Exam Preparation by Paul Laohapiengsak

Exam Preparation by Paul Laohapiengsak

In college, it is easy to get distracted.  For this reason, preparing for an exam can be a difficult task.  As for myself, I get distracted easily by the surrounding such as sport games, movies, and friends.  This is why the exam preparation strategies, which I learn from CLS105 class, are extremely helpful. 

The first method that I use to prepare myself for examination is the exam preparation profile, which has three that include organizing, studying, and evaluating.  It allows me to organize, study, and evaluate myself when taking an exam.  First, I must organize the materials that will be on the test.  To start I would normally study from three main resources which are my textbook, PowerPoint, and my notes.  Also, what I find helpful from the faculty interview project is that some professor would provide study guide prior to the test such as the PSY205 class, which I find exceedingly helpful.  Not only that, sometimes during the lecture, some professors would suggest the topic that is on the test, which is also important.  In addition, as for organizing I also use other two strategies to plan out my study plan, which are the ranking priorities and Target planner.

Example of my Target Planner.

As for the ranking priorities, I was able to see ahead of time when the assignment is due and my task for those assignments.  I find this helpful because it gives me more time.  Not only that, ranking priorities also help me identify which task and more important than another when there is limited time to study.  In addition, I find that using target planner along with the ranking priorities is a perfect combination to prepare myself for a test.  I would use the ranking priorities to distinguish the most important task as allow my self to become aware of the due date while I use target planner to plan out my study for a certain test.  Furthermore, I use target planner for classes that has many steps toward a certain goal.  For example, I use the target planner for my English research projects, as there are many steps toward the final draft.  This way I can distribute my workloads in a certain day instead of doing everything the night before the project is due.  

Example of Ranking Priorities.

Ranking	Class	To do	Due Date
A1	MAT 284	Online homework (Chapter 3, course campus)	Tuesday 15th at 11:00 p.m.
A2	MAT 284	Exam 1 (Chapter 1-3)	Wednesday 16th at 3:40 – 5:00 p.m.
A3	PSY 205	Exam 1 (Chapter 1-4)	Wednesday 16th at 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
A4	CLS 105	Faculty Interview Project	Monday 21st at 12:45 p.m.

After organizing myself of what I must go over, the next task is the method of studying.  For myself, studying refer to the method used to memorize and review for a certain class.  Most of the time, I would study by going over notes and rewrite what need to be memorized a few times as I am a kinesthetic learner.  In addition, the strategy that I find help is the Jeopardy Note-taking strategy.  I use this strategy for many classes including MAT284, which is shown below.  Jeopardy Note-taking strategy allows myself to the formula and functions of the graph.  This strategy is quite extraordinary it helps user in memorizing by first to create question then attempt to answer them.

Example of my  Jeopardy Note-taking strategy

The last step is to evaluate.  This determines if I am really ready for a test or if not what I need to study on.  Evaluate is what I believe the most important part of preparing for a test as it is somewhat a contingency plan for any unexpected incidents.  Overall I find Exam Preparation profile very helpful.  Also, what I believe is the key to a successful test preparation is to use the combination of many techniques.  As for myself, I would use the target planner, ranking priorities, and jeopardy note taking strategy to prepare myself.  I encourage other students to use the combination of learning strategies to ensure the most efficient method of studying.