Presentations: creating a lasting impact

on campus: presentation tips

If you are a student, then presentations must surely be an unavoidable part of your life. But impending presentations can often generate dread, and the fear of failure can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, what is the best way to overcome anxiety? Preparation, of course! Here are some tips that might help you deliver a better presentation:

Know your topic well

Choosing a topic you have significant knowledge of and are passionate about will be the best first step in your presentation preparation. If you pick an interesting idea, you’ll find it easier to focus on the subject matter and will add a natural enthusiasm to your delivery.

You won’t always have the option to pick the topic of your choice though, but that is a snag you can easily overcome by developing a complete understanding of the topic you have been assigned. (You are likely to benefit from mastering the area that is slightly broader than your actual, specific thesis. Extra knowledge can come in handy, but make sure you stick to the point and don’t needlessly wander off into adjacent territory during the actual presentation.) Being confident in your grasp of the concept will help you feel more in control as well as improve the chances of an accurate delivery. Know your topic inside out, and you’re off to a good start.

Prepare a succinct slideshow

The purpose of a slideshow (PowerPoint presentation) is to providing a basic summary of your presentation and its flow. Don’t use too many slides or write your entire speech up on the screen. Slides are a visual aid. The idea isn’t that you read what is up there. The bullet points are meant to provide the basic structure to guide you through your delivery while helping the audience follow along with what you’re saying. Instead of overlong, busy slides, go for brief and to-the-point text in a suitably large font that will be visible to everyone in the room. Focus on the content. Use tables, charts, and diagrams as needed, but remove unnecessary elements. Don’t add animations or flashy transitions to your slideshow. You can have as many swirly letters as you want (and seriously, you shouldn’t want any), but if the content is subpar, then a fancy layout won’t make that better.

Slides can also serve the additional purpose of sharing the spotlight with you and deflecting the attention away from you, helping decrease the intensity of the “OMG, everybody is looking at me!” effect. But make sure the slideshow doesn’t take over the session. If no one is paying attention to you, then you aren’t very likely to make a positive impact and win over your audience.

(Also, if you are using a slideshow, don’t risk being a victim of technology failure; arrive well ahead of time and set up the presentation before everyone else gets there.)

Rehearse

Plan out what you want to say and how you want to say it. Work on your delivery. Time yourself and ensure that your content fits your time limit. Rehearse your speech out loud. Reading it silently in your head isn’t the best way to go about it. Many people suggest rehearsing in front of a mirror or your friends. An excellent way to assess your delivery is to record yourself (either audio or video), and review the file to figure out what is and isn’t working; you will definitely notice an improvement in your performance after you play back the audio/video; reassess your material and style, and repeat the process.

Dress simple and neat

Presentations are about your presentation as well. If you want somebody to take you seriously, then you have to look like you have actually put in some effort. Choose the appropriate attire for the occasion and try your best to look smart. If your educational institution has a uniform, make sure your uniform is neat. If there is no uniform and the environment is formal, then sticking to neutral colours is generally a safe choice (unless the occasion specifically requires you to stand out and make a mark). If you have a tendency to fiddle with your accessories, like jewellery, and if you, for instance, have obtrusive bracelets that clink and make noise, then don’t wear them (unless your presentation is on the topic of jewellery itself, obviously). Be mindful of your subject matter and environment and dress appropriately.

Avoid unnecessary handouts

Give anyone a random paper and they are obviously going to be curious about its content. That is why handouts can be distracting. Distribute a paper or worksheet just as you begin your presentation and you risk losing your audience immediately; instead of listening to you, many might start trying to read the printout and figure out what the paper says. Handouts aren’t necessary when your class fellows have access to the same information already. If you do feel like you can legitimately use handouts as a positive tool to impart additional information and explanatory examples, then distribute them at the appropriate time that doesn’t divide attention or hamper continuity.

Make notes on cards

It might be tempting to just write down what you have to say in its entirety, and then simply read everything off your notes when you’re in class, but don’t do that unless you want to bore your audience and make a bad impression on your instructor. Looking at a paper all the time makes you seem insecure and prevents you from making eye contact with the audience. Eliminate the temptation of reading altogether; simply don’t go to the podium with page upon page of a lengthy speech written down. Feel free to write down what you want to say while preparing for the presentation; just don’t rely on those papers when you’re actually speaking in class. Instead, prepare cards that you can use during the presentation. Write down brief notes on small cards, and consult them as you speak.

Engage the audience

Look at your audience. Make eye contact. Present an amicable visage through your gestures, posture, and movements. Be lively and energetic. Smile, speak clearly, and don’t hunch. Don’t exceed the allotted duration or drag the presentation on needlessly till everyone loses interest. See the situation from the audience’s perspective. Sum things up as you go, returning to key points of focus, add pauses for emphasis, make the content as interesting as possible, and help people remember why they are listening to you. Try using examples that your audience can relate to. And appear confident. You may be nervous but everyone doesn’t need to know that. Besides, if you’ve done your prep, then you have no reason to be nervous anyway.

And no matter what, don’t panic. Keep calm and carry on. Good luck!

- By Sameen Amer

Us Magazine, The News - 6th March, 2015 *

Beat the clock – achieve more through time management

cover story

Between working, studying, doing homework, preparing for tests, dining, exercising, texting, going through everyone’s Twitter feeds (because you simply can’t risk missing what the 1D guys had for lunch today), browsing the news every 10 minutes to make sure the world hasn’t decided to implode since you last checked, watching the latest episodes of Homeland, Modern Family, Pakistan Idol and a few dozen other series, and even occasionally sleeping, it gets hard to fit everything we want to do into our ever busy lives. It’s like we’re constantly running a race against the clock, and more often than not, time seems to be winning.

With everything that needs to be done, wouldn’t it be awesome if the day were a few hours longer? That sounds amazing, doesn’t it? But unless we want to relocate to Venus (which doesn’t seem like the best strategy as far as our continued existence is concerned), we are stuck with the plain old 24 hour long Earth day. All we can do is make the most of it. And that’s where time management comes in.

Students often find it hard to keep up with the many requirements and pressures of their degrees while also maintaining an often deceptive semblance of sanity. And those who juggle many extracurricular activities with their studies can end up stretching themselves too thin. But figuring out how to make the best use of your time can reduce the level of stress in your life and help you achieve more. And it’s not as hard as it may seem. All it takes is a little planning and organisation!

Create an environment conducive to studying
Finding the right place to work or study can help you concentrate and focus on the task at hand, and hence allow you to finish your work more quickly. The ideal setting would be one where you can minimise distractions and avoid interruptions while you work. If you can’t find a quiet place, then a headset and a record of instrumental or meditation music might be a good option to reduce external disturbances; this will keep the noise out without being too distracting.
Your workspace should be tidy and have access to all the material you will require during your study session; grab everything you will need before you sit down to work instead of getting up every few minutes to find your notes or books. And it’s never a bad idea to stay away from temptations – cell phone, computer and Internet (unless required for studies; ideally, you can download and/or print the files or web pages you’ll need and log off), gaming console, television…staying away from the temptress that is modern technology for the duration of your study period can increase your productivity and in turn help save your time.

Think ahead
Try not to let things pile up. Yes, this seems like common sense, but it’s still one of the most obvious things that many of us ignore anyway. Have you ever waited till the eleventh hour to do a project or study for a quiz? Then you know why it’s a bad idea! It will be much better if you study from the start. Don’t wait till the week before the exam to wonder where your books are or the night before the assignment is due to start working on it, because then no amount of time management tips will help you get good results.
If you waste your time early on and save all your work for the last minute, then that will simply create an imbalance and add stress to your life. You don’t just have to manage the minutes and days but also the weeks and months. Keeping an eye on the exam schedule and what is due when during the semester will assist you and make you more productive in less time and with less stress.

Get organised
To best utilise the time you have available, the most basic thing you can do is create a to-do list, jotting down everything that needs to be done; then turn that task list into a schedule. You should ideally end up with i) a daily to-do list (breakdown of the day specifying what needs to be done and when), and ii) a monthly schedule (a broader view based on deadlines, exam dates, and other activities).
Set priorities, based on importance and urgency, and figure out a timetable that will allow you to accomplish all your study obligations, assigning specific dates and times to each task. Break bigger projects into smaller components to make them more manageable, and try your best to stick to what you have planned. That said, also leave room for contingencies; unavoidable, unforeseen events can create a dent in your schedule, so leave some flexibility in your plan to keep such things from derailing your studies and then creating a burden.
But your timetable shouldn’t just cover your studies. While you create your schedule, make sure you…

…balance studies and, well, life!
Overloading yourself with nothing but studies is no good. Allow yourself some down time in your schedule. Plan breaks between study sessions to revitalise your mind, then return to your books refreshed. After you finish a scheduled task, reward yourself by doing something you enjoy. Spend time with your family and friends and make sure you don’t neglect your health. Take care of your body and mind. Eat healthy and don’t skip meals. Assign a few minutes every day to exercise. And if you want to spend your waking hours productively, then you have to get a good night’s sleep; a groggy mind will take longer to process something that an alert mind will grasp more quickly.

Multitask
Carry your work with you. If you’re commuting to school or work, waiting for someone to arrive, grabbing your lunch, or just killing time between classes, you can be productive during this window by going through your notes or some other quick memory tools, like flashcards. Even if you’re watching TV, make good use of the commercial breaks; heaven knows there are plenty of them! By utilising these spare moments, you can not only save time, but also improve your retention through repetition. And maximising the time you productively use will also maximise your success.

Identify bad habits and rectify them
As you follow your schedule, keep an eye on your progress and also try to identify habits that distract you from your work and make you waste time as you go along. Understand when your pattern of behaviour is sabotaging your plans and chances of success. Have you been getting distracted by text messages? Do you keep logging on to Facebook every time you’re using your computer? Have you been skipping classes for unimportant reasons, and then spending days to catch up on your coursework? Do you jump at every invitation you get to go out? Are you spending hours researching a query because you’re too hesitant to ask questions in class? Or are you answering everyone else’s queries instead of focusing on your own revision?
If you are letting your habits drain your time, then rectify that immediately. Make a note every time you spend your efforts on a non-priority, and then try to eliminate that behaviour. It will probably benefit you if you learn to say no, and know when and how to say no, both to yourself and to others; you can’t accept every invitation or respond to every request for help, and you can’t give in to every temptation. Weed out unnecessary times drains and see the positive impact it has on your achievements.

Figure out what works best for you
Some people work better in the morning; others are more productive at night. Some prefer to study in the library; others prefer the familiarity of their own room. Study groups work for some students, while others find them inefficient. Everyone has their own way of doing things and their own preferences. You have to find your own optimum study method. If you do things a certain way just because you see other people doing it, you will end up frustrated and achieve less in the same duration. So, try different systems and see which one gives you the best results, then tailor it further to your preferences. Don’t get sidetracked by others; it doesn’t matter what system they’re using or how much progress they’ve made – just go with what works for you and stick with your plans.

And, no matter what happens, don’t panic! Just keep calm and carry on. Good luck!

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 25th April, 2014 *

Lessons learned the hard way

book review

Book: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future – Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned

Author: Michael J. Fox    
     
It’s hard not to love Michael J. Fox and it’s even harder not to admire his resilience. As an actor, he has seen immense success, and his career has been quite remarkable. He is still much adored for his portrayal of Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy, and has also played some unforgettable characters, including Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties and Mike Flaherty on Spin City, as well as voicing the title character in the Stuart Little movies. But he has also faced a major personal challenge; at the height of his success, the star was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative condition that forced him into semi-retirement in 2000.

He has since authored three books that have taken an autobiographical look at his life and shared stories from his past, the most recent of which is 2010’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future – Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned, a tome in which he shares his experiences with students and new graduates.

“I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education,” said Mark Twain, but in Michael J. Fox’s case, he never let his lack of schooling interfere with his education. A high school dropout who has since earned his GED (at the urging of his son, “approximately fifteen years after I left high school in the eleventh grade”) and has even been awarded several honorary doctorates, Fox says he has been “alternately fortunate and unfortunate enough to receive an amazingly comprehensive education, albeit unstructured, and often unbidden.” “I had been a humble and grateful student of, if not the School of Hard Knocks, then at least the University of the Universal,” he says, and these “Life 101” lessons are relayed by the author with his standard wit and charm in this book.

“What I’ve done here is draw a few observations based on my life experience and organise them in response to the broader question: What constitutes an education?,” writes Fox, before elaborating that he feels that while “there really is no substitute for a solid education to inform a maturing mind,” at the same time it is inappropriate to “make character judgments based solely on one’s alma mater or post-graduate degree.” He then draws a parallel between his learnings and the courses students are taught at school, and speaks of prospering “not through avoidance of a classic education, but by finding a way, if not to replicate it, then to approximate it”. “Whether you go to school or set out on your own, certain lessons are unavoidable,” he says. “Speaking from personal experience, it might be less painful to learn them in the classroom.”

For the most part of the book, he maps his life experiences onto various subjects. For instance, he talks about learning economics from Alex P. Keaton, encountering the concept of “supply and demand” as an actor, and coping with financial troubles at the start of his career; experiencing physics on the set of Back to the Future; appreciating geography while shooting the Vietnam drama Casualties of War; and his love for reading as well as the comparison between books and their movie adaptations under the guise of comparative literature, before eventually coming to the conclusion that “one’s education is never complete”.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future is both witty and inspiring, but its major flaw is that it’s too short. At only about a hundred pages, the book is a very quick read, and is perhaps a little light on content, especially new material. If you have read his previous books (Lucky Man: A Memoir and Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist), then you might find A Funny Thing repetitive and a bit redundant, as the author has mentioned most of the same topics and stories in his earlier books. Still, Fox shares his insights in a humorous and engaging style, which makes the book fun to read, and students and recent graduates might glean some inspiration from the wisdom he shares with his readers.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 31st May, 2013

Amusing and appalling ... in equal measures

book review

Author: Richard Benson
Book: F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers

Exams can be frustrating, and often have a knack for flustering students into making silly mistakes, botching up questions that they would otherwise have been more than capable of answering. But sometimes there’s also another snag: what if you really don’t know the answer? What if, no matter how much you think, you simply draw a blank, and have no idea how to define the term, explain the concept, or solve the equation? If you’re anything like me, then you will still try your best to put something on the answer sheet that has even a remote chance of getting you some credit. But if you’re anything like the students in this book, then you will instead use this opportunity for something completely different: exercising your creativity and unleashing the comedian in you.

F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers is a collection of such amusing answers put together by Richard Benson. The book purports to offer “hilarious, real responses from students who realized that they had no hope of answering a question correctly, and decided to have a little fun instead.” The answers are arranged by subject (chemistry, biology, physics, math, business & technology, psychology, history & geography, and English). The material here ranges from witty and clever to simply unintelligent, and often seems to be amusing and appalling in equal measures. Here’s a taste of what the book has to offer:

Question: Steve is driving his car. He is traveling at 60 feet/second and the speed limit is 40 mph. Is Steve speeding?
Answer: He could find out by checking his speedometer.

Question: To change centimeters to meters, you _____.
Answer: Take out centi.

Question: Describe the term “stakeholder”.
Answer: A vampire hunter. Buffy being the most famous.

Question: What is a network?
Answer: When you chat to people you don’t like to try and get a job.

Question: Describe what is meant by forgetting.
Answer. I can’t remember.

Question: Name the successor of the first Roman emperor.
Answer: The second Roman emperor.

Amused? Then you will enjoy this book. Appalled? Then just wait till you read what else the students came up with.

The reaction F in Exams draws is decidedly mixed. For most students, grades aren’t a laughing matter; no one around me would have been amused if I didn’t even try to give proper answers and instead came up with smart alec-y responses, and I wouldn’t have been amused if my students did the same (and luckily, they never did). Which leads to an issue: are these answers even real? The book fails to mention its sources, doesn’t offer citations, and gives no explanation of the data collection methods. Sure it is meant to be entertaining, but is it really factual? Are these, in fact, real answers? If so, then how were they collected? Who were the students that came up with these amusing statements? And what were the teachers’ responses to them? Or did the author just come up with the answers himself? In which case, is the output amusing at all?

Overall, F in Exams is a (very) quick read – you will be done with the book in minutes – and its content varies from being witty to dim-witted; some responses are funny, others less so. And the validity of the “real” claim seems a little suspect, at least for some of the answers, a problem that could have been avoided by making use of a little transparency. Still, if you have ever wanted to scribble on your exam, sure that there’s no way to salvage the test and your grade, then you will relate to the predicament of these students, and if you need a small break from studying, then F in Exams will provide some laughs and a few moments of relief.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 18th April, 2013

Educational websites: Learn

cyberia: on campus

Scouring the web for useful educational resources

Interactive Classes
Udacity
www.udacity.com
Udacity is an initiative to “bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective higher education to the world”. The service seeks to help you invent your future through free interactive college classes that anyone can take at any time. You can find courses in subjects including computer science, web development, artificial intelligence, algebra, differential equations, statistics, physics, and a whole lot more. The website will provide you with the tools to track your progress and manage your courses; perform interactive, project-based exercises; benefit from real world examples; and become a part of an active community. You will also earn a certificate of completion as soon as you’ve finished the course to show what you know. So whether you want to supplement your current course material, brush up on concept you learned years ago, or take subjects that are not offered at your school, then simply sign up for an Udacity account and start taking classes for free right now. (You will, however, need a relatively high speed internet connection to browse the courses seamlessly, and you might not be able to access the videos as they are hosted on YouTube; luckily though, the courses can be downloaded to overcome these access issues, but keep in mind that the zips are quite bulky.)

Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals
www.doaj.org
Everyone working on an elaborate project or thesis will, at one point or another, have to look for published research journals for reference. And with the Directory of Open Access Journals, that search just became a lot easier. This website helps users find open access journals that “use a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access”. All the content it links to is freely available. DOAJ wants to “increase the visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly journals, thereby promoting their increased usage and impact”. The site covers all subjects, and goes through periodicals that publish research or review papers in full text, making use of academic, government, commercial, and non-profit private sources. DOAJ aims to “be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content”, and, in short, hopes to “be THE one stop shop for users of open access journals” online.

General Knowledge
How Stuff Works
www.howstuffworks.com
How do Swiss bank accounts work? How does the rotating detonation engine function? What is relativity? How is an electric guitar different from an acoustic guitar? How does the PlayStation 4 work? And what would happen if you travelled faster than the speed of light? You can find out all that and more at Discovery Communications’ HowStuffWorks, a treasure trove of general knowledge about everything under the sun. A source of “credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works”, the website aims to “demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand”. From technology, culture, and entertainment to science, money, and home & garden, you can find content in a wide array of categories. Be it car engines or search engines, cell phones or stem cells, or thousands of subjects in between, HowStuffWorks has it covered, offering comprehensive articles, helpful graphics, and informative videos to explain every topic clearly, simply, and objectively. The website is chock full of informative content that is both interesting and well presented. So if you want info on something related to your studies, want to increase your general knowledge, or want to discover a concept just for fun, then HowStuffWorks is there to help you understand the topics of your choice.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 18th April, 2013

How to study more effectively

on campus: study tips

Trudging through heaps of course material every semester can be trying, but with a little organization and punctuality, you can make the studying process a lot easier and effective. Here are a few tips that might help you out and give your grade a boost.

Make a timetable

Figure out how much time you have, and then make the best use of it. With a timetable, you can organise your study sessions and allocate time for each course so that you can easily cover all the subjects and topics and not end up overwhelmed by material at the end of the term. It often helps to have variety in your schedule, and to study different subjects during each session. And when you make the timetable, make sure you leave enough space for revision and testing. Plus, remember to factor in some down time. Take breaks at regular intervals. And reward yourself for sticking to your schedule by allowing yourself some time to spend on an activity you enjoy.

Stay ahead

When your school term starts, your professors will often give you a course outline that presents a breakdown of the course and detail when each topic/chapter will be covered in class. Try your best to stay one step ahead of this schedule. Instead of studying the chapter after it is covered in class, study it before the lecture, underline and jot down the main and important points as you go through the course material, and then go through these points after the class. Not getting to the textbook till later could lead to a buildup of material that you eventually have to cover, and would leave you at risk of falling behind. And what could be a better way of not falling behind than staying ahead?

Don’t miss classes

The simplest and easiest way to learn is to attend classes regularly, although the very obvious usefulness of being present in class doesn’t deter some students from carelessly skipping lessons. Understanding what is taught in class doesn’t only help you learn things easily and give you a chance to ask for clarification when you’re having trouble with a concept, but paying attention to what your teacher places emphasis on could also help you gouge the importance of topics which could come in handy during examination preparation. If you do, however, have to miss a lesson for a valid reason, then make sure you find out what happened in class; note down which topics were discussed and study them thoroughly, ask your friends for the notes they took during the lesson and for their assistance in helping you to understand the concepts, and, if need be, go up to your instructor and request that they explain any topics you are having trouble with.

Take notes

Preparing notes while i) studying your textbook, and ii) attending lessons, is essential. As you peruse your reading material, jot down the important points as well as the concepts that you are finding difficult. And also take notes while you’re in the classroom, noting down the salient points (and only the salient points – writing down every single word that is said in class is generally not the best idea) that are being discussed during the lecture; these notes will later help you to recall what was taught in class, and will also serve as an important revision resource. Plus, you can also transform your notes into other helpful aids, like:

* PowerPoint presentations: You can use PowerPoint to take notes, or to give your notes a more organised shape. Prepare a presentation with one topic on each slide, and add the relevant bullet points for each topic.

* Flash cards: Print formulas, definitions, or any other important points on cards, and go through them repeatedly to retain the information. You can also write questions on one side of the cards, and put the answers on the back; whenever you are free, you can go through them. Eventually, you get so used to the material that you can revise the whole course just by reading these cards.

* Audio notes: Record your study notes (you can use a computer or a phone or even a good old fashioned tape recorder) and listen to them for revision. The audio input adds another channel for the material to be retained and can help imprint information in your mind.

Ask questions

Students sometimes shy away from speaking up in class or asking their teachers for help, but if you’re having trouble grasping a concept, then don’t hesitate to ask your teachers for guidance. If you don’t get a chance to ask them in class, then utilise their office hours and talk to them in their office; maybe you will find it easier when they’re communicating with you one on one.

Minimise distractions

Finding a quiet, peaceful place for studying can do wonders for your concentration which can, in turn, increase retention. So turn off your phone, log off your messengers, and find a place to sit where you can concentrate on your books. That said, you need to find a place that works for YOU, so don’t assume that you HAVE to study in, say, a library; create an environment that you find conducive for your studying process. And it might also help to change your study area from time to time; some students find alternating study spaces more effective for studying, so give it a try.

Teach

Explaining what you have learned to someone else can be a useful tool for your own learning process. You don’t actually have to teach a pupil; ask your siblings or friends if they have time to help you out. Don’t have a person available? Then just teach your cat or dog or pet rock. It doesn’t matter who you are addressing as long as you verbalise the concepts. (If they are willing, you can also ask your friends to quiz you afterwards.)

Revise

Just repeat, repeat, repeat everything as much as possible. Revision and repetition is the best way to increase retention, so try to come up with different ways – text, notes, audio, visual, pictorial – to revise the same material. You might want to begin each study session by revising what you studied last time. Testing yourself and writing down (multiple times, if need be) what you have learned could also help.

And always remember that you need to figure out what works best for YOU. Never get distracted by the fact that other people are doing things differently. Try different techniques and strategies, see how well they work for you, and try to learn the material for yourself, not for the marks or the exam; you never know when it might come in handy in the future.

- S.A.

 Us Magazine, The News - 29th March, 2013

“Pay attention, you might learn something!”

on campus: teachers' trials     

Things that teachers want to say to their students

Are you stuck under a huge pile of homework and assignments and wondering what you ever did to deserve this? Exhausted by the endless stream of quizzes and exams that just don’t seem to give you a break? And upset with your teachers for subjecting you to this kind of torture? Then your teachers have a message for you: they’re only trying to do what they feel is best for you, and that’s what’s required of them as part of their job. They do, however, feel that their intentions might not be getting through to their students. So we asked teachers - including a secondary school teacher, college and university instructors, and a highly experienced and qualified retired school principal who has also lectured extensively at university - what they’d want to communicate to their students if they could openly speak to them. Here’s what they had to say...

“Study!”
Shockingly, the first and foremost thing that teachers want to tell their students - and in fact do tell their students, repeatedly! - is to study. That’s more than a little obvious, you’d think, but then how would you explain why so often students come unprepared to class? Your instructors have been assigned the task to impart education and pass on their knowledge to you so that you can live up to your potential. And they’d appreciate it if you let them! There isn’t much they can do without your cooperation, so if you actually study what and when you’re meant to, you’ll be making things easier for both yourself and your teachers.

“Don’t leave things to the last minute”
If you leave things to the last minute, it will show in your output. An assignment hurriedly put together at the eleventh hour will be rushed, poorly researched, and badly done, with glaring careless mistakes all over the place. And the person who will have to mark your work will know the difference. Also, if you leave studying for a test to the last minute, it will make you more flustered which will in turn decrease your retention. And staying up all night to cram before an exam is very likely to adversely impact your performance. So do yourself a favour, and don’t leave your work or preparation to the last moment.

“Answer the question, for God’s sake, answer the question!”
Anyone who has ever had to mark assignments or exams will attest to the fact that a very common mistake students make is that instead of answering the question that they are being asked, they answer the question that they *think* they are being asked, and those two questions don’t always align. Often students fail to get the major point of the query. For example, “John Howard was the second longest serving Prime Minister in Australia. The longest serving was also a Liberal member, Robert Menzies. What is it about the Liberal Party that gives them so much stability?” That’s the question, and it requires a discussion about the Liberal Party. Some students will end up talking about John Howard or Robert Menzies, but that’s not what they are being asked. The distinction might be subtle, so read the question and think about it before you start composing your answer. It’s easy to miss the point or go off track, so trying to figure out what the question actually requires will help you immensely.

“There’s more to writing an assignment than Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V”
The main reason teachers give you assignments and assessments is because they HAVE to - it’s a requirement; they have to be able to prove that they have taught something and you have learned something. So they teach, and then they assess. If you copy stuff from somebody else, they don’t know if you have learned anything. By plagiarising, you’re sabotaging your own learning process AND showing disrespect towards your instructors. And it’s insulting to suggest that you think you can dupe your teachers. So if you think that all you need to do is find what somebody else has done and copy it into your own assignment, then your teachers emphatically disagree with you. Some colleges and universities take very strict action against students who plagiarise (including awarding a straight F to students caught cheating), so it is better for you from both a learning and penalty perspective if you do your own work.

“This assessment was not set as a personal insult to you”
As soon as the professor announces that there will be a quiz or an assignment, it usually results in a collective groan from the class. So your teachers want to assure you that they do not set your assessments to make your life hell. You think writing one is hard; think about how many your teacher has to read and mark while working out nice ways to point out your mistakes and help you improve. Assessments are part of the school work, and they’re meant to help you learn and help the teacher figure out how well they’re doing their job. Use them as a tool for learning and improvement.

“Ask for help”
A number of teachers that I spoke to felt that some of their students hesitate to ask for help, and that they could benefit from speaking up when they have a problem. And you should ask for assistance sooner rather than later if you don’t understand things, because if you ask sooner, your teacher can spend time with you, help you out, or set you off in the right direction to get the help you need, and they might even get a warm fuzzy thinking that you are actually starting your work on time. If you wait till the last minute, your instructor will be frazzled, frustrated, and annoyed, and if most of your classmates end up doing the same thing, the teacher is not going to be most helpful. Plus it will suggest a lack of concern on your part. Your teachers are there to help you learn; they *want* to help you learn. So just ask them!

“Try to have fun”
It’s no secret that you do better when you’re happy. If you’re lucky enough to study things you enjoy, then it will be easier and more fulfilling for you, but if you don’t have that option, try to think of a way to make what you’re studying interesting. Yes it’s important to respect your teachers, pay attention to what they say, and be punctual, but you must also try to enjoy the process of learning and even take breaks sometimes. Don’t see this study stuff as torture. It’s something you have to do, but it will end one day, and hopefully you’ll come out a stronger, more knowledgeable, and more empathetic person at the end of the process. And remember that even though your school work is important, the world will not explode if you don’t get an A+ every single time. Don’t be daunted by the learning process. Relax, do your best, and try to have fun.

- S.A.

 Us Magazine, The News - 15th February, 2013

Educational websites

cyberzone

The Internet hosts some wonderful resources for learners that offer boundless knowledge to anyone who is willing to make use of it. Here are some such websites that students can benefit from:

Textbooks
Book Boon
www.bookboon.com/en/textbooks
Having trouble trying to understand a concept in your course book? Need extra material to help clarify a topic? Want concise notes to assist you in revising the theories that you have already learned? Then head on over to Book Boon, a website that provides hundreds of textbooks online for you to download and peruse. These books, available as PDF files, are “focused and to the point”, and have been written by “highly respected professors from top universities in the world and cover topics such as economics, statistics, IT, engineering, and natural science”. There isn’t much extraneous text wrapped around the core concepts to obfuscate the topic under discussion; the books get right to the point and plainly explain the concepts or theories at hand. And best of all, they’re all available for free! You do have to enter your email address to download the files, and you have to put up with a few advertisements that appear in the books, but that’s hardly a problem when you’re getting all this material for free; you don’t need to dole out more cash on buying additional textbooks if you can find what you need here for gratis. So whether you’re struggling with chemistry, biology, programming, calculus, finance, economics, accounting, management, or a number of other subjects, then visit Book Boon to help you out by supplementing the material in your course books.

Course material
OCW Consortium
www.ocwconsortium.org
The OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium is a “worldwide community of hundreds of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWare”, which is “a free and open digital publication of high quality college and university‐level educational materials, organized as courses, and often includes course planning materials and evaluation tools as well as thematic content”. You can find course material from a lot of sources, put together in one portal that you can search through to get what you need in a diverse range of subjects. You might need a little patience to plough through the links, but if you stick with it, you can find many useful resources in the subject(s) of your choice.

Learning tools
Quizlet
www.quizlet.com
Initially founded by a student as an easy-to-use tool for learning vocabulary for his own use, Quizlet has since grown into one of the largest educational websites in the world. The service offers “simple study tools that let you study anything, for free”. Students can define what they need to learn, and the website provides the tools to facilitate the learning. There are six different study modes that you can make use of: Flashcards allow you to flip through and familiarize yourself with the material; the Learn Mode lets you track your progress and review the things you got wrong; the Scatter section asks you to match words to their definitions and try to finish faster than your friends; Speller makes you type what you hear and works in 18 different languages; the Test mode prepares you for the actual test with an automatically graded quiz; and Space Race encourages you to earn points by typing in words before their definitions vanish off screen. You can search for material on the topics of your choice or create your own study sets. So whether you want to study art, science, management, or language, visit Quizlet and join millions of students and teachers from all over the world and enjoy the process of learning.

Charts
Useful Charts
www.usefulcharts.com
Some of us find it easier to learn through text, others find it easier to absorb information visually through diagrams and charts. If you fall in the latter category, then Useful Charts was made especially for you. The goal of the website is to “present useful information in the form of charts so that students, teachers, or simply those interested in increasing their general knowledge can absorb the information quickly and visually”. It doesn’t cover everything under the sun and you won’t find a depth of information on every subject, but there is a lot here for visual learners who want to improve their general knowledge and learn about history, science, psychology, and philosophy.

- By Sameen Amer

Us Magazine, The News - 18th January, 2013

Examination Don’ts

cover story

How to avoid the most common mistakes that students make while taking exams

While serving time studying at business school, I was fairly certain that the endless barrage of quizzes and exams was the ultimate form of torture, and that making silly mistakes in said exams was the very definition of frustration. It was only after working as a teaching assistant that I encountered something that was infinitely more frustrating: marking that endless barrage of quizzes and exams and seeing students make those same mistakes over and over and over again.

Whether it’s the stress of the process or fatigue induced carelessness, examinations can fluster the best of us and lead us into making mistakes that defy common sense. This is highlighted by the fact that there are several common mistakes that students generally make while taking a test, all of which become painfully obvious to the person who has to sift through a few hundred papers in a semester, burdened with the responsibility of awarding grades to the frazzled, hapless learners.

So - if not for your own advantage then at least for the sanity of the person who will have to check your papers - you might want to avoid the following mistakes the next time you take an exam:

Not writing your name/roll number on the answer sheet
If you have ever made this mistake, then you are not alone. As obvious as it may sound, it still isn’t uncommon for students to forget to put their identification details on the answer booklet, mostly because they’re in a hurry to start answering the questions. If multiple students make this mistake, especially if the exams aren’t being marked by your instructor (and even worse if the answer sheet is just a grid for marking MCQ answers with no handwriting identification), then it becomes very hard to figure out which paper belongs to which student. And in the worst case scenario, if you can’t be identified, then you can’t be awarded your score.
What you should do: Make it a habit to write down your name/roll number on each separate sheet (in case some of them come loose) as soon as it is handed to you. Make sure you don’t proceed with the exam until your name is on the paper. Recheck when handing in your exam that your name is on it.

Not reading the question properly
Every teacher that I have discussed the topic of exam mistakes with has highlighted this as the most common mistake made by students: not reading the question properly. Under time constraints and in a hurry to get to the question, especially when they are used to looking at a certain type of problem, the response is almost automatic: see the words or digits, and start solving. As a result, students are prone to misinterpret a question, leave parts of the question unanswered, or not follow some vital directions/instructions that could lead to a penalty.
While marking papers, it was almost heartbreaking to see students make this mistake; on numerous occasions they had come up with a perfectly logical answer, only it answered a completely different question than the one that had been posed to them. And unfortunately, answering the question you would like to have been asked or presumed you were asked does not win you points.
What you should do: Don’t rush into answering the question straight away. Spend the required time for reading the question statement and understanding what it says; rephrasing the given statement might help. And don’t presume that the question says what you think it does when you can actually read it and find out for sure.

Lack of proper planning
Jumping straight into the exam as soon as the questionnaire is handed to you might seem like a good idea, and it might be, except it really isn’t, especially not for detailed subjective sections. Plunging ahead without paying attention to the marks and importance of questions can ultimately cost you important points, and answering a difficult, confusing, time consuming problem first can fluster you on the next, easier question.
What you should do: If the length of the questionnaire allows it, go through the entire thing at the start of exam before attempting the questions and take a little time to plan the order in which your should attempt the questions. See which ones you know best and which ones carry the most weightage, and mark the ones you are iffy about while noting down all the points you can remember for each; by the time you come back to these questions later, your mind will have had a chance to process the problems and you might be able to handle them better. And clearly mark the questions that you have answered as you finish working on each of them so that you don’t inadvertently leave something unanswered.

The wall of text syndrome
Whether you know too much about the topic and want to communicate all your knowledge instead of precisely what the question demands, or if you don’t know the exact answer and therefore go ahead and list everything you can think of, in either case it might be tempting to regurgitate all the information you have. Unless you have a teacher who marks based on the number of pages you use instead of their content, this is not a very good idea. Offering unnecessary information instead of a precise answer is simply a waste of your time, and it might be tempting to show off and offer all the information you have on the topic, but remember that it isn’t the examiner’s job to locate the answer in your wall of text!
What you should do: Take a moment to plan what you will write. It might help to jot down some of the main points and see how you should construct the answer. Make your answer as clear as possible, show your step-by-step working, and help the reader follow your logic and train of thought. Use an easy to follow layout, and make use of gaps and headings where suitable.

Poor time management
Either by forgetting to keep an eye on the clock, or by simply ignoring the clock and spending too much time on certain problems, especially those that have fewer marks, many students struggle with time management and fail to finish the whole questionnaire in the given time. And as the time runs out, thoughts become hurried and muddled, handwriting illegible, and chances of making careless mistakes exponentially greater. But failing to allocate time for each question isn’t the only mistake. Students can catch some of their own slip-ups if they leave themselves some time to go over their answers. So remember that you don’t only need time to answer the questions; it is also vital to allocate time to recheck your work afterwards.
What you should do: First of all, don’t panic! Assess the approximate time required for each question, and try your best to wind up each part during the allotted time. If despite your best efforts you find yourself almost out of time and with still a couple of questions left to answer, then summarise the answers in the form of bullet points; this might not lead to full marks, but it is still better than leaving some questions completely unanswered. And, try your best to save some time to recheck your work. Nerves can lead you to silly mistakes, so it helps to double check your answers (and verify that you’re lining up your questions and answers correctly) after every test.

Using txt-speak
Wen u hav 2 go thru an ansr ritn in a languig tht is not ez 2 decifer, let alone make sense of, then u’re seriously left 2 1der wat da student wuz thinking! It is completely inacceptable to use improper spellings or texting lingo in any examination, no matter how lenient the marking will be, because even when your inability to spell “through” or “easy” isn’t overtly costing you marks, it is still grating the person reading your answers. And you don’t want to irritate the person who controls your grade. (The only thing more annoying is wh3n p30pl3 wr1t3 1ik3 th15 and th1nk 1ts sup3r c00l! News flash: it really isn’t!)
What you should do: Never use txt-speak. Ever. Not even in texts, and especially not in tests. Seriously. No.

Not planning for contingencies
Mr. Murphy summed it up best: whatever can go wrong, will. Ok, so chances are that everything won’t go wrong, but what if something does? What if your pen runs out of ink? What if you get to the exam location and realise you forgot to bring your calculator with you? Not bringing required stationary/material, and not carrying spares are a common problem for students, and few instructors are likely to allow you to borrow stationary or shuffle calculators back and forth. And, what if you get stuck in a traffic jam on your way to the exam hall or have trouble finding its location? Arriving late is just a bad start to the exam; you might not even be allowed to enter the exam hall, and even if you are allowed to sit for the exam, you have already lost precious time.
What you should do: Prepare the night before the exam instead of shuffling to put everything together at the last moment. Carry a spare pen (and extra items of other essential stationary) in case one decides to bail on you. Know the location of the exam hall, plan the journey, and make allowances for traffic jams and vehicular problems when leaving for the exam hall to get there on time.

And no matter what happens, don’t let yourself get flustered. Just stay calm and carry on. May the force be with you!

- S.A.
   
Us Magazine, The News - 20th April, 2012