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How to ace your matric exams

The Department of Basic Education has released the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination timetable; this means that exams are around the corner. Exam season can be an incredibly stressful time for all learners, especially with the weight of expectation in these economically challenging times. How are learners supposed to cope?

The Department of Basic Education has released the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination timetable; this means that exams are around the corner. Exam season can be an incredibly stressful time for all learners, especially with the weight of expectation in these economically challenging times. How are learners supposed to cope?

According to Dr Bernadette Aineamani, Director at Pearson South Africa, many learners feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they are required to retain.

“This problem is particularly where a lot of material is covered, learners may not know where to start, and endless amounts of content available simply doesn’t mean that information gets adequately retained or remembered when needed,” says Dr Aineamani,

Dr Aineamani recommends ten ways in which learners can tackle their exams with confidence:

Be at your exam venue at least 30 minutes before your exam starts.
Stay calm and do not panic. Approach every question in a calm way, take deep breaths when you feel overwhelmed.
Read the instructions and entire question paper before starting the examination.
Read each question carefully to ensure that you understand how to best answer the question.
Write neatly.
Adhere to the mark allocation of each question. Refrain from giving too much or too little information.
Show your workings and calculations in brackets if required.
Do not use correction fluid or tippex.
Do not leave questions out – even if a question looks unfamiliar, at least try to provide some answers.
Remember you are competing with yourself. Do not start panicking when another learner completes the question paper before you do.

“I also encourage learners to take time off to rest and recuperate when needed. It is vital that mental health is looked after because stress and pressure are in abundance while calm and focus are the key to examination success,” advises Dr Aineamani.

How to answer exam questions correctly

When a learner understands what the examiner is asking them, they’ll be able to answer the questions in an exam paper correctly. To understand what the examiner is asking, the learner must identify the question and focus words in an exam question.

It is important for learners to look for and understand the question words (the words that tell you what to do, also known as key action words) to correctly understand what the examiner is asking.

Once the learner has read the question once, they should circle the question word and then underline any other important focus words (the words that tell you what content to include in your answer). The combination of the circled and underlined words will tell the learner exactly what is being asked.

Share these explanations with your learners so they can use it as a guide to help them answer questions.

QUESTION WORD	WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Analyse	Separate, examine and interpret the concept
Argue	Give arguments to support your statement or to oppose somebody else’s statement, and substantiate your argument with an example
Assess	Give a judgement and back it up with evidence or reasoning
Calculate	This means a numerical (number) answer is required. You must show your working, especially where two or more steps are involved
Classify	Group things based on common characteristics
Compare	Point out or show both similarities and differences between things or concepts
Critically evaluate	Describe both sides of an argument, come to a conclusion and justify your decision
Debate	State the positive or negative side of an argument, and substantiate your point with an example
Define	Give a clear meaning of the concept
Describe	State in words (using diagrams where appropriate) the main points of a structure/process/phenomenon/investigation
Determine	To calculate something, or to discover the answer by examining evidence
Differentiate	Use differences to qualify categories
Explain/ Discuss	Give a clear, detailed description of the focus topic
Identify	Name the essential characteristics
Illustrate	Give examples to demonstrate or prove something
Justify	Give clear, detailed reasons fo taking a particular position
Label	Identify on a diagram or drawing
List	Write a list of items, with no additional detail
Mention	Refer to relevant points
Name	Give the name (proper noun) of something
State/Give	Write down information without discussion
Recommend / Suggest	Give your opinion and back it up with facts, reason or an explanation
Tabulate	Draw a table and indicate the answers as direct pairs

How to help your learners develop study skills

Developing great study skills is important for learners to acquire. It ensures that the content they learned in the classroom has been understood and that they can apply their knowledge when writing tests and exams. However, learners don’t always know what study methods they can use while studying.

Developing great study skills is important for learners to acquire. It ensures that the content they learned in the classroom has been understood and that they can apply their knowledge when writing tests and exams. However, learners don’t always know what study methods they can use while studying.

There are several study methods that learners can use to successfully study. Here are two study techniques your learners can use when studying for tests and exams.

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a learning technique that will help your learners remember large amounts of information and not lose marks for that one point they can’t remember. There are different types of mnemonics, but we will look at two examples.

Acronym mnemonics
This is when you take the first letter of each word in your list and make a new word. For example, there are four types of rivers:
Permanent
Periodic
Episodic
Exotic

Build a new word – PEPE. Remember this word and what each letter is for. When asked, ‘What are the four types of rivers?’, all you need to remember is PEPE to jog your memory and write down the four types without forgetting one of them.

That was an easy example, now let’s look at remembering a longer list where it is difficult to make a new word.

Word mnemonics
The first letter of each word is combined to form a phrase or sentence. For example, there are 7 different drainage patterns of a river system:
Dendritic
Trellis
Rectangular
Radial
Centripetal
Deranged
Parallel

The first letter of each word is – D T R R C D P. Let’s try to make a phrase or sentence using these letters – Donald Trump Rides Rhinos Crossing Desert Plains.

When asked, ‘What are the different drainage patterns of a river system?’ Say to yourself – Donald Trump Rides Rhinos Crossing Desert Plains. This will help you to remember the first letter of each drainage pattern and you will also remember all 7 of them. Now you just have to write them down on your answer sheet.

There is no need for your learners to lose valuable marks anymore!

Mind maps

A mind map is a diagram that visually maps out, summarises or organises information. For many people, using mind maps helps them to remember information more easily.

How to make a mind map

Start your mind map by writing or drawing a word or picture in the center of the page. This word or picture should represent your main idea and for the section or chapter.
Draw branches extending from your central image and write a key word or draw a picture to represent your main topics (or major points) on these branches.
From your main topics, draw further branches for your sub-topics drawing and/or writing keywords down as you go.
From your sub-topics, branch off with more detail that supports your sub-topics with more keywords and drawings.
Continue to add more detail, more topics more sub-topics until you have completely summarised the section or chapter on the page.

Using drawings, keywords and various colours will also make it easier and more interesting when preparing for exams.

Why make mind maps?

When creating your mind map, you use both sides of your brain.
Like your brain, a mind map works with links, connections, and associations.
A mind map makes it easier to remember facts.
A mind map helps you to become more creative.
A mind map allows ideas to flow easily.
A mind map can be read and reviewed quickly and easily.
It is easy to see how ideas are related on a mind map.
A mind map uses keywords to improve memory and saves time.
A mind map focuses on the main idea and then connects the other ideas.
A mind map allows you to make easy additions.
All the information on a section or chapter is on one page.
Mind mapping optimises your brain’s potential fully.

Helping your learners develop effective study techniques will not only assist them in getting good marks but will also help them develop healthy study habits they can apply in tertiary education.