I’ve been thinking about the importance of attitude recently, and reading around the subject. I came across some interesting research which explained something I’ve noticed. There are a number of different attitudes or ‘styles’ to learning, which psychologists recognise and measure. Different ones have strengths and weaknesses in different circumstances. However, there’s one attitude which experience suggests is a ‘failing’ one, and which is confirmed by research to correlate with poor performance.
Psychologists call this a ‘surface’ approach, but I think a better name might be a ‘passive learner’. It’s the sort of approach where someone expects to be spoon-fed, or has the attitude ‘teach me’ rather than ‘help me to learn’. Surface learners often attend classes well, and hand in all their homework on time, but do it because they confuse process and outcome – they seem to believe that the process of attending class and handing in homework IS learning, rather than being a means to an end. As one researcher who studied people adopting this attitude put it “students who did not get ‘the point’ failed to do so simply because they were not looking for it.”
Surface learners tend to believe that they are passive recipients of education, like empty bottles that knowledge has to be poured into. To them the teachers’ job is simply to pour the knowledge in. Like a baby waiting to be spoon-fed, all they have to do is to sit in their high chair with their bib on, and open their mouth. People with this attitude have a viewpoint called external locus of control – they believe that control over their lives is mostly external – outside of their control, and so believe that poor outcomes are due to bad luck, mean people ‘getting at them’, in fact anything apart from themselves.
I will tell you more about recognising and developing learning styles later, but the first lesson if you want to succeed is to recognise that you are in control of your own life. You are responsible for a lot of what happens to you. In the context of exams, you need to actively engage with your learning and performing. Don’t sit waiting to be spoon fed, grab the spoon and start feeding yourself!
31 Mar 2008
28 Mar 2008
How to pass exams 2: Using the Exam Axiom
I wrote last time about what I call the exam axiom –
To pass any exam, score more points than the pass mark
Of course it sounds obvious – that’s what an axiom is a statement of an indisputable starting point, like x = x in algebra. So how do you go on from there? Well to score more points than the pass mark, what do you have to do? I think that there are three main areas to address:
1. You need to know the exam. If you are taking an exam that matters to you and your career, you should know the exam like a sportsman knows their event. A rally driver knows what speed to enter each corner, which gear to be in, when to accelerate and when to brake, and the whole plan will have contingencies for rain, flat tyres or illness. So do you know your exam? What is the pass mark? How are marks awarded? What is the question structure? How do you need to pace your timing? What will you do if your mind blanks out, or your pencil breaks? What attributes are the exam setters trying to test, and what are the exam markers trying to measure?
2. You need to know the subject. Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you’re taking an exam in accountancy you need to know some accountancy! However, it’s not that straightforward. You need to know the subject in the context of the exam. This means knowing what the curriculum is, so that you don’t waste time and effort learning material that isn’t examined. But it also means knowing the approach to the subject which the exam is looking for – is it mainly a test of knowledge, or a demonstration of skills, a test of application of knowledge, or a test of sound judgement within the subject area?
3. You need to know yourself. There are two aspects of this. Firstly it’s really valuable to know about how people in general learn and perform. There is an expanding body of research and experience in educational psychology, much of which is ignored in practice. Secondly, it’s important to know about yourself as an individual – what is your learning style? You can discover this by taking profiling tests to show how you tick, and by using your revision as an opportunity to see what works for you.
Remember, in any performance situation – a job interview, a public speaking engagement or an exam, there are some things that you cannot change and some things that you can. You can’t change your personal history or intrinsic ability (e.g. IQ), you can’t change the structure of the exam or curriculum. But you can change how you respond to these things. To use an analogy, you can’t change the weather, but you can change your clothes or your travel plans.
To pass any exam, score more points than the pass mark
Of course it sounds obvious – that’s what an axiom is a statement of an indisputable starting point, like x = x in algebra. So how do you go on from there? Well to score more points than the pass mark, what do you have to do? I think that there are three main areas to address:
1. You need to know the exam. If you are taking an exam that matters to you and your career, you should know the exam like a sportsman knows their event. A rally driver knows what speed to enter each corner, which gear to be in, when to accelerate and when to brake, and the whole plan will have contingencies for rain, flat tyres or illness. So do you know your exam? What is the pass mark? How are marks awarded? What is the question structure? How do you need to pace your timing? What will you do if your mind blanks out, or your pencil breaks? What attributes are the exam setters trying to test, and what are the exam markers trying to measure?
2. You need to know the subject. Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you’re taking an exam in accountancy you need to know some accountancy! However, it’s not that straightforward. You need to know the subject in the context of the exam. This means knowing what the curriculum is, so that you don’t waste time and effort learning material that isn’t examined. But it also means knowing the approach to the subject which the exam is looking for – is it mainly a test of knowledge, or a demonstration of skills, a test of application of knowledge, or a test of sound judgement within the subject area?
3. You need to know yourself. There are two aspects of this. Firstly it’s really valuable to know about how people in general learn and perform. There is an expanding body of research and experience in educational psychology, much of which is ignored in practice. Secondly, it’s important to know about yourself as an individual – what is your learning style? You can discover this by taking profiling tests to show how you tick, and by using your revision as an opportunity to see what works for you.
Remember, in any performance situation – a job interview, a public speaking engagement or an exam, there are some things that you cannot change and some things that you can. You can’t change your personal history or intrinsic ability (e.g. IQ), you can’t change the structure of the exam or curriculum. But you can change how you respond to these things. To use an analogy, you can’t change the weather, but you can change your clothes or your travel plans.
17 Mar 2008
How to pass exams: the Exam Axiom.
There’s a lot written and talked about passing exams, tests or whatever. And lots of it is true and useful. But it’s easy to miss the wood for the trees sometimes when you’re being bombarded with ‘good advice’ from left, right and centre. Sometimes it’s helpful to re-focus; or to put it another way, to cut through the cr*p to the heart of the matter.
In his Meditations (Book 8), the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius recognised this when he said:
This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance and material? And what its form? And what is it doing in the world? And how long does it subsist?
What is the fundamental Exam Axiom? OK, ready for it? Here it comes…drum roll…
To pass any exam, score more points than the pass mark.
Good, eh? What do you mean it’s obvious? Well of course it’s obvious. But how many people have actually told you that, in such simple terms before? How many times have you actually thought about it like that?
Although it seems pointlessly obvious, actually the Exam Axiom is pointedly obvious!
It focuses your thinking on what you actually need to do to pass. You need to score more points. So the next question becomes how do you score those points? The answer to this many vary between candidates and exams, but this is the basic truth that you have GOT to address if you’re going to succeed. How do you score more points in this type of exam? What’s holding back your score – is it your knowledge, or your timing? Do you drift off from the question, or ignore the exam instructions? Do you actually know how your exam is marked, and if not have you asked? Are you losing marks because the examiner can’t read your answers, or are you making silly transcription errors in multiple choice questions?
The Exam Axiom isn’t the last word in exam technique, but it’s a good starting point to focus your strategy. How can YOU score more points that the pass mark? Write your answers on one side of the paper only.
In his Meditations (Book 8), the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius recognised this when he said:
This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance and material? And what its form? And what is it doing in the world? And how long does it subsist?
What is the fundamental Exam Axiom? OK, ready for it? Here it comes…drum roll…
To pass any exam, score more points than the pass mark.
Good, eh? What do you mean it’s obvious? Well of course it’s obvious. But how many people have actually told you that, in such simple terms before? How many times have you actually thought about it like that?
Although it seems pointlessly obvious, actually the Exam Axiom is pointedly obvious!
It focuses your thinking on what you actually need to do to pass. You need to score more points. So the next question becomes how do you score those points? The answer to this many vary between candidates and exams, but this is the basic truth that you have GOT to address if you’re going to succeed. How do you score more points in this type of exam? What’s holding back your score – is it your knowledge, or your timing? Do you drift off from the question, or ignore the exam instructions? Do you actually know how your exam is marked, and if not have you asked? Are you losing marks because the examiner can’t read your answers, or are you making silly transcription errors in multiple choice questions?
The Exam Axiom isn’t the last word in exam technique, but it’s a good starting point to focus your strategy. How can YOU score more points that the pass mark? Write your answers on one side of the paper only.
6 Mar 2008
Finding time for time management
I’ve just finished writing the first draft of an article on time management in exam preparation, which I had planned to do last week! Yes, it was on my To Do list, but it didn’t get done. No there wasn’t any unexpected crisis which came up. It’s just part of the problem with managing your time – we’re all human and sometimes things don’t happen as anticipated.
So now I’ve finished the article, what pearls of wisdom can I impart about managing your time if you’re trying to study for that important qualification?
OK, you’re busy people, so I’ll be quick:
1. Understand that so-called time management is really self-management. You can’t actually do anything to time (like 'find it' or 'make it') you can only change what you do with the time you have.
2. Realise that we all have the same amount of time. You have the same 24 hours in each day as I have. Everybody has the same time available for revision, so if some people achieve a lot it’s not because they have more time than you – it’s because they manage themselves better.
3. Get it into your head that you will always have more stuff you could do than you can do. And in a lot of professional exams, there will always be more knowledge you could learn than you every will be able to – there’s always one more research paper, one more case report. That means that you’ve got to make sensible choices. If your goal is to pass an exam with a clear cut curriculum, then you need to ensure all the curricular material has been covered before you start reading the ‘interesting but not examined’ stuff. Of course at the other end, there are always more interesting things to do than revise! As the old song says:
“I’m busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do…”(See the original 1949 performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYLD06MefI)
4. Recognise when ‘not enough time’ is really a code for not enough motivation or energy. It’s strange how people with ‘no time’ manage to spend three hours a night watching TV. It’s OK to use time productively re-charging your batteries, but on other occasions when you have ‘no time’ maybe you need to ask “How important is this to me?” and decide whether or not your goals have changed.
5. Plan what needs to be done to achieve your goals, rather than just fire-fighting whatever seems most urgent, since, in the words of Eisenhower:
"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”
6. Finally, learn to say ‘NO’. Of course, it’s important not to alienate people or become mean and selfish just for it’s own sake, but saying ‘No’ to people respectfully and appropriately when you really can’t help them will gain you more respect in the long run than saying ‘Yes’ to everyone, then letting them down. Your friends and colleagues deserve respect and help, but so do you! And if you don’t respect your own time, why should anyone else?
So now I’ve finished the article, what pearls of wisdom can I impart about managing your time if you’re trying to study for that important qualification?
OK, you’re busy people, so I’ll be quick:
1. Understand that so-called time management is really self-management. You can’t actually do anything to time (like 'find it' or 'make it') you can only change what you do with the time you have.
2. Realise that we all have the same amount of time. You have the same 24 hours in each day as I have. Everybody has the same time available for revision, so if some people achieve a lot it’s not because they have more time than you – it’s because they manage themselves better.
3. Get it into your head that you will always have more stuff you could do than you can do. And in a lot of professional exams, there will always be more knowledge you could learn than you every will be able to – there’s always one more research paper, one more case report. That means that you’ve got to make sensible choices. If your goal is to pass an exam with a clear cut curriculum, then you need to ensure all the curricular material has been covered before you start reading the ‘interesting but not examined’ stuff. Of course at the other end, there are always more interesting things to do than revise! As the old song says:
“I’m busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do…”(See the original 1949 performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYLD06MefI)
4. Recognise when ‘not enough time’ is really a code for not enough motivation or energy. It’s strange how people with ‘no time’ manage to spend three hours a night watching TV. It’s OK to use time productively re-charging your batteries, but on other occasions when you have ‘no time’ maybe you need to ask “How important is this to me?” and decide whether or not your goals have changed.
5. Plan what needs to be done to achieve your goals, rather than just fire-fighting whatever seems most urgent, since, in the words of Eisenhower:
"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”
6. Finally, learn to say ‘NO’. Of course, it’s important not to alienate people or become mean and selfish just for it’s own sake, but saying ‘No’ to people respectfully and appropriately when you really can’t help them will gain you more respect in the long run than saying ‘Yes’ to everyone, then letting them down. Your friends and colleagues deserve respect and help, but so do you! And if you don’t respect your own time, why should anyone else?
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