It’s the early bird that catches the worm! Prepare for your exams now.

This study period is roaring along and soon you’ll be thinking exams. If you want to good results, start planning for a happy July break now.

What do you need to do?

1. Find out everything you can about how exams are done at UniSA: the practical stuff such as dates, venue, rules etc
2. Make sure you know the focus of your exams: see your Course Information guide, lecture notes, past papers, ask in tutorials
3. Develop a revision schedule that covers all you need to revise, perhaps twice
4. Practice question analysis using past questions: ask tutors or successful past students to review your answers to see that you are answering the set question fully
5. Problem solve with others: talking the talk for your course
6. Review feedback: read lecturers’ suggestions and apply new strategies
7. Feed your brain: keep active and healthy
8. Rest well: it nourishes memory and clear thinking
9. Set weekly as well as longer term goals
10. Meet all your goals and get the grades you want.

Are you using a variety of approaches to learning? Find out if there is an exam prep workshop or resources that might help you.Check for discipline and courses-based helpdesks e.g. the Maths Help Centre at Mawson Lakes..

Success is within your reach if you get organised now!

Helen

Helen Johnston,

Learning Adviser, Learning and teaching Unit, Mawsom Lakes

Your new best friend: unilife

unilife is UniSA's student organisation. It is run by students for students and it provides a range of different services, including fun things like

• administration for UniSA students' sporting clubs
• social events
• the student magazine
• footy tipping
• discounts on all sorts of things
  

But, more importantly, it also provides

• advocacy for when you need someone to argue with your lecturer for you
• advice for when you don't understand UniSA's policies
  
• an employment service for when you need to find a part time job
• a second hand bookshop for when you can't afford new copies of your textbooks
  

Voice Advice Play : unilife.

Is attendance important?

Often its hard to find time for everything you have to do. Work, family, friends and study all demand your time and attention. When pressure builds up, it may seem easier to skip class and catch up later.

However, a lot of independent research indicates that attending classes makes students more successful. Here are some quotes from just some of the papers we have read:

• "Students who wish to succeed should attend class, and instructors should likewise encourage class attendance" (Gump 2005).
  
• "The evidence from this study provides an assessment of the pure relationship between absenteeism and student learning. The findings suggest that the mean exam score was significantly effected by absenteeism" (Marburger 2001).
• "... there is a signficant positive correlation between attendance and academic achievement" (Halpern 2007).

In addition, Paunonen and Ashton (2001) found that if students have been absent from classes, we can reliably predict that they will fail the course.

These research projects all agree: skipping class contributes to failure.

So, the next time someone asks you to do something that clashes with a class, tell them you can't afford the time.

Kirsten










PS if you would like to read the papers I have cited, here is a reference list:

• Gump, S., 2005, "The cost of cutting class: attendance as a predictor of success," College Teaching, 53(1):21-26.
• Halpern, N., 2007, "The impact of attendance and student characteristics on academic achievement: findings from an undergraduate business management module," Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4):335-349.
• Marburger, D. R., 2001, "Absenteeism and undergraduate exam performance," The Journal of Economic Education, 32(2):99-109.
• Paunonen, S. V. & Ashton, M. C., 2001, "Big five predictors of academic achievement," Journal of Research in Personality, 35(1):78-90.

When things don't go as planned .......

Have you thought how a recent injury, or an incident in your life, may impact on your studies.....a broken leg or arm, surgery or the flu?

Events like moving house, or the loss of a relationship can also cause a hiccup in your studies.

These short-term injuries and events can have a far-reaching impact on your studies down the track – how?

· Getting to placements – travel to and from, getting in and out of buildings

· Moving around campus, lecture theatres and laboratories

· Concentrating on lectures and reading

· Completing assignments and exams – writing/sketching

If you think any of the above might apply to you, come and talk to a Counsellor or Disability Advisor for advice and assistance before it's too late to make arrangements.

Helen Reeves, Counsellor

Tracey Skaczkowski, Disability Advisor