Get ready for forthcoming O/L exam....!

by Panchamee Hewavissenti

Continued from last week...

When you study for O/L exam, start by working the past papers. You must have started to work on past papers by now. If you haven't even thought of doing past papers...., what I can say is that you are too late to start doing them.

You must have finished working on past papers, and now you should start reviewing your short notes.

Short notes should not as lengthy as your original notes. Short notes means the summary you have noted down in a piece of paper after you have thoroughly gone through lessons. Once you have gone through the lessons and done exercises, a big picture about the lesson is created and you have totally understood the lesson. Then it's easy for you to review the old lessons and to brush up your knowledge.

While you do past papers, try to answer some model questions that are targeted for O/L exam. When you do past papers, if you find some questions difficult, refer back to your notes. Read the particular paragraph or lesson once again.

Find similar questions from other past papers and work. When you repeat the same concept you'll be able to master the particular concept. But remember not to look at the book and copy down the answers. Read.. understand and then write the answer in your words.

If you can get your friends to work with you together, it will be beneficial for you as well as for your friends. Because someone might be expert in some lessons, and another one have mastered some other part of the lesson.

Then you don't have to always go behind your teachers. Someone can easily and better understand a thing if he teaches it to another one. But don't wait till someone else does the work. Everyone in the team should work together equally. Working question with help is not the same as working a problem on your own. Because studying is personal.

In studies, the teacher's part is 25% and the rest 75% is student's. Don't expect your teacher to do everything. You should do the great deal of work, because you are the one who is going to face the exam not your teacher. You should get ready for the race.

You have less than one month for the O/L exam. Be on your marks...Get set...Ready ...Go...!

That is to say, as a student, you should always work hard to reap expected results. When you study on your own at home, first you better refer to examples and then do corresponding exercises. Referring back to examples will increase your understanding of a concept. When you're doing exercises, don't just settle for answers.

Try to get a big picture about the lesson. Always try to relate a current lesson to a previous one.

Learning is a complex process. It can't be taken lightly. A student should have various approaches to learning. Nothing will go to your head if you just look at the book.

To enhance the quality of your learning, important characteristics of SQ5R method can be used. Educationalist have identified this as an excellent study procedure.

SQ5R includes

S - Survey

Q - Question

R - Read

R - Record

R - Recite

R - Review

R - Reflect

Survey - First of all you should have a glance at the lesson which is to be learnt. Read the introductory paragraph and then scan the lesson. Note major headings, pictures, charts and your interesting points. But this first step is not for you to get a deep meaning of the lesson. It is to give an overall picture of what you will learn.

Question - While you read the chapter, ask yourself questions and answer. It will improve your understanding of the chapter.

Read - After raising and answering questions, then you read the chapter thoroughly and mindfully so as to understand the lesson. Read carefully, paragraph by paragraph. Keep the main idea in mind.

Record - In this step you have to read the chapter actively to discover main and important ideas. You can highlight the important points or underline them. You can also write important points at the margin of the page. Write brief notes which are important for your exam.

Recite - recite what you read in the chapter. It would be better if you can go to a quiet place and say louder what you studied. It's easier for you to remember things when you recite them louder. You can either write them on a paper in memory. It will help you to remember things for quite long time.

Review - Review! Review! review! do a little review every time you study. Regular repetition will keep the material you studied in your mind for a long time. Effective study involves active revisions. When you study for your O/L exam, review the chapters in the order it was originally presented.

This strategy will help you to keep connections with lessons. When the study material stored in order it will help you to remember them.

Reflect - Think critically about the important issues in the chapter without cramming the lesson. Here you can develop some applications and examples for what you learnt for better understanding of the chapter. You can evaluate the theories and view points you learnt. This helps to remember and use the information more effectively.

MURDER.

Apart from the SQ5R method, there is another strategy for effective learning. That method is call MURDER.

M - Mood, first important thing when you learn is to get in to a mood of study. Choosing a particular place and time for you to study.

U - Read the lesson for understanding without reading for the sake of reading. Careful attention should be always paid for what's being studied.

R - It's better to recall what you learnt from memory, without referring to the book.

Close the book. You can give your answers to question you raised from the chapter orally. Or else you can write them in a piece of paper.

D - Understand what you learnt, to be able to recall them later. Organise what you learn and store them in memory.

E - Expand things you learnt by analyzing and evaluating. It will give a wider meaning of what you learnt. Try to associate them with practical applications.

R - Review.

When, Where and How to study are also equally important when studying. When you study, break the whole chapter in to small parts. It will help to remember them easily.

To be continued...