Masterclass Report

The first exam Masterclass ran last weekend at Birkbeck College in London and was a great event. The attendants really found it useful and I got some great feedback. Given that this event has been nearly six months in the planning, it was really gratifying to have it go off so well, and the next events are already scheduled for September, October and November.

As I explained at Masterclass, what I call the ‘exam knack’ is where three factors come together – knowledge, techniques and attitude. Given that there are lots of course that teach subject knowledge, this Masterclass was unique in focussing on psychological and practical exam techniques and getting into the right attitude for study and success.

We covered time management – both long-term (over months of study time) and short-term (the hours and minutes of the exam). In this we covered the impossibility of time management (time just IS – you can’t manage it!), how people confuse ‘no time’ with ‘no energy’, the distinction between activity and action, and much more. We discussed adult learning and memory – how adult learning differs from childhood learning. I challenged the attendees to consider how developed their own learning was, and we looked at a powerful model of learning styles, using an online test of learning styles – a very interesting discussion of the pros and cons of learning drive and goal-orientation followed! Performance is a branch of positive psychology where exams and sporting events overlap – we discussed the importance of being stressed enough, and how to access the flow state (or the zone). I then used a positive visualisation exercise to help people improve their exam performance.

Feedback comments included: “a really motivating experience”; “I learnt an awful lot” and “I wish I had done this course at the beginning of my career”.

As I said, a good day!