Effective Communication in Management and Business: Seminar 8

John Morgan

Language and Learning Centre, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Topic/theme:Revision and exam skills.

Language/topic focus:Getting inside the mindset of SMBA exam questions to look for strategies for revision and what to do in the exam hall.

Revision and exams

Exams can look truly daunting and their reputation is made worse by the experiences people talk about when they think they may have done badly in an exam. Most negative experiences in exam settings are not down to lack of ability on the student’s part, but on lack of adequate revision and planning strategies for what to expect and how to go about answering questions with only five or ten minutes of planning and no support from notes.

Strategic point 1

Read some past SMBA examquestions

Also accessible from the ECMB web-site at

Or

Before you look at these pages ask yourself why I am providing so many links to the same page?

The information in those pages is the most important starting point for the issue of revision and exam skills. You can read all the revision and exam advice in the world, but it will not tell you the type of questions that your department sets.

Strategic point 2

Compare questions you like with ECMB seminar 9

Timed note taking: the twenty minute challenge

Look at the overall essay plan from checkpoint 2

| Intro | Background Existence

||Definition

||Quality Examples?

||

|| Problem Existence

||Definition

||Quality Examples?

||

|| Structure Aims

|Findings

|Structure

|

Title Main body Sub-sections1) *topic

|or2) *relationship with aims

|Paragraphs3) *relationship with problem

|4) *existence, definition, quality

|5) *examples, if needed

|6) *link to next paragraph

|

|* This 6 stage process should be repeated for each

|sub-section or paragraph that is included

|

| Conclusion Review

|1) problem

|2) aims

|

| Specific outcome

|

| Solution or

recommendations

Idea adapted from Brookes & Grundy (1990: 90-92)

a)Start with the main body

b)Go back to the introduction

c)Don’t plan the conclusion but memorise a possible sequential structure for the type of ides it could contain

Create a note form skeleton plan (no full sentences) around (1) the global issues; and (2) the local issues (keep to this sequence to begin with):

GlobalissuesLocal issues

IdeasSections

Main issue/thesisParagraphs

AimsSentences

Overall structureWords

Full textExamples & references

Strategic point 3

Find a partner and form a reciprocal reading alliance

Checkeach other’s work with the questions from seminar 9

a)What do you think are the strong points in the text/plan?

b)Were you able to follow the main points?

c)Would you be able to summarise what you have read if somebody asked you what this person was writing about?

d)Is the text well organised? Does it follow a structured pattern?

e)Does the plan/text clearly indicate when the writer is moving to a new point?

f)Does the writer explain any specific or “new” technical terms within the plan/text?

g)Does the writer include enough examples to support comments, generalisations and/or other statements about the topic?

h)Is the plan/text too short, too long or adequate within the total word limit of the essay task?

Timed note taking: the fifteen-minute-and-counting challenge

  • Do it again in fifteen minutes on a different question. Try a question that you are not so comfortable with as it may give you some clues for other things you need to work on.
  • Do it again in ten minutes on a different question.
  • Do it again in five minutes on a different question.
  • Go back to the first question to did in twenty minutes, put away your notes and do that one again in five to ten minutes.
  • Practice these techniques around the main subjects of each module you will take an exam on, but make sure that you read the past exam questions first to work out the expected structures.
  • The exams will almost certainly deal with core principles in the subject so make sure you have a good working overview.
  • Unless you are specifically given information about citing, quoting and bibliographies, you will not be expected to include these in your work. Double check this point with module tutors and lecturers.
  • Make sure you display a good overall understanding of the topic.
  • Set a revision plan for the holidays. Small amounts of regular reading and note taking with time for reflection are much better than huge amounts of reading at the last minute.

Bibliography

Brookes, A & Grundy, P. (1990). Writing for Study Purposes: A Teacher’s Guide to Developing Individual Writing Skills. Cambridge: CUP.

Tudor, I. (1996). Learner Centredness as Language Education.Cambridge: CUP.

1