10-Effective Revision and Exam Techniques

The words effective revision are and exam techniques are drilled into my head since starting college. The word revision and exams seem so daunting :( ...!!!! Revision should be on-going and not be left to the last minute.

Leaving revision till the last minute is disastrous, as I have unfortunately found out in my mocks for my leaving cert I crammed as much French into my head 2 days before the exam and I barely passed. I learned from this mistake, I would never put myself in that position again as it was so stressful.

I feel I have to be in the correct frame of mind to revise I cant just sit down and start. Preparing for exams is not just memorising the information, you should have a good understanding of it to help you.

Coming up to exams i can’t revise at home, I would go to the library as I find it a suitable area to do work, I don't get distracted. The lecturers have told us that we could work in groups to help each other revise for the exams but personally I can’t revise for an exam with other people. Also the time that I start my revision is very important as I find I can’t concentrate after eight o'clock at night I find myself dazing so studying early in the day is the best time for me.

I use flash cards with loads of colour to revise, I would also recommend looking at past exam papers they give you a great idea of the types of questions that could come up in exams. Ensure to see how many marks are going for each question don't spend too long on one and loose marks on another.

9-Time Managment

As there is not enough hours in the day sometimes its is extremely important to manage your time and allocate a certain amount of time for each task in your day.
Time management is very important in my college, work and social life. I would love a healthy balance of time between these.
When I first started college in ITB my time management was all over the place to say the least. I was constantly late in the mornings as I never took into account that I may need extra time for travelling into college in case there is traffic. As I come to college via the M50 I am always stuck in traffic, so I decided to leave the house a few minutes earlier each morning to ensure I wouldn't be late.

Stress!! Kicks in when assignments are giving out and usually all at the same time. I have learned to write out a weekly plan which i work out how much time should be spent on each assignment to make sure I don't spend all my time on one and have to rush the others.

Due to having a part time job it feels like there’s not enough hours in the day. I work Saturdays and Sundays and in college Monday- Thursday, Fridays are when i most of my college work done so after work I can relax.

I have learned how to manage my time quite effectively it gives me time to study, do assignments, work and have some time for myself. Over the Christmas holidays i will take some days off to relax, i will then get back into the swing of studying for my exams in January.

   

1-Effective Note Taking

Students do not realise the importance of the balance of note taking and listening in lectures. Information given in lectures usually centres around the material that will be in exams. Effective note taking is an area i really struggle with in college. I never know when to sit back and listen and when to take notes.
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At the start of the semester i took notes directly off the board and it took me a few weeks to realise this was not helping me as they were not in my own words and it was difficult to read. You should write up your own notes in a way that is easy for you to read, the notes should be read over weekly or monthly to ensure you remember them. 

In my lectures I now print off my lecture notes and write bullet points on the sheet if there is additional information provided. Bullet points is the only ways I can write notes I find it easier to read and understand.
Taking notes benefit you as it helps your memory. Here are certain skills are needed for effective note-taking.

The outline format would be my ideal note taking technique as it is just bullet points, easy to read and doesn't take long, if i wanted to make better notes from this it would be easy. I also find colour very eye catching and makes the piece of writing not as boring to read.

Messy notes on scrapes of paper are useless !
Ensure you read over your notes after every lecture so the information doesn't go out of your head.!!!

5-Plagiarism

Plagiarism in my opinion is copying someone elses work and passing it off as your own work. It is a very common problem in college. The Internet makes it easier to plagiarise as people can just copy and paste, the reason i think people do this is because it is extremely easy to do so.

This involves using someone else’s work without giving acknowledgement to the person who you got the information from. It is also plagiarism if you just change words around.

Institute of Technology Blanchardstown Plagiarism Policy

• Plagiarism is a serious academic offence that must be avoided by all students
• In the event that plagiarism is suspected, the student will be asked by the Course Tutor to confirm or deny the occurrence
• Students found to commit plagiarism are subject to Institute disciplinary procedures

The ways to avoid getting accused of plagiarising

To avoid plagiarism you must give proper credit for words, ideas, theories, which are not your own. You have to place quotation marks around all direct quotes and also paraphrased and summarised material as you are just changing around words from information that was not your own.
Turn It In
Turn it in checks for possible plagiarism by comparing submitted papers to several databases  It scans its own databases to check if people have copied or not referenced other peoples work.

So the next time you want to take information from other peoples work ensure that you reference it and do not try pass it off as your own. You should reference in the text and the reference list, in ITB we use the Harvard Referencing system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOmHr4bET0

Effective Presentations

Effective Presentations are very important in academic and work life. I think it is very important in achieving confidence. When presenting do not rely on cue cards or slides ensure to make eye contact with the audience. Alot of people get nervous about public speaking and a good way to overcome your nerves is to practise your presentation and time yourself. Identify your bad habits and ensure you don’t do them on the day.  :)

You can achieve an effective presentation if you work on your skills. The following website will provide a list of key skills you should use to gain an effective presentation.

Three important things we were told were effective are:

1-Tell the audience what you’re going to tell them

2-Tell them about the topic

3-Tell them what you told them.

 I found the PowerPoint presentation the most challenging task so far. It is something I struggle with personally, and I was out of my comfort zone. I chose to do a presentation on teen pregnancy because i knew a lot of information about it. I had some effective images and not too much text. I practised my presentation many times before I had to present it. I practised it in an area that was similar to where I would have to do it, so that standing up at the top of the room in front of people would not be so daunting. I made sure i didn’t wear jewellery because it would distract me.  For my next presentation I would only write bullet points on my cue cards as I got distracted by all the sentences.