The Pressure Of Tests And Coursework

The Pressure of Tests And Coursework

In university, the experiences that I have experienced have been nothing like that of when I was at A-levels, but one thing I can definitely say is that the work rate as well as the challenges work brings, have increased. It is very difficult compared to previous levels of study because you have to write more in essays, especially when it comes to 2500 to 5000 word essays. Work presentations are alo made to present to the class on researched topics that we may or may not know about.

To be honest, those were some pretty huge exaggerations, but I am doing the accelerated route and the work this year due to some disorganisation in the system has made it very hard for us AR students taking the exams. This is because everything is cramped together and it means that work happens at an alarming rate and I have learnt this first hand that even when studying for your A-levels, it doesn't compare to the non stop working month I have just had revising for my exams.

During all the coursework essays, I also had to revise for my upcoming exams as well as attend extra classes to prepare me for my exams and tests. Now with the accelerated route, 60 percent was mandatory and praying I got it in one module was not enough as I had to average it overall in order to take the AR exams. Now the pressure on me was immense, especially when it came to succeeding. I hope I did but as you can see the pressure to succeed on this educational platform is very difficult and will only come with hard work and determination.

                                                                                                                 Tunde Ogundare

Lectures and note-taking.

Attending the lectures is the first step if you want to understand what is going on in your module. Even though the classes you have will go deeper into the subjects and help you acquire the knowledge you need, the lectures form the basis of it all. The backside of this is that some lectures are very hard to follow and/or take notes from.

I feel that even though most of what the lecturer is saying might already be on PowerPoint slides, it can be helpful to write down main points or important parts of the lecture anyway. If the lecturer in addition to the slides also uses the board to do diagrams or explanations it can be good to copy these as well.

I myself do not summarize or re-write my notes. I might however take new notes when practicing for a test, from the lecture slides or the book. But looking at the notes I’ve already taken might help if I do so along with the slides and/or the book.

I have experienced that the difference between lecturers are wide. Some are better prepared than others. Some have better lecture slides, or might explain it in a better way. It might be the words they use, how thorough they explain it, or just the way they talk - fast, slow, mumbling, clear. All in all, the times I have not attended a lecture, I might need to work harder on understanding the subject.