Last minute exam preparation and at the exam

The advice in this blog posting is relevant for the night before and the day of your exam.

The night before the exam, make sure you know the venue, double-check the date and time, and what materials you are allowed to take with you. If you are allowed to use additional materials, plan and organise them carefully and methodically.

You will need to take your student ID card and a few pens (you may need a spare in case one runs out of ink). If you take a bag you will have to put it in a separate room before entering the exam hall, so it is best to leave bags at home. Just take the bare minimum of items (house keys, money, pens, ID card, permitted materials) and keep them in your pockets.

Because so many courses have exams at the same time, parking can be a real problem. We suggest that you take the bus or the train because then you won’t have to worry about finding a park, and you can revise as you travel. Make sure you arrive at the venue about 30 minutes early.

When you arrive, you will see a few hundred students waiting to enter. The doors will be opened a few minutes before the exam is due to commence. As you walk in, look for the large maps showing the desks at which the different courses' exams are located (the maps will tell you at which ‘block’ of desks your exam is located). Go to the correct block of desks and take a seat, but don’t sit near your friends - if you sit near your friends you may be tempted to make eye contact or try to communicate with them, so avoid the temptation by sitting on your own.

The exam questions, an attendance slip, some scrap paper and maybe an answer booklet will be on the desk. Read the front page of the exam (do not read any other pages until reading time is announced) and fill in any information.

While the students are finding their seats, the invigilators will be reading out some rules. Listen carefully to what they are saying. The invigilators will also remove any disallowed electronic devices (they will be returned at the end of the exam), tell you when to start and when to stop, check that the photo on your student ID card matches your face, and collect your answers at the end.

Exams at UniSA have reading time followed by writing time. You are not allowed to write any of your ‘official’ answers during reading time, but you are allowed to make notes on scrap paper. When the start of reading time is announced you can open the exam and start reading the questions and when the start of writing time is announced you can start writing your answers.

During the exam, If you need to use the toilet, raise your hand and wait for an invigilator. Also, to prevent distracting other students, you will not be allowed to leave the exam in the first 30 minutes or the last 10 minutes.

Kirsten Wahlstrom
Learning Adviser

Coping with exam anxiety

The sensations we call “anxiety”, such as trembling, pounding heart, dry mouth, dizziness or nausea, are due to the release of adrenalin when you are under threat. Strangely enough, it is the same adrenalin that helps you enjoy a movie, a holiday, or feel attracted to someone. So it’s not all bad!

Anxiety about exams can help boost your performance and motivate you to study. But when the day arrives, how can you avoid becoming too anxious to think clearly, or even hold a pen?

Breathing is the key!

Under pressure, your breathing may become shallow, or you may hyperventilate or “gasp”. When your adrenal glands (which sit just above each kidney) detect a change in the gases in your blood, they assume you are in trouble, and pump out extra adrenalin to help you fight or flee! So it won’t surprise you to learn that the key to controlling those anxiety symptoms, is to control your breathing!

Here’s how to do it

Lie or sit comfortably. Place your hands over your lower abdomen, and take a slow breath in, so that you see your hands rise. Help your diaphragm draw the breath down, by pushing your tummy out as you breathe in. Now, slowly breathe out in a natural, easy fashion. Try not to use your chest muscles. Practise this every day while you feel calm and relaxed. Start practising today!

You can use breathing skills to settle those anxiety symptoms and improve sleep. With daily practice, it can become automatic!

Be prepared!

Feeling well-prepared and confident in your exam and study preparation will lead to positive thoughts such as “I know the material and I know how to answer exam questions.”

Maintain a healthy lifestyle, and try to balance study with exercise, rest, and relaxation. On the day of the exam, get to the venue early. Set the alarm if you need to.

Make sure you read the exam paper carefully! You would be surprised how often students don't read instructions, or forget to read the back page of the paper!

Good luck with your exams!

Helen Reeves

Counsellor

Before the exam: final weeks

The last weeks before the exam can be used to fine tune your understanding of the topics and concepts. Develop an overview of your course by reducing your notes to a manageable set.

If late in starting your exam preparation you should use the time still available to you to apply the advice given above. Your late start is likely to mean that you have to allocate a lot more time and effort between now and the exams than you would if you had started earlier. You should still try to cover all the course content more than once so that you both learn and remember. The problem with intensive, last minute study can be an overloading of the memory, leading to poor recall in the exam room.

There are several approaches to learning which you may find useful. You may have to select the approaches that are most relevant to your learning needs and type of exam.

• Summaries: reduce the main ideas from lectures, a chapter of a text book or a set of readings to a number of key points that can be memorised. The key points are easier to remember in the exam and will prompt your recall of your notes.
• Recall cards: use a pack of small filing cards to develop a glossary with each card having a term on one side and the description/definition/example/diagram on the other. You can use the cards wherever you are to memorise terms and their meanings.
• Concept maps: start by writing a key idea at the centre of a page, then surround it by concepts that are connected. Make any links that are appropriate, including words. This is a very useful approach for anyone who responds well to visual displays of ideas.
• Mnemonics: make a connection between what you are trying to learn and something you know well. You can do this by connecting the new idea to a familiar word or picture. For example each letter of the word can be used to remind you of a key term/formula/concept that you need to remember.
• Talk through or verbalise concepts: practise describing or explaining a concept to ensure that you really understand it. Some students talk to each other about key terms; others talk to anything, even inanimate objects like teddy bears.
• Problem solving: apply your knowledge and understanding by solving problems (past exam questions, tutorials topics, questions from text books). Working with other students is practical for checking your solutions.
  

Near the exam you will need to:

• allocate more time to revision
• confirm the practical details: date, location, starting time, overall length, number and type of questions, likely allocation of marks, exam weighting (% of study period mark)
• rearrange work or family commitments that might affect your exam performance

Kirsten and Helen

National Anti Bullying Day

Hi All,

3rd June 2009 marks "Know Bull Day" - the national anti-bullying day.

"Know Bull! Day is a national day designed to raise awareness of, and highlight the need for promoting safe and respectful workplaces through the eradication of bullying. "

Any form of bullying (intimidation, harrasment or discrimination) of others is against the law in Australia and can carry serious consequences.

All students studying at UniSA are bound by the "UniSA Code of Good Practice: Student Behaviour"

All students should note: "The University has a duty of care to members of the University community and is obliged to take immediate action to address any incidents where a student’s behaviour is deemed to be inappropriate or to interfere with the freedom of another member of the University community to pursue their studies, research, duties or any other activity in relation to the University, or to take part in the life of the University. Senior staff in positions of authority can arrange for the immediate removal of students causing disturbances."

We all have to share the planet. Lets be good to each other!

Know your lease!

Hi All,

Its been a while since I last posted but recently a student came to me with a query regarding his current lease at his rental accommodation. I was surprised that he did not know exactly the type of lease he had signed to so I thought it might be worth making a brief posting on the different types of leases for our international and country students and perhaps the information may even be useful to some of our local students.

A standard individual residential lease (you are the only person signed on the lease) is usually 6 or 12months in duration. For most residential leases you will need to pay equivalent 4-6 weeks rent security bond which is an amount of money lodged and held with the SA Government Tenancies Branch from which all or an amount can be applied to be deducted by the landlord to cover the costs of any damage that might occur to the property during your tenancy there.

Before moving in you will also likely need to 2 weeks rent in advance so if your rent is $280 per week then you would need to calculate perhaps 6 weeks security bond ($1680) plus an additional 2 weeks rent in advance ($560) would mean that in order to move in you may need to pay over $2,000 plus dollars.

Before moving in you should also complete an "Inspection Sheet" which is also lodged with the Tenancies Branch. It is important when completing the Inspection Sheet that you record the condition of the accommodation exactly as it is. If something is in your opinion damaged but the landlord of agent has recorded it as in good condition it is important that you record it on the sheet as "damaged" otherwise when you lease expires your landlord may apply to the Tenancies Branch to deduct an amount from your security bond to repair the damage, even if it existed before you moved in.

Another type of residential tenancy which is quite common is the "sub-let" which means that a head tenant has signed a lease with the landlord and with the landlords permission rents a room of that property to another tenant. For example in a 3 bedroom house one tenant signs the lease with the landlord and thus becomes responsible for the rent and maintaining the property and he in turn "sub-lets" the remaining two rooms. The two other people sign a lease with the head tenant for each of their rooms and if they want to move out they have to discuss with the head tenant, not the landlord. As far as the landlord is concerned the head tenant is renting the property and is solely responsible for it. Fortunately with sub-lets the Tenancies Branch can assist to resolve any disputes between tenants and landlord.

And finally the other most commonly found type of lease is the "Co-Tenancy" where all people staying in the property sign the lease agreement with the landlord and all signatories are responsible for the rent and maintaining the property. If when the lease is concluded and the lease holders move out damage to the property is discovered, all signatories of the lease become responsible. A possible downside of the co-tenancy is that the Tenancies Branch cannot assist to resolve any disputes between tenants or with the landlord.

An important source of accommodation information for UniSA students is the "Accommodation" section of the UniSA website which includes all the information above plus much more.

All the Best,

Damien

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

Important information about your enrolment: The HECS Census Date

By now you should have a fairly good idea of the amount of work required for each course you are studying. However, you may be thinking about dropping a course to 'lighten your academic workload.’ Enrolment in your courses and the financial obligations for those courses must be finalised by the census date which is next Tuesday 31^st March 2009.

If you are considering the option of dropping a course it's important for you to make a decision before the HECS Census Date. Why? Well, if you choose to drop a course before this date you will not incur any HECS fees and the course will be deleted from your academic record. Almost all Australian students enrolled in a University program are liable for HECS–HELP fees. Under law, all enrolment payments need to be made by the census date in the study period in which the course is offered. Therefore, the date on which you withdraw will affect whether or not you have to pay HECS-HELP fees. The following link provides you with the steps to drop a course from your academic record http://www.unisa.edu.au/enrolonline/stepbystep/Adding_dropping_enrolments.pdf

International Students:

In order to complete your program within the duration of your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), you should maintain full-time enrolment (usually 4 courses or 18 units per half year) unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so and this is reflected in your Study Plan. Please refer to Visa Requirements information and speak to an International Student Officer at the Learning and Teaching Unit before dropping courses or withdrawing.

If you are unsure about what to do and would like to speak with someone about your own personal situation please come to a drop-in session for a confidential chat. Drop-in sessions are offered on a daily basis and no appointment is necessary. For more information about available times at Mawson Lakes Learning and Teaching Unit please refer to http://www.unisa.edu.au/ltu/contact/dropin.asp#ml

Angela and Helen

The Counselling Team