A mentor once told me that every day was a test. She was right; however, when you write an exam worth 50 to 100% of your grade, there is certainly extra pressure. High School exams, College or University exams, and professional course exams, such as the Project Management Professional (PMP) course that have five-hour exams that are worth 100% of the course grade; all create stress and anxiety on top of the pressure to do well. Fortunately, preparing and writing exams well is a learned skill.
Whether you are a professional taking new courses, a university student working on your degree, a high school student writing an exam for the first time, or anyone else; you can improve your ability to handle stress and anxiety, as well as improve your performance by using some basic tools.
Before the Exam:
Studying for your exam begins on the first day of class. Don’t skip classes, pay attention, listen, take good notes, and do each assignment given. In college, university, or when older adults take a course; the instructors expect you to do these things and don’t have patience for anyone not willing to do the work.
Remember your purpose is to learn. In elementary school and to a lesser extent high school, students are expected to learn. In college, university, or for other courses, you are attending for you, your purpose is to learn and not just to memorize the course material. Answering questions, volunteering, and doing extra work is not “sucking up to the teacher,” it is getting the most benefit from the material. Reading or listening to the material, doing the work, and studying all combine to make exams easier and less stressful.
Participate in class. Ask and answer questions. Put your hand up and volunteer to be first. Becoming known to your instructor will open so many doors for you from getting better responses when you need help to being a useful addition to your personal network of connections.
Don’t skip classes. It doesn’t matter what kind of student you are, young or old, skipping class will negatively affect your ability to complete the course material. Skipping any review classes is especially counterproductive as instructors typically provide hints during the review classes to reward those students who make the effort to attend.
Ask for help. There is no shame if you do not understand something and in fact, if you don’t understand, it is likely other people don’t understand as well. Put your hand up and ask for a clearer explanation, ask to meet the instructor after class or at another time; the only time you should feel anything negative is if you don’t ask for help.
Now is a good time to change your habits. If you didn’t start a course with good work skills, start now. Moving forward, learning new habits, and applying lessons learned are all part of succeeding.
Study in a quiet place. Most people study best in places with few distractions. Some people like to listen to music, and some don’t; however, try to find an environment that works for you.
Schedule breaks in your study schedule. If you find yourself reading the same page repeatedly and not remembering what you are reading; stop, you have reached a saturation point. Instead of studying to exhaustion, build breaks into your study plan. This is particularly important if you are studying for more than one exam at a time. I find I can study for about 30 minutes before I must switch topics and/or take a break, you might go longer or shorter; it is important to recognize when you have stopped absorbing information.
During the course; review quizzes, assignments, and other tests regularly. Review what you did right but be especially aware of those questions you did not understand or do as well with.
Don’t cram. Some people will say “They work well under pressure,” and this is certainly true for many things; preparing for an exam is different. Remember the purpose of your course is to learn and not memorize, cramming can help in the short-term sometimes, but for long-term retention, it is of limited value. Spending time reviewing the night before an exam can be helpful, studying until 2 am will likely hinder you more than it will help, instead stop studying early and get a good night’s sleep.
Study Everything. Being overconfident can lead to glossing over topics you have previously done well. Overconfidence is an easy trap, particularly for materials covered early in the course. Take the time, and review as much as possible.
Nutrition is important. Try to avoid skipping meals and ensure you have enough “fuel” to work at your best, not only on exam day but every day.
Exam Time:
Arrive early. Whether writing the exam in person or online, be ready early. In-person, allow for travel time, know the building, the room, and what to bring. Online, check your connections, ensure your batteries are charged, and know what to do if the connection is interrupted.
Read the entire exam before beginning. Don’t get panicked if you don’t know certain answers. During the first read-through, prioritize the questions based on your abilities.
Do the questions you know first, even if it means doing the exam out of order, if you are writing on paper, be sure to label your answers correctly. It is important to set aside, if possible, questions that you don’t know or are unsure about the correct response. Make a note and come back to them after completing the answers you know.
Manage your anxiety and the pressure. Try to focus on one question at a time. Allocate your time based on the value of each question. As you work through each question, loosely track your time to avoid spending too much time on one question.
Remember. If a question is worth 10 marks, they likely want 10 different but related points.
Show your work. Part marks are your friend. I have seen people get 8 out of 10 marks on an exam question even when the principal answer was wrong because the person showed their work and did most of the preliminary work correctly.
On multiple choice exams, if there are four choices, typically two answers are completely off base, and two answers will be very close, but you must decide what is best. READ THE CHOICES CAREFULLY and look for the most complete choice.
Guessing. While knowing the correct response is the best choice, sometimes you may have to “take a chance” on answers that you are less than 100% confident about. Do your best, remember a guess is better than leaving a response blank. Use these types of responses last, after you have done all the other questions first.
Review your answers. Under pressure, we all can make inadvertent mistakes. If time allows, review your answers, correct grammar, provide more detail if necessary, and correct somethings you might have missed. It is also important to re-read the question when reviewing your answers to ensure you have actually answered the question.
Don’t leave the exam early. Use every moment allocated to you to answer every question and review your responses.
After the Exam:
(Process) Lessons Learned. After taking a little time to rest and relax after the intensity of preparing and writing an exam, review what methods worked for you, and what didn’t, and make note of anything that will help you to improve next time.
What if you fail? It happens. It has happened to me. You are not a failure, you just were not ready enough. Your world is not over. My advice is to speak to the instructor, review your answers, and ask for make-up exams or assignments. The worst the instructor will say is “no,” and you will have to redo the course.
To be successful when your time and your course are on the line is to be prepared and keep everything your sense of perspective. Both of which you can do with a little practice and a small amount of self-discipline. The above suggestions have all worked for other people, they can work for you too.
One last point, “You can do this.”
Good luck,
Paul.
ps, if you know anyone struggling with exams, please share this post with them.