For the next fortnight in my working life I have a very specific task to do: coaching my students through what is arguably still the most important part of their university lives: exams! As a lecturer I have never been given much guidance on helping students revise, it’s just assumed that because I have passed a number of exams in my life that I can teach others how to do the same! So, here’s some thoughts on how to get them to do their best!
It’s easy to assume that students who have recently come through the school system will be so experienced in taking exams that they need little guidance, and in some senses this is true. Our current crop of students are among the most tested (some say over-tested) ever and so they really do not need you to tell them what to do in an exam room. But exams at university are a frightening prospect for many, so the revision guidance that I offer is as much about reassurance and hand-holding as telling them something new about exam technique. Remember some students get very stressed at this time of year, so you might find yourself acting more in the role of counsellor that teacher.
Of course they want to know which topics to revise, how many and the sorts of question they will face (ie essay style, multiple choice etc), how many questions they need to answer in how much time. These points should be repeated ad nauseam because no matter how many times you say it, there will always be a student that gets it wrong. The first years might want to know how to revise, whether they need to do the same sorts of things as for A level.
Many will want to know what you as a marker are looking for and whether there are any short cuts to achieving a good mark, so make sure you have clear advice on how to achieve this. Students often ask me whether they need to know names and dates and if doing so will win them extra marks, or whether they can get away without memorising this sort of thing! This confusion comes from the mixed pedagogical messages they have received from school telling them that understanding and empathising are more important that actually knowing what happened in the past. That’s a whole can of worms that I don’t have time to go into here, but suffice to say that whatever you tell your students, make it clear and most importantly stick to it when doing your marking.
And it’s always worth telling them about handwriting: many a promising student has lost marks because the marker simply couldn’t interpret the illegible scrawl on the paper. So, good luck to all those students about to do exams, and good luck to their lecturers and tutors trying to successfully guide them through this difficult time.
Please don’t forget, although I am sure you don’t, the mature students who are returning to study. Some will have done an Access course to HE, however, some may have not been near an exam room for 20 years. I did an Access course but the first year exams were the first ‘proper’ exams I had sat for too many years to count. They may not be aware of the ‘new’ revision techniques – ‘mind maps’ etc or the help available. Please, bear in mind all types of students, not just the ‘younger’ post A level ones.