and others that Wilhelmine Germany was some kind of proto-Nazi state intent upon taking over the world is best left to counter-factual writers (e.g. Niall Ferguson) and novelists.[1]

As Richard Evans recently argued, this view was discredited fifty years ago during the Fischer Controversy. Evans rightly stated that even while the War was going well huge numbers of Germans (especially the Social Democrats, Catholic Centre and the Liberal Left) forced the Kaiser’s High Command to concede to Parliamentary Democracy by the middle of 1917. Evans stated clearly:  

‘Nobody can say with any certainty what would have happened had the Germans won the war, but it is safe to say that the rigid imposition of a monolithic dictatorship on Germany and the rest of Europe by the Kaiser would not have been on the cards.’

I am entirely in favour of honouring the memories of the fallen victims of a global conflict, but do we really need a 'bad-guy' explanation to make sense of it? We must not forget that the almost entirely British blockade of the Central Powers during the war led to the deaths of hundreds and thousands of civilians towards to end of the conflict, destitution and starvation. Furthermore, the infliction of a brutal and cruel peace treaty in 1918-19 by the Allied Powers cannot be considered 'Just' or morally neutral. Versailles precipitated many of the tragic consequences of the following decades. Britain also continued to impose its imperial rule upon increasingly restless populations across the world, despite signing up to US President Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ self-determination pledge.

The war was tragic and was not entirely inevitable, but armed conflict was endemic in global culture during that period. Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Japan, the USA and Britain (the imperial powers) all coqueted with the notion of war with other ‘Great Powers’ throughout the pre-war period, all invaded other countries during the decades before the war and shared responsibility, to some extent, for the unprecedented mechanized butchery between 1914-18. As rightly pointed out by a friend the other day, “It takes two to make an Arms Race”, and Britain had been in many with France, Russia and Germany since the 1880s.

One aspect which has gone unmentioned during debates about the Centenary of the War has been the global nature of the First World War. At Queen Mary, University of London, I am working as part of a cross-institutional project to investigate the truly global nature of the conflict. It is important that in Britain we recognize the huge numbers of troops and civilians from the Indian Sub-Continent, Africa, Australasia, North America, the Caribbean, Ireland and many other imperial territories who lost their lives across the world for the British Imperial cause. Chinese migrant labourers were brought in en masse to work behind the lines in truly awful conditions, only to be dismissed back to China at the end of the conflict. Does this fit with the narrative of the ‘just’ war for national survival? Or does it fit better as part of a bloody imperial history in which Britain had previously invaded and dominated the nations of others? Imperial Britain might easily be accused of similar aims and objectives that Sheffield attributed to the Kaiser’s Germany.[2]

My view is that for a popular national commemoration we can step beyond the extremely divisive and contentious 'blame game'. As a multicultural and international society we should remember the tragic deaths of millions of humans regardless of nationality, the terrible legacies of the war, and respect all of those ordinary men and women, whatever their nationality, who suffered or died. The human experience of war - friendship, fear, loss, love, isolation, community, death and regeneration - should be the most important lesson we learn as a society.

The commemoration of the First World War Centenary during 2014-18 presents an opportunity to celebrate the steady overall decline in human violence (see Stephen Pinker, Better Angels of Our Nature) and the rise of supra-national cooperation, Human Rights and democracy. It should remind us to continue the battle to safeguard the social freedoms we as Britons, and Europeans, currently enjoy and to help others to achieve their own.

Most of all we should recognise that war itself is one thing which we can all feel justified in fighting against.

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[1] 'Unlike Hitler's regime, the Kaiser's was not consciously genocidal, but it was aggressive and brutal enough. In 1918 the British army was fighting a war of liberation. If Germany had won the First World War Britain, although probably safe from invasion thanks to the Royal Navy, would have been reduced to a state of siege, shut out of Europe. As British planners recognised during the First World War, had London been forced to come to terms with a victorious Germany, any peace could only have been temporary. Sooner or later Germany would have renewed the war and Britain and its empire would have been at a terrible disadvantage.' http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/17/1914-18-not-futile-war

[2] By no means do I seek to blame Britain, merely to point out that the moral ‘high-ground’ is always subjective and divisive

Getting over the Mid-PhD Slump

When I started my doctoral studies in 2009 I was highly motivated, excited and also intimidated by the task ahead. I was also pretty unprepared; I had little real understanding of what a PhD was actually like and what lay ahead. I never took a break from my studies and have been used to an extremely high turnover of work and reward since the age of about 7. I was completely unaware that a ‘mid-PhD slump’ even existed, and was entirely unprepared for one.

In my first year I kept up a high intensity, committing to daily timesheets and allowing myself weekends and evenings off. My mantra was to treat my studies like a ‘9 to 5 job’. The main problem with this philosophy is that unlike normal jobs, doctoral study involves carrying the burden of your own work-rate, conscience and future career twenty four hours a day for a minimum of three years. I saw little reward for my work with few submissions or grades, and the more I learned about my chosen topic, the less confident I felt about the theoretical impact I could make.

As time went on isolation, lack of reward and daily social contact took its toll. Over the summer of 2012, in the midst of Olympics Fever, I was stricken by malaise. I couldn’t concentrate on my work, I felt stressed, unconfident and came to resent having to wake up and face my computer screen. This feeling lasted for a couple of months and was a truly challenging period in both my studies, and my personal life.

I was forced to deal with my own problems. Family and friends tried to support me, but there were some things I had to do to help myself – things I wish I’d known sooner. Eventually I took a break; abstracting myself from work finally allowed me to regain my enthusiasm and generate fresh ideas. Then I tried to find ways to reward myself: I kept records of hours worked and words written as a way of reminding myself of the progress I was making. I sought out regular stimulation through academic seminars, sport and socialising. I also spoke to my supervisors who encouraged me to change my focus.  Most importantly, I opened up about my problems and sought help.

I am now weeks away from the end of my funding, and am closing in upon the final draft. Though I have faced difficulties along the way, I will never regret being given three years to develop my ideas and indulge my passion. Nevertheless, knowing that a lull in my work could happen, and having the knowledge of how to deal with it would have made my life easier; I hope that by sharing my own knowledge I can help others going through a similar experience.

What is a ‘slump’?

Troughs and dips in doctoral study can take a variety of forms. Anyone, no matter how motivated, confident or capable, can suffer them. First of all you need to recognise you are in a rut. Some key indicators:

•  Lack of motivation
• Sense of isolation
• An urge to give up and get a job
• Inability to get out of bed
• Distraction and procrastination
•  Mood swings
• Writers block or lack of ideas
• More serious forms: mental health issues such as depression or anxiety (seek out professional support straightaway)

Tips to tackle the slump

1. Take ‘ownership’ of it

You are not the only one to experience this. Actively seek out help, support and advice. Your university provides this, but also talk to friends, family or healthcare professionals. Doing nothing is rarely the answer. 

2. Take a break!

If it’s not happening, don’t force it! The number of PGR students I’ve met who don’t take holidays is frightening. Changes of scenery and breaks will allow you to recover your energy, and help reignite the passion for your work.

3. Talk to trusted family, friends, peers or your supervisor

Many people have been in the same position before; tap into the knowledge which they have, whilst also venting your own frustrations and emotions. 

4. Find ways to motivate and reward yourself

• Timetables
• Blogging and social media
• Publishing reviews/articles
• Set deadlines
• Keep word counts

5. Stimulate your brain

Try reading outside of your discipline, watching films, listen to music, exercise, join discussion groups and attend seminars and conferences. Your brain needs looking after and working out. You might find that reading a newspaper will suddenly set you thinking. 

If this advice helps one person through their studies I will be happy. Though it is an immense privilege to be able to study for a doctorate, the three year (or six year part-time) ride can be a massive challenge. Some people are confronted with problems too great and never finish. It is important to arm yourself with the skills and support to be prepared. 

In kinder moments my friends remind me that it takes great resilience to wake up every day and motivate yourself. Remember that in spite of the jokes, your friends will respect your commitment and drive, and you will feel a sense of achievement like no other when you finish. There is light at the end of the tunnel, so stick at it! 

Interdisciplinary Workshop: 'Empire In Peril: Invasion-Scares and Popular Politics in Britain, 1890-1914' at QMUL

Dr Kim Wagner and I are holding a two-day event on 14-15 November 2013 at Queen Mary, University of London in Mile End. This should be a fantastic  opportunity to discuss the political, cultural and social history the period before the First World War through the lens of the 'invasion scare'. 

If you have an academic interest please find the 'Call for Papers' notice below. 

For anyone who is fascinated by pre-war British society, please do come along. Public lectures and panels will be held with some major academics in their field providing insight into the latest research in this field.

Please spread the word to anyone who may be interested!

Best wishes,

Patrick

Revision and Examination Techniques: Advice for History Students

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.

• Stage 1: Timetabling

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!