Food is the source of energy for the body which has an amazing ability to convert almost everything we eat into energy. It is this fuel that feeds our extremely complex biological system. However, if we don’t feed the body the proper fuel, deficiencies begin to develop that not only affect our normal body functions but also our ability to study effectively.

The more nutritious the energy source, the more effective the body and mind can function. It makes good sense for a student to ensure that they fuel their mind and body with the best possible food. You wouldn’t put regular automotive fuel in a formula one car and likewise you should not put non-nutritious fuel into your body, especially if our minds are doing all the work. The fuel we use should be using for studying should be specifically geared towards improving not only the functioning of our body, but our minds as well.

What is brain food?

Brain food is any food that provides the brain with the nutrients and energy that it needs to function effectively. Brain foods are an assortment of different foods that either provides one or many of the following:

• Energy to the brain
• Improvement of the synaptic connections
• Increased ability for memory neurotransmitters functioning
• Improve blood and oxygen supply to the brain, and
• The ability to cope and handle mental stress

There has been a lot of research conducted in this area and decades of findings support claims that some foods do improve mental activity, memorization, and intelligence. The brain foods described in this chapter are both safe and natural substances.

During active studying the brain is consuming large amounts of energy. Adequate energy is the first and foremost important fuel the mind needs to function.

Glucose

Glucose is the most important ingredient for proper mental functioning, not to mention that it is the raw energy that the brain needs to function.

In order to think clearly, our brains require large amounts of this type of sugar. About 50% of our body’s usage of glucose is consumed by the brain alone. It isn’t the quantity of glucose to ensure the proper mental functioning, but the consistent and readily available supply of glucose that is important.

The body has natural built in mechanisms to maintain glucose levels. However this equilibrium is easily thrown off by many of the foods we eat. If either the glucose intake is too high or too low, our natural equilibrium swings back and forth until the proper level is found again. It is this swing of glucose levels that compromises our mental efficiency.

When there is too much supply of glucose, the body releases large amounts of chemicals to reduce the glucose level which causes a temporary low glucose level.  An example would be if we were to drink sweetened, caffeinated fizzy drinks or sweet snacks such as chocolate bars.

Caffeine and highly sugared sweets are nice temporary fixes, but dramatically reduce the mental efficiency of the mind. The effects of these foods can last for hours and in some cases have more of a detrimental affect than good. These foods cause the swing in our glucose levels that compromise our mental ability.

The reverse is true for students that don’t eat enough. If there isn’t enough glucose in the body, the body will resort to burning its own reserve of fat for the needed glucose. This result is a temporary shortage of glucose in the body causing feelings of drowsiness and mental sluggishness.

In both cases, having too little or too much glucose does not promote efficient mental activity. The key to maintaining a consistent supply of glucose to the body is to consume a regular supply of carbohydrates. The reason carbohydrates are so good is that they are metabolised in the body at a much slower rate and converted into glucose at a consistent rate which helps to keep the natural equilibrium of the body.

Brain food

Many years of research have been spent on determining foods and vitamins that improve intelligence and mental functions such as memory. This research has lead to incredible claims regarding certain foods and vitamins. The top 5 researched and studied ‘brain foods’ are listed below. It is well worth the student to investigate and determine their own success with these foods as the benefits will vary between individuals.

B-Complex vitamins

B-complex vitamins are known for their ability to help cope with stress. Although this vitamin doesn’t directly assist the brain in its functions, it does assist the body in stressful times during studying. Daily supplements of B-complex vitamins are essential during these stressful periods.

These vitamins can be purchased at any supermarket or drugstore and normally come in supplement form.

Ginseng

Ginseng is a well known plant root, remarked by its similarities to the shape of the human body. It has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years for its overall beneficial properties as well improvement of cognitive processes. Its health benefits include improved overall energy and increased powers of concentration.

It can be purchased in many forms including its natural form as a plant root, tea, concentrated liquid and even supplement (tablet) form. Ginseng can be purchased at most drug and Chinese herbal stores. Dosage depends on form and concentration of Ginseng purchased.

Lecithin

Lecithin is typically derived from the Soya bean. It contains an ingredient which is converted by the body into an important neurotransmitter. This neurotransmitter is associated with increased memory function and intelligence. Research on this natural substance has shown that daily use of it, either in diet or supplement, can improve retention and recall abilities. Lecithin has also been found to reduce the effects of senile dementia.

It is available in any health food store and can be purchased in either capsules or granules. The common dosage is either a tablespoon of the granules or two capsules.

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba is a natural substance derived from the bark of a tree found in South America. It has been found to improve the circulation within the body. Increased circulation means an increase in oxygen carrying blood which also means an increase in oxygen to the brain.

Ginkgo Biloba is available in most supermarkets and drugstores. A dosage of Ginkgo Biloba of between 100-200 mg per day is considered the optimum amount.

Omega-3

Omega-3 is a fatty acid that is found in fish, leafy green vegetables, nuts, flax seed and canola oils. It is the name given to a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids play an important role as a structural membrane for nerve tissue and influence a wide range of functions in cells and tissues. These types of fats can not be reproduced by the body and our bodies need a continuous supply of them.

Omega-3 fatty acids help with regulation of nerve transmission and communication, oxygenation and circulation to the cells and have highly specialized function in the neurological tissues of the brain. Omega-3 fatty acids also form part of the essential fatty acids that are the building blocks of the synaptic membranes in the brain.

In a research study conducted by the University of Oxford of the effect of Omega-3 with children thought to suffer from attention deficit disorder found marked improvement with the children over a 3 month period.

Omega-3 can be found in most health food and drug stores.  The dosage varies with the form and concentration that is purchased.

The benefit derived from any of these substances will vary between individuals; however the potential benefit should not be discounted. Aside from the numerous medical reports that state marked improvement by their participants, by providing your mind with the nutrients it needs to function effectively, you are ensuring that you are taking to steps to get optimal performance out of your mind.

 

If you improve your study habit, you would realize that you can learn more in less time. A good study habit does not mean that you have to go through every page and tackle every topic in order to grasp everything. Improving your study habit depends on how much effort you put into it not just because you are forced to, but also because you really want to.

Studying can become boring to most students. Thinking about it, there seem to be better and more exciting things to do outside than staying in a room reviewing books. You can easily get tempted to play games on your computer instead of studying.

The key to improve your study habit is having the capacity to set aside the temptation to do other things and set your mind into reading, understanding and learning. Here are some great tips that can help you establish a good study habit more easily.

One of the first things that you have to do to improve your study habit is to establish a goal. Remind yourself why you want to improve your study habit. Maybe you need to do well on a specific subject. You may want to get into the habit of studying to gain entry into a good college. You may want to excel in your future career. Whatever your goal is, make sure that you always keep that in mind. This will help you put some concrete purpose in your efforts to study better.

The next thing that you can do to establish a good study habit is by setting up a schedule. This schedule will include setting up a timetable for yourself and the subject that you are studying for. You should be able to plan out how much time you are going to spend in studying a particular subject.

Set aside a fixed time schedule for the day that you wish to spend for studying. The next thing you need to do is to keep up with the schedule. Maintaining an established study schedule can help you improve your study habit.

A good way to absorb ideas more effectively as you try to improve your study habit is by trying to break them down into smaller portions. If you have to tackle a difficult topic for a certain subject for the day, dividing them into smaller chunks, and then spending a session just focusing on each one, can help you grasp difficult ideas more quickly. You may look at some study topics and be overwhelmed by what you need to go over. Understanding them in small bits will allow you to get the whole idea a chunk at a time.

There are many mnemonic devices that people use everyday. The most effective ones for studying are described here.  These mnemonic devices that we will be discussing in this chapter are broken into two groups:

• Devices that will help you focus on organizing information into smaller chunks, and
• Devices that will help you attach meaning to otherwise ‘meaningless’ information.

There are many mnemonic devices available to help people remember. The most effective ones have been summarized below:

1. Clustering: Organizing and grouping similar items together will help you to remember information. Research shows that it can improve your retention by up to 4 times.
2. Acronyms: Each letter of a word is used to help recall information. If you wanted to remember to pick up butter, eggs, milk and alfalfa sprouts, you would use the word BEAM (Bread, Eggs, Alfalfa sprouts and Milk).
3. Acrostics: The first letter of each word or rhyme of a story can be used to help your recall. For example if you wanted to remember each of the planets in the solar system in sequence, you could remember “Men VeryEasily Make Jugs Serve Useful Nocturnal Purposes” (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,Neptune and Pluto)
4. Interactive imagery: Is simply a mini movie in your head of ‘interactive images’ to help with the memorization process. Interactive images are also used with other mnemonic systems.
5. Pegword system: This mnemonic device uses familiar information to ‘peg’ new information that you want to learn.
6. Location method: The location method uses familiar physical locations to help the student recall information they want to learn.
7. Keyword system: Normally used to remember foreign words. Foreign words are linked to existing English words to help recall.

Clustering

Clustering is a technique that we may already do without thinking about it. This is a technique whereby items of similar nature are grouped together to help recall. For example, when remembering a shopping list, rather than trying to remember each item individually, the items are clustered into groups. By simple organizing information into meaningful groups we are better able to remember it. Items such as apples, oranges, peaches, milk, cream, and yoghurt could be clustered into groups of fruits and milk products.

The aim with clustering is that by remembering the ‘cluster’ or grouping, you will be prompted to remember the items themselves. By using a story to remember each of the items in the groups you will be able to improve your recall abilities, such as the story to remember the 10 numbers above (7301128114).

Some important points about using clustering as a mnemonic device:

• By classifying the information, you are condensing it into an organized manner.
• Through the process of classification, your understanding of the material will improve.
• Your revision time is reduced because through the process of clustering you have condensed it.

Acronyms

An Acronym is a set of letters that are used to form a word. By remembering the word, each of the letters in the word prompts recall of the information. A good example of this is recalling all the Great Lakes in North America. The Acronym “HOMES” can be used. Each letter in the word “HOMES” refers to the first letter of one of the great lakes; LakeHuron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan,  Lake Erie, and Lake Superior.

Some important points about using acronyms as a mnemonic device:

• Acronyms ‘chunk’ information together so that you do not have to remember large pieces of information.
• An acronym serves as a great reminder of the information you need to know, but doesn’t help you remember the information specifically. The Acronym ‘HOMES’ helps prompt you with the first letter of each of the great lakes, but doesn’t actually tell you the name of the lakes.
• Acronyms tell you how much information you need to remember. Again, for example there are 5 great lakes, one for each of the letters in ‘HOMES’.

Acrostics

This is using the first letter of a word in a sentence used to prompt the recall of the information. A classical example for music students would be to use the acrostic “Every Good Boy Does Fine”. This acrostic is used to memorize the notes on the treble clef.

Interactive Imagery

This technique improves recall by linking isolated words by creating visual representations for the words and then picturing the interactions between them. For instance, if you needed to remember a book, elephant, lamp and glasses you could imagine an elephant with glasses on reading a book with a lamp overhead. That would be the imagery. By imagining the elephant turning the pages of the book or shifting his glasses to get a better look would be an example of interactive imagery.

When using interactive imagery, remember to use some the associations that help ‘burn’ that image in your mind. By adding elements of shock factor and intensity to your images you will be better able to remember them. Some examples of shock factor include anything that is:

• Bizarre
• Outrageous
• Different
• Weird, or
• Vivid

When using interactive images, it is important to form clear and detailed images. As the expression goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and is a great way to explain the power of interactive imagery.

Some important points about using interactive imagery as a mnemonic device:

• Practice will enable you to become very proficient and effective.
• If you ensure your images have ‘shock’ value, they will be more easily remembered.
• Imagery does take practice and can be time consuming at first.
• A lot of information can be stored in one single image. The ability to condense your material into a few important interactive images should not be understated.

Pegword System

The Pegword system uses a familiar list of information to link new or unfamiliar information together to help with recall. It can also be used with interactive images. For example, if you wanted to be reminded of the following items; glasses, an elephant, a lamp, and a book every time you hear happy birthday, can you visualize an elephant standing next to a lamp with glasses singing the words to happy birthday while he reads it out of a book. By having the elephant sing happy birthday, you are creating an association with the song. Every time you think of the image, you create a stronger association, and if the association is strong enough, then every time you hear someone sing happy birthday, you’ll remember the interactive image of the elephant.

The Pegword system can be used to ‘peg’ meaning to almost anything to help your recall. For example, if you wanted to remember numbers a different way, you could remember the following list:

1 = Sun

2 = Shoe

3 = Tree

4 = Door

5 = Alive

6 = Stick

7 = Heaven

8 = Gate

9 = Time (or watch)

0 = Hero (like superman)

This list should be easy to remember because each of the numbers are represented by a word that rhymes with it.

The next step is to then link a story to the number you want to remember. Let’s say that you want to remember when Christopher Columbus discovered America.  Most people would use the rhyme “ Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492” however the rhyme only rhymes with ‘2’, so if you don’t remember the whole year you are still stuck trying to remember when he sailed the ocean blue.

By using the pegword system you will just need to remember the image of Columbus and you will know the rest.

Here is an example:

Imagine the following interactive image to be able to remember when Christopher Columbus sailed to America.

Imagine this:

It is late morning and a ship is sailing the sea. The sun (1) is shining down as Columbus comes through the hatch/door (4) of his ship. He has slept in from partying too much the night before and squints as he looks up. Wanting to know what time (9) it is he looks at his watch, and the second he does, he notices bird droppings fall onto his shoe (2).

The image is weird and bizarre enough that you shouldn’t forget it. By putting together each of the scenes you will be able to determine that he ‘sailed the ocean blue in 1492’

Location method

The location method uses a familiar location to link to the items you want to remember. For example, if you were to use your kitchen as an example, you could visualize an elephant with glasses sitting at the table reading a book with a lamp next to it in your kitchen.  The next time you think of your kitchen, you should recall the image associated with that room.

Keyword system

The keyword system has been used mostly with foreign languages or isolated words. This system links words to form an interactive image that links the sounds and meaning to a familiar word. For example, if you were to learn the French word for butter which is beurre. The word beurre sounds like bear and so the image that can be imagined would be a bear eating a pound of butter.

When using mnemonic devices, no one device is recommended for a specific situation or circumstance. It is important to remember when using these devices to use the one you feel most comfortable with.  Each of us has our own personal learning style and dominant ‘intelligence’, so it is important for you to choose the one or many mnemonic devices that suit your learning style.

Ebbinghaus realized the importance of cues while studying, and recent research has confirmed this. Studies have shown that when research participants created their own retrieval cues, they were able to remember, almost without error, lists of up to 500 and 600 words. For each word, the participants were asked to generate another word (cue) to remind them of the next word. The system of cues works best for students when the information is related and unique. An example would be coat and jacket which are both related and unique.

Keep up the skills and techniques in this book. Use them, explore  them, and continue the journey learning how ‘to learn’. Your mind is a vehicle, , you can take it anywhere . Before you leave on your journey, decide your destination, map out your route, and enjoy the ride. You have the skills and ability to make your dreams come true. Make your own personal resolution to improve and to attain your goals.

You now have the skills and tools to improve yourself and your life. In business, school, university, or even social circles, effective learning helps in all areas of life. Don’t be content with where you are.

Goal setting is a landmark for achievement. Once you achieve your goals, set new ones. Continue the process, keep moving ahead and keep challenging yourself. Set your sights on what you are after. Take the action necessary to get there and achieve those goals!

Take aim:

Once you have attained some of your goals, challenge yourself. Aspire to some truly remarkable, yet achievable goals. Don’t be afraid of fear; let your previous success with your goals motivate your future goals. This is the step where you get to brainstorm and entertain your dreams. Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.

Take action:

Once you have set your sites on your goal, decide the action that is needed for attainment of this goal. This is the longest and most difficult part of the process but it doesn’t have to be the most unpleasant. Enjoy the journey to your goal. Enjoy the success, the failure, and the process of getting there.

Achieve:

Achieve and accomplish your goals. This is the most rewarding step and also the most gratifying. This is where you get to look back at where you came from and where you have arrived. With the realization that you can achieve your goals, this is also the step where you set yourself future goals.

Taking Aim, Taking Action, and Achieving are three basic steps that can leapfrog your learning success.  To be successful, you’ll need to want to be successful.

Michelangelo was seventy-two years old when he was appointed chief architect of St. Peters and commissioned to embellish this great temple with his paintings and statues. For eighteen years he continued his work which made his fame as imperishable as the church itself. Towards the end when his eyesight faded and he had become feeble, he would run his hands over the statues and carvings, feeling out with his dexterous fingers the details that his eyes could no longer see, and he often exclaimed, “I still learn.”

Lifetime learning: continue learning

This is the last chapter in this book. For some readers is it also the conclusion of just another book, for others it is the beginning of a journey of learning. Learning is a skill that can be applied to any subject.  It is also a skill that you can carry with you for a lifetime.

By no means is this a comprehensive manual on effective study, but an introduction of the subject. The techniques and tools provided in this book offer the serious student an approach that works. But it is up to you to use them and improve on them. These skills and techniques are not any use to you if they are not continually used.
To remain proficient, a student, much like a professional athlete must stay in condition. A marathon runner can only run if they have trained hard for many months building up the stamina and endurance for the long run. Successful learning also requires continual practice to keep the skills. If you have found success by applying the tools and techniques, continue to practice them. Don’t fall back into your regular routine. Good habits are as hard to break as the bad ones.

Commit to improvement:

Making a commitment is the first acknowledgement that you want to do something. The enjoyment of learning is something all of us should experience, and hopefully this book has shown you how.

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that “achievement” is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.

Helen Hayes

Examinations are in place to test a student’s knowledge of a specific subject. However there are instances where students don’t do well on a subject, not because they don’t know the material, but because they did not provide the information the examiner is looking for. In many of these instances, it is simple things the student didn’t do that would have made all the difference between a good grade and an excellent grade, or even the difference between a pass or a fail.

Most teachers and examiners are in the business of teaching to see students succeed. They have little satisfaction in failing a student. Examiners are well aware that students have spent a lot of time preparing and working towards passing and would rather pass them than fail them. Examiners will try their best to work with the answers students provide but in many cases students haven’t provided enough of the correct information and consequently loose marks.

The 10 steps to improving your grades focus on identifying the most common mistakes that students make in these situations and ways to prevent them. We all want to see you pass.

It doesn’t matter the course you are taking, as these points apply to almost all exams and subjects.

These 10 points can make the difference between a pass and a fail. They are the 10 most common mistakes.  Recognizing them can improve your grades.

1. 1. Answer the question: Failing to answer the question is a very common mistake. Although obvious, it happens to many students.
2. 2. Demonstrate your Understanding: You may not remember the formula or be able to regurgitate the facts, but if you can demonstrate your understanding you may get the marks you are looking for.
3. 3. Be Relevant: Quality is better than quantity. Ensure that your answers don’t run on with irrelevant facts. Make sure they are relevant to the question.
4. 4. Be clear: Avoid using big or fancy words and make sure your sentences are short and to the point.
5. 5. Ensure neatness & legibility: You will have a hard time scoring any points if the examiner can’t read your answers. Write neat and legible to ensure that your answers are clearly understood.
6. 6. Understand the value of the question: Make sure you include enough information for the amount of marks. If the question you are answering is worth 10 marks, make sure you have made at least 10 points.
7. 7. Make outlines: This is important for mathematical and essay exams. Even if your conclusion is wrong, your supporting arguments or calculations can still score you marks.
8. 8. Answer everything: Don’t leave an exam with any unanswered questions. Even if you are not sure of the correct answer, make sure you answer everything.
9. 9. Qualify your answer: Even if you make the wrong decision, but you qualify your answer with the correct information, you can still gain marks.

10. Don’t leave before the exam is over: Countless additional marks have been ‘found’ by students who have decided to spend the remaining time reviewing their exam, rather than leaving the exam after they finish the last question.

Answer the question

Lecturers often comment that the most common mistake students make is in not answering the question. One reason for this is students are in a hurry and anticipate the question because they know how to answer it. They focus on answering the question and then move onto the next. This approach only compounds the problem. Ensure that you read the question very carefully. Try reading the question a couple of times and underlining the key words to ensure that you understand what it being asked, then answer it.

Demonstrate your understanding

Being capable of reciting facts and other information might score marks on many exams, but it won’t help when you are asked to interpret or distil information you have memorized. On the other hand, if you are unable to recite the facts or other information, demonstrating your understanding of the material is another way to save you marks. In short, although memorizing facts may be required for the exam, also ensure that you understand the information and have the ability to interpret it if asked.

Be relevant

Be clearAnswering the question correctly is linked to relevance.  This is especially true for essay type questions. If your arguments are sound and you need to support it with facts, make sure those facts are relevant to the argument. If you include irrelevant facts, the examiner may question your understanding and deduct marks although your arguments may be correct. Ensure that all answers are directly relevant to the question.

Under examination conditions you are not required to write out a literary masterpiece, but you are required to write to the best of your ability given the circumstance. Examiners understand the pressures you will be under when you write. Whether it is a course work assignment, or an examination essay, two basic rules still apply.

• Sentences should be short and to the point
• Avoid using big or jargon words

It is very important to ensure that the examiner understands the point you are making. Sentences that run on and use big or jargon words normally detract from the point you are trying to make.

In some instances, exams are graded by individuals that use a score sheet and normally aren’t familiar with the content. You should always make sure that your essays or assignments can be easily read by the layman.

Ensure neatness and legibility

Although most examiners have become talented in the art of reading illegible handwriting through years of exposure to grading examinations, there are a few examiners that still give marks out for just that, neatness and legibility.

A student shouldn’t chance loosing any marks because their papers weren’t able to be read. Examiners typically only spend a few minutes per exam paper to be able to release the marks in time. This means that if the examiner can’t read your writing, regardless if you answered the question correctly, you probably won’t get the mark for it.

If you do suffer from poor handwriting, start slowly. Practice a good form of handwriting, either cursive or uncial and focus on the size and shape of the letter. Once you are comfortable with the shape and size of each letter, practice more and more often until it become second nature. Good handwriting is all about habit. If you can get into the habit of improving your handwriting, it’ll be second nature in a short time.

Understand the value of the question

Every question in an exam has a value of marks attached to it. It is important to be cognizant of the marks allocated to the question to ensure that you put the correct amount of work into the question that is necessary. For example a multiple choice question may only be worth 1 mark, and so it wouldn’t make sense to spend five minutes on this question if there is an objective question that is worth 5 marks. You should rather spend the five minutes on the 5 mark question and then come back to the multiple choice question if you have any time remaining.

When answering questions of various marks, be sure to include enough information to ensure that you receive full marks for the question. If a question is worth 10 marks, be sure to include at least 10 points.

Another point to remember when answering short essay questions is that examiners typically have a score sheet that they base the correct marks on. The examiner will read through the question and allocate marks to the student based on how many of the points were included on the score sheet. It makes sense to reason then, that for essay and short essay questions if you are not sure about one or two points, it is worth while adding them to the question.  You generally are not penalized for more information, and the chance that it is right could afford you an additional few marks.

Make outlines

Outlines are very important for mathematical exams, or exams that require proofs. Outlines can also be used for essay type questions. The reason outlines are so important is because if your answer is based on a wrong conclusion, you will still get marks for the work leading up to the conclusion. But you can only receive these marks if your outlines exist.

Outlines should be clearly marked as supporting information to the answer and their logical flow should be easily understood.

Answer everything

Once you commit to sit down at the exam, you should also commit to answering every question. Unless the exam is using negative marking, there is nothing to lose in answering all the questions even if you are not sure of the answer. Make sure you answer everything. It might even turn out that in the process of answering one question, you were able to remember the answer for another question.  You might even get the question right even though you thought it was wrong! Commit to completing every question on the exam. After the months and weeks of preparation, you owe it to yourself to answer every question.

Qualify your answer

If you are answering a question don’t forget to support your answer. Typically questions like these involve multiple points, and a point is given for the correct answer and statements to support it. Even if your answer is wrong, the support for your answer could be correct.

Don’t leave before the exam is over

Students always leave the examination early. This occurs in almost every exam. The students who leave the exam early aren’t students that ace the exam; they are students who finish early and decide to leave. After all, once they finish the exam, it is all over and they can go home and finally relax?

Wrong! After spending months or weeks studying and preparing for the exam, don’t you think that you owe it to yourself to at least stay and relish the experience? You may even be lucky enough to find a few mistakes that you missed. In exams where the competition is very high and the pass rate very low it is extremely important to stay to the very end. There may be that one mistake you correct that would mean the difference between passing and failing.

When competition is fierce and there is a high failure rate, every mark counts. Thousands of students every year in Accounting, Law, Business, and Medicine find that they have to redo a years worth of work because they were short one mark which caused them to fail. That is all it takes. When these stakes are so high, it is important to make every mark count. These points are there to ensure that you make every mark count!

These have been the 10 most common mistakes that students make while writing their exams. Although many of these comments may seem like common sense, it is still amazing to find students that still ignore them. By following these 10 tips you may just find yourself scoring that one extra mark that means the difference between a pass and fail. For the professional exams out there, these students know how important this is. You may be in the situation where you need a 85% to obtain the GPA that will allow you entrance into the University of your choice, but you only scored 84%.

Make sure you make every mark count!

There are some general rules and practices that should be followed when answering both multiple choice and true and false questions.

• · Time: Determine how much time you have to answer the questions. If you run over time on a particular question, move on to the next question and come back to it if you have finished all else. Try to keep to the time limit.
• · Negative marking: There are still exams that use a marking method called negative marking which deducts marks for incorrect answers. In this case only answer the questions that you are mostly sure of.
• · Watch out phases: Watch out for the use of “none of the above” or “two of the above” questions. Where these phrases are not used, but one or more options seem to be correct, select the answer that provides the most complete answer to the question.
• · Process of elimination: If you are still not sure of an answer, use the process of elimination.
• · Common sense: Don’t leave this at home. Your common sense when answering objective questions is your most important asset on any exam.
• · Old exam questions: Be careful using old exams. Questions may become irrelevant, correct answers may have changed or questions may no longer be part of the syllabus. Check before you use old papers or you may be learning the wrong answers!

Should you Change your Answer

It really all depends on how sure you are of your answer. The general answer is “No” because unconsciously you may know the answer, but consciously not know why it is right. But, if you are absolutely convinced that is it wrong, change the answer.

Multiple choice questions and true and false questions are an excellent way of testing a representative sample of student’s abilities in a short period of time. The student’s objective is to know the material well enough to perform at the level they want on the exam, however even the best students don’t always know all the questions, and that is when you need to rely on some of the deductive reasoning given in this chapter.

By understanding the construction of multiple choice questions, the use of key words, and having an approach to answering them you will be more likely to answer the correct answer and avoid choosing an incorrect one by mistake.

The tips and techniques given in this chapter for answering multiple choice questions will not give you the correct answer every time, but they will be able to provide you with an educated guess to the correct answer.

While writing an exam, you will most likely encounter multiple choice and true and false questions. The main part of a multiple choice statement is called a stem. The stem forms part of the question that can be completed by the alternatives that are offered. Sometimes the stem is also in the form of a question.

Here are some important pointers for multiple choice and true and false questions:

• · Do easy questions first: By answering the questions you know first you build up your exam confidence. By passing over the questions you are not sure about, you are giving yourself some time to think about the answer when you come back to the question on the second pass. Also, as you run through the questions, you may find a later question that helps remind you of the answer to a question you have passed over.
• · Illustrate your thoughts: Make marks on the exam paper when answering questions. Cross out the most obvious wrong answer; tick a potential correct answer if you are not sure. Use these illustrations to help jog your memory if you need to come back to the question.
• · Grammatical incongruities: Check for the incongruities between the stem and alternatives. There may be aclue to help you that was overlooked when the exam was prepared.
• · Think of the answer before you look: After reading the question, think of the correct answer before you look at the alternatives.
• · Verb tense agreement: Check to make sure there is a verb tense agreement in the stem and alternatives
• · Stem/alternative inconsistencies: Check for inconsistencies between the stem and alternatives. Is the stem plural and the alternative singular?
• · Understand the question: Many of the alternatives provide correct answers for the ‘incorrect’understanding or interpretation of the stem.
• · Write down your answer: Write the answer down on the score card after you decide the correct answer. If you don’t have the score card handy, write it on the exam. Make sure you write the answers down as you go. Don’t leave this to the last step.
• · Choose mostly correct answers: There may be many choices of similar answers, make sure you choose the one that is mostly correct.

Most people don’t have or use a process in answering multiple choice questions. By not having an approach to answering multiple choice questions you may waste valuable time reviewing previous questions and missing important information when deciding on your final answer.

By first identifying the key word in the question and then following an answering technique, you will be able to reduce the chances of choosing a wrong answer.

When answering multiple choice questions remember these tips:

1. 1. Analyze the stem carefully: Identify the key word and try to understand the question being asked. Incorrect interpretation of this step accounts for 30% of student mistakes.
2. 2. Anticipate the answer: Think about the answer before you even look at the alternatives provided. This gets your brain actively thinking and also offers the opportunity to compare your answer to the alternatives. If your answer is not there, forget about it, and work only with the alternatives provided.
3. 3. Consider all the options: Make sure you read all the possible answers, especially when the first alternative seems correct. The first answer may be correct, but the second may be the ‘more correct’ answer.
4. 4. Compare the alternatives with each other: When several alternatives seem possible, or even none of them seem correct, compare the alternatives with each other to find the odd one out. Pay special attention to words that can alter the meaning of the question. the words “most often”, “likely”, “probably”, “could”, “might”, “should”, and “rarely”
5. 5. Use a process of elimination: Once you have read all the alternatives, eliminate the absolute wrong ones. Normally there will remain two very similar answers to choose from. Choose the best answer between the remaining two.
6. 6. Try not to Guess: If you feel that you need to guess then re-read the question again trying to fit the alternatives to the question. Also try reading the question individually with each alternative to find the best match. If you are still having difficulty, try forming your own answer to the question and then choose the closest alternative to your answer