Showing posts with label Exam techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exam techniques. Show all posts
Friday, 28 April 2017
Friday, 21 April 2017
Mind Mapping
I've been a long term 'fan' of mind-mapping. I was first introduced to it as a teenager - and have found it very useful throughout my career, first as a student, then as an academic (and also for dealing with the masses of information I was using as a parliamentary candidate). As with any system - it is good to adapt to your own style and strengths. My problem is that I am useless at drawing (I know there are those who claim that anyone can be taught to draw, but is beyond me - I couldn't draw to save my life!). That has meant that I lost one of the advantages of mind-mapping - which is to use all the senses. My "mind-maps" were closer to "spidergrams" - sometimes I used colour - but essentially I used two dimensional diagrams, without drawings. However it has assisted me in studying; writing essays and preparing presentations and speeches. Most of all - it has helped when I prepared for exams.
Tony Buzan, a key developer and populariser of Mind Maps has gone hi-tech Now I can do it on screen - I have MindMaps loaded on my home PC and on my iPad.
It may work for you - it may not. Each of us has our own learning style. For me it works - and works VERY well. I'm not good at remembering masses of information (and getting worse as I get older). But organising related information by drawing mind maps is a great help. I also find it an invaluable "thinking device".
Previously, I found them most useful for exam revision - thankfully I'm not facing any exams in the near future - but if you are - or you have a friend who is - then it's worth considering whether Mind Maps can help.
If you want further information - press here. It tells you something about the products available.
But you can do them with pen (though pencil works best) and paper. The link is that you see the relationships between ideas. You can link key ideas in an argument by linking 'clouds' containing the key ideas together in a chain. You can develop different levels of mind maps - for example
* What is needed for a successful Judicial review claim;
* the elements of a specific offence (Actus Reus, Mens Rea and Defences);
* or the key facts of a particular case.
Why not try to list some topics you could prepare mind maps for?
Tony Buzan, a key developer and populariser of Mind Maps has gone hi-tech Now I can do it on screen - I have MindMaps loaded on my home PC and on my iPad.
It may work for you - it may not. Each of us has our own learning style. For me it works - and works VERY well. I'm not good at remembering masses of information (and getting worse as I get older). But organising related information by drawing mind maps is a great help. I also find it an invaluable "thinking device".
Previously, I found them most useful for exam revision - thankfully I'm not facing any exams in the near future - but if you are - or you have a friend who is - then it's worth considering whether Mind Maps can help.
If you want further information - press here. It tells you something about the products available.
But you can do them with pen (though pencil works best) and paper. The link is that you see the relationships between ideas. You can link key ideas in an argument by linking 'clouds' containing the key ideas together in a chain. You can develop different levels of mind maps - for example
* What is needed for a successful Judicial review claim;
* the elements of a specific offence (Actus Reus, Mens Rea and Defences);
* or the key facts of a particular case.
Why not try to list some topics you could prepare mind maps for?
Wednesday, 19 April 2017
What's the point of revision?
A question I often ask myself! Without it, one is less likely to demonstrate one's knowledge and skills to an examiner. But I want to take the answer to a more practical level.
Revision is about 'training for the exam' - being in 'top condition' for the challenge that the exam sets. It's about having the key facts at one's fingertips. What are the appropriate legal rules to solve the problem? What are the key arguments around central ideas in the law? What are the key cases in a particular area? It is NOT about memorisation for the sake of memorisations - it is about marshalling the resources you will deploy in the exam room.
Answering exam questions is not about dumping a load of facts, cases and slogans on a piece of paper - it's about marshalling them TO ANSWER THE SPECIFIC QUESTION SET.
So you do need to be able to
- use key cases to advance and/or prove the argument you are making
- set out - and EVALUATE - key arguments (for example about the level of 'Separation of Powers in the UK Constitutional System' or 'balancing conflicting rights arising from the European Convention on Human Rights')
- solve key problems (for example, assess whether a certain set of facts could give rise to a successful Judicial review claim, or a prosecution for a particular offence.)
Single facts, or single cases, are not by themselves key to success - it is the relationships between them.
Rigidity is an enemy of success. I've read many an exam answer which is little more than the dumping of all the facts the student can remember about the subject. That is not the way to success. As stated above, success comes from being able to effectively deploy your knowledge and understanding to answering the specific questions set.
Revision is about 'training for the exam' - being in 'top condition' for the challenge that the exam sets. It's about having the key facts at one's fingertips. What are the appropriate legal rules to solve the problem? What are the key arguments around central ideas in the law? What are the key cases in a particular area? It is NOT about memorisation for the sake of memorisations - it is about marshalling the resources you will deploy in the exam room.
Answering exam questions is not about dumping a load of facts, cases and slogans on a piece of paper - it's about marshalling them TO ANSWER THE SPECIFIC QUESTION SET.
So you do need to be able to
- use key cases to advance and/or prove the argument you are making
- set out - and EVALUATE - key arguments (for example about the level of 'Separation of Powers in the UK Constitutional System' or 'balancing conflicting rights arising from the European Convention on Human Rights')
- solve key problems (for example, assess whether a certain set of facts could give rise to a successful Judicial review claim, or a prosecution for a particular offence.)
Single facts, or single cases, are not by themselves key to success - it is the relationships between them.
Rigidity is an enemy of success. I've read many an exam answer which is little more than the dumping of all the facts the student can remember about the subject. That is not the way to success. As stated above, success comes from being able to effectively deploy your knowledge and understanding to answering the specific questions set.
Revision is about
- identifying the key facts, arguments, rules and cases
- recognising the links between your areas of knowledge (it's much easier to remember if you linked your knowledge)
- becoming flexible about how you use your knowledge (so you answer the specific question set, not just dump pre-learned material in the answer book).
- becoming fluent in explaining concepts and making arguments.
I'll be exploring some of these ideas in forthcoming posts.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Revising for Law Exams?
- English Legal System
- EU Law
- Constitutional & Administrative Law
- Criminal Law
If you are facing exams (Law Degree; Law A-Levels), do feel free either to use the search engine to the right of this post - or browse through the posts in date order (year & month).
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Thoughts on Revision
A video made for students facing exams within the next month (if that's not you - do bookmark this post and come back to it when you are in the middle of exam revision).
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
American Football Teams
There are 32 professional teams who play in the National Football League. The are divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each Conference is divided into 4 divisions.
Teams play each other within and across Conferences and Divisions. There is a scheduling formula to ensure rotation of games over a period. It is described on p16 of the Official NFL Record & Fact Book 2011.
How can you record who plays in which conference and division. The MindMap below - which stresses the connections - and has some spatial relationships (the teams in each division are in the rough position of the cities relative to each other).
Tap the MindMap to enlarge it.
Does this way of representing the information make it easier to remember who the teams are - and which Conference/Division they play in? It may be a technique which may help you record and remember key information for your exams!
Teams play each other within and across Conferences and Divisions. There is a scheduling formula to ensure rotation of games over a period. It is described on p16 of the Official NFL Record & Fact Book 2011.
How can you record who plays in which conference and division. The MindMap below - which stresses the connections - and has some spatial relationships (the teams in each division are in the rough position of the cities relative to each other).
Tap the MindMap to enlarge it.
Does this way of representing the information make it easier to remember who the teams are - and which Conference/Division they play in? It may be a technique which may help you record and remember key information for your exams!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Exam Thoughts
In school's, Colleges and University's across the UK, exams are underway. In the subjects of Law and politics what will examiners be looking for?
The first thing to remember that examiners don't mark for the pure entertainment of it! They have a job to do. Their task is like that of an auditor - they must look at what a student has written (in the way an auditor looks at the accounts the company has provided), and then must satisfy himself that the evidence is there to justify his conclusions. An auditor may conclude that the accounts are a true and fair record - or he may have to conclude that his report must be qualified in some way. The examiner must give the student's work a grade - he must do so on the evidence provided by the student in the exam script.
So help the examiner out! Put yourself in the examiner's shoes - ask what he needs to see in order to justify the grade YOU want? Examiners reports, your course (module) guide can help here. Your university, school or college is expected today to give you more information about the criteria for the different grades. Use that information.
Make sure that you answer the question set. If the examiner concludes that you have a general knowledge of the subject, but have not sufficiently applied the knowledge to the specific problem or issue asked for in the question - it is inevitable that you will get a lower Mark!
A well planned and structured answer will attract higher marks than a "stream of consciousness". Time spent planning and structuring your answer isn't a waste of valuable time - it enables you to present to the examiner a readable, well argued & logical piece of evidence. It shows that you've engaged with the subject matter and thought about the substance - and how best to communicate it.
In Law exams particularly, if you make an assertion, back it up with the appropriate authority - be it the relevant section of a Statute, a case or a distinguished academic opinion. (note to my students - AV Dicey is a powerful authority - "David Morgan said in lectures" is not.)
Definitions are useful - to describe and explain something, but don't waste your time trying to achieve word perfect quotes. Explaining in your own words show you have thought about the subject - being able to quote lots of sayings is a party trick.
It's good to describe; better to explain too. A reasoned discussion shows higher levels of thought. Critical evaluation - weighing up arguments is the best.
If you are facing exams - may I wish you all the best - but that's not going to help you pass. When the Prime Minister walks into the House of Commons he is prepared. He knows what his objectives are for his weekly ordeal. He anticipates and prepares for what MAY come up - but has prepared to be flexible in the face of the questions he is actually faced. Go and do likewise
The first thing to remember that examiners don't mark for the pure entertainment of it! They have a job to do. Their task is like that of an auditor - they must look at what a student has written (in the way an auditor looks at the accounts the company has provided), and then must satisfy himself that the evidence is there to justify his conclusions. An auditor may conclude that the accounts are a true and fair record - or he may have to conclude that his report must be qualified in some way. The examiner must give the student's work a grade - he must do so on the evidence provided by the student in the exam script.
So help the examiner out! Put yourself in the examiner's shoes - ask what he needs to see in order to justify the grade YOU want? Examiners reports, your course (module) guide can help here. Your university, school or college is expected today to give you more information about the criteria for the different grades. Use that information.
Make sure that you answer the question set. If the examiner concludes that you have a general knowledge of the subject, but have not sufficiently applied the knowledge to the specific problem or issue asked for in the question - it is inevitable that you will get a lower Mark!
A well planned and structured answer will attract higher marks than a "stream of consciousness". Time spent planning and structuring your answer isn't a waste of valuable time - it enables you to present to the examiner a readable, well argued & logical piece of evidence. It shows that you've engaged with the subject matter and thought about the substance - and how best to communicate it.
In Law exams particularly, if you make an assertion, back it up with the appropriate authority - be it the relevant section of a Statute, a case or a distinguished academic opinion. (note to my students - AV Dicey is a powerful authority - "David Morgan said in lectures" is not.)
Definitions are useful - to describe and explain something, but don't waste your time trying to achieve word perfect quotes. Explaining in your own words show you have thought about the subject - being able to quote lots of sayings is a party trick.
It's good to describe; better to explain too. A reasoned discussion shows higher levels of thought. Critical evaluation - weighing up arguments is the best.
If you are facing exams - may I wish you all the best - but that's not going to help you pass. When the Prime Minister walks into the House of Commons he is prepared. He knows what his objectives are for his weekly ordeal. He anticipates and prepares for what MAY come up - but has prepared to be flexible in the face of the questions he is actually faced. Go and do likewise
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