possible to increase intelligence
Exams are a really frustrating concept. They're quite frankly an outdated and monolithic way of assessing people’s understanding. However, there's a way to ace them every time, given practice. You must remember and understand about 8 weeks of work, and condense it into some form of coding system which allows your mind to recall it with ease. By the time exams roll around, you’ll have customized notes, audio recordings and mind maps – the most powerful encoding systems you can use. Here’s what to do when you get there…
Always allow significant “stuff up” time in getting there. If you use public transport, aim to arrive an hour early. If you're driving, and you're certain of your route and times, arrive 45 minutes early. Regardless, I always got to the location an hour early with my notes and maps, and sat down near the room to become calm and familiar with the environment.
I see so many stressed, panicked people rush into the room at the last minute, claiming to have “crammed” until the last second. I know that they won't be able to concentrate until their mind slows and grows accustomed to the new environment, AND, the information has last been encoded in a separate environment.
The reason you must study in the exam environment is, your mind will recall information easily in the same environment it was encoded in. This can be achieved by associating a smell with your particular subject. For example, you may soak a tissue in strawberry essence and sniff it occasionally whilst studying. Take it into the exam with you, and sniff whenever you reach a mental block. You'll be amazed at how effective this is.
So, arrive early, re-encode the information in the environment it is to be recalled in, and calm down. Walk into the exam room and pick a spot at the very back, preferably in a corner. You do this because you can't be distracted by noises behind you, which are more distracting than noises in front of you. Also, you can watch the rest of the room and amuse yourself while you take a writing break. Don't sit anywhere near low achievers. Sit next to the aforementioned highly motivated and intelligent types who will work consistently throughout the exam. This keeps you adherent to social pressures, as you will try to keep pace with them.
Structurally, exams follow 3 typical forms. Usually, there are some multiple choice, some short answer questions, and some essay questions.
To do well on multiple choice only exams, all you need to do is be certain of the facts in the textbook. This is achieved by reading it over, and over, and over again. Multiple choice exams are designed to trick you in most instances, however lecturers typically use similar wording to that seen in the assigned texts. Always go with your first answer, unless you find inconclusive evidence in the rest of the exam (Say, another question contradicts a previous answer you’ve given). Guessing, contrary to popular belief, actually gives you a 50% chance of being correct (demonstrated by research) so ‘educated guess’ away if you don’t know.
Never forfeit marks. In short answer and essay questions, the key is to jam as many keywords and concepts into the allocated space as possible. Don’t worry too much about witty prose, you’re demonstrating that you can recall and understand the content. Go nuts jotting down random facts you know in the margins, scribble dot points, and if you have time at the end of the exam go back and buff it out more.
I’ve seen many marks allocated to my weird offside facts surrounding the topic that I’ve scrawled in the margins in the final seconds. In fact, I know that if you’re one mark below a HD, good lecturers will re-read your exam looking for an excuse to give you the mark you deserve. Make sure you give them plenty of excuses to mark you up!
About the Author:
David Swayn is the author of the book How to Succeed at University. He enjoys hearing success stories from students around the world and love to know how his free book helps them in anyway. To get a copy of the free book please visit http://www.succeedatuniversity.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How To Increase Your Chances In Exams
