Student Team Tips: Tracking your progress before exams and what to do if left behind
During examinations, we often face multiple modules and topics. This made it challenging to keep track of our revision progress sometimes when we are having multiple items on our to-revise list. Here are some ways that the library student team have been using to keep track of our progress and be on track of our work.
Why it is important to keep track of your progress
We all know that it’s a good habit to track our progress, but do we really spare a thought on why it is important?
“Tracking your progress is a good way to appreciate how much workload you have, which enables you to plan your time appropriately. It can also minimise cramming when your exams draw closer, especially if you track your progress as you go along. It can be a good way to safeguard your mental wellbeing by minimising the exam panic from not feeling adequately prepared.” Fiona, Law
“It’s important as it is a good way to look at how far you’ve come and how much you’ve got left to go. It also sets the picture of your learning, and is useful both in the short term and in the long run. You can look at what went well, what didn’t and set up a timeline for yourself. Additionally it can help you identify what learning techniques work and what don’t, or what subjects you can study together and what you can change. For example, you can note down that on the weekends you prefer to do your readings, so you can plan this for your future.” Salma, Politics and International Relations
“Keeping track of my progress is also one of the ways I measure my resilience and progression especially on courses I initially felt were too complex for my understanding. Seeing how far I have come within specific periods shows that I can complete other tasks with dedication and discipline. So keeping track of my progress is also an exercise which I draw motivation from.” Fatimah, Law
How to keep track of your progress in the midst of semester and during exams
There are different ways of being on track throughout the semester and here are some methods that the Student team found helpful:
During Semester
“Keeping on top of your weekly reading helps a lot, and making annotations and ‘annotated bibliographies’ can be a big help for keeping a general track of ideas so you can later pick these up very quickly and understand the concepts of a resource for an assignment or exam. Additionally, if you have options for selecting questions that you answer in an exam, obviously make sure you can cover all topics in case you find a question more challenging than others, but if you really take the time to look at what you are passionate about within a topic writing about it can become more of a ‘fun’ flow. Additionally, when you realise you have covered a lot of topical areas, make some time to perhaps create a log (perhaps using a spreadsheet, mind map etc.) about the areas you have covered and what you need to further look into or learn more about to understand.” Rachel, Sociology
“I like having a monthly calendar on my desk with checkpoints on it so I can see when I need to get something done and what checkpoints I need to hit to be successful in my semester. This is useful to organise your thoughts as semesters are longer than exam season so you need more long term planning here.” Simone
“Answering questions available and seeing how confident you are on each topic is a good way to see your progress. If you feel you are not confident, ask your lecturers, tutors and PASS leaders for help — they will be able to guide you in the right direction.” Dukula, Chemistry
“In order to keep track of progress, for instance, for long pieces writing, is to keep a close eye on your progress. Set yourself a number of readings to do each day for research and make notes on these, once ground is covered in research, the writing will flow. Then, set yourself a number of words to write every day, whatever suits your working style and schedule in time for the deadline. You can then track progress by referring back to your plan and checking where you’re up to in terms of writing and research. You can also split up the word count perhaps 500/1000 words at a time and slowly, that long essay will not seem as long. Make sure to leave some time at the end though, in case you need to add more things or discover other points and enable time to proofread.” Nahima, Politics and IR
During Examinations
“One thing you can do is to make a list of all the lectures and seminar material you need to revise before the exams, then schedule when you’ll revise each one on your calendar and cross each one off when you’ve finished revising it. I think it’s a good idea to work in chronological order (so start off with the first lecture and then work from there). Put a * next to any which you found particularly difficult or which you reckon you could do with going over again and go back to it once you’ve revised everything. You can also digitise this by using an Excel spreadsheet instead, if you want to.” Olivia, Psychology
“The bulk of my preparation is often before exams because I buckle under the weight of exam stress. So I just look through my notes that have key points on each of my courses a couple of days before I write exams. I focus on wellbeing and not overtly stressing myself so I can write the exams whilst I am in a good mind frame.” Fatimah, Law
“Cheat sheets are something I always recommend for revision. Take an A4 side of paper and title it with a subtopic within a module. Then, with a maximum of one word per row and maximum of 2 columns per A4 side/sheet, write single words that you associate with that subtopic. This allows you to look at individual words and see how they associate and relate with one another. This also allows you to trust just how much you know in memory just by thinking of the key words you associate with a particular subtopic. If you are completing open book exams at home, this technique is also great to build some confidence before you go into the exam, and can prevent researching lots during the time that needs to be spent writing your answer.” Rachel, Sociology
Planning accordingly with your course
It is also important to do some proper planning as different course may have different requirement.
“Retrieve your reading lists as soon as the semester begins and looking at how much reading is recommended for each lecture or seminar. Based on this, you can draw up a timetable that takes both your academic and non-academic tasks into account. Take a look at how much progress you’ve made on this on a weekly basis. Replan, if you need to, to make up for any lost time without impacting adversely on your preparations for subsequent lectures and seminars.” Fiona, Law
“ It is important to note that you can work to create a particular workflow for yourself. I personally start out by finding the readings from the reading list and making a quick checklist/table in accordance with the tutorials. I’ll look at the reading list online, and have them downloaded in advance, this eases my mind and saves me some time later in the semester. As you actually do the readings, you can check off and make any notes. These can be quick notes about the different terms, or ideas the authors wrote about.” Salma, Politics and International Relations
“Your deadlines and exam dates can act as great reference points to track your progress around and towards. You can also keep a track of the marks you have so far which can tell you what you need to be aiming for in future assessments to achieve your desired grade (just keep in mind that your grades don’t define you).” George, Urban Design and International Planning
“Talk to your coursemates about how they are revising and getting ready for assessments. This way, you can gauge how others are doing similar work and modify your patterns to match theirs.” Simone, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology
Catching Up when you are left behind
Things do happen out of the blue, and sometimes when you are ooverwhelmed with work you found yourself left behind. Fret not, here are some tips that the student tips have been practising to get them back on track:
“Even if you feel you are quite far behind, I highly recommend sticking to a good routine for working i.e. 9–5, 10–4 or even 11–3 etc. This allows you focus time, and your brain will be much less panicked and you will be less likely to feel that you have to ‘cram-revise’ everything in a short space. This helps you to focus on the information needed for the exam and therefore greater confidence in your quality of work . It is easy to put shame on yourself for feeling that you haven’t done enough, however so much can happen so it really is important to remember that you are doing the best you can ” Rachel, Sociology
“The first thing to do is to assess how much time you have left and the amount of work you still need to do. If you ddon’t have enough time to read whatever you haven’t looked at, prioritise your resources appropriately. On my course, a distinction is usually drawn between essential or primary reading and secondary reading, where primary reading gives you a general overview of the topic in consideration, and secondary reading introduces you to other perspectives on the topic. To achieve a first, both are crucial. You’d have to cover all the primary reading, and then prioritise which of the secondary reading to look at. I normally choose more recent journal articles over older ones to reflect contemporary debates on the topic. That said, it is always best to avoid getting to a point where you have to choose what to leave out. It is here that working with study buddies comes in handy.” Fiona, Law
“Don’t get all stressed out and panic as it will affect your learning ability. Spending some time planning on what topics/subjects you need to revise more helps you in managing your time better. Try to go through all the resources that are suggested. If you feel like you have limited time, try going through the recommended reading list first. It is important to familiarise yourself with the past exam papers as it will help you in understanding and answering potential exams questions. Set aside dedicated time to solve a few past papers and understand the type of questions.” Naman, Mechatronic Engineering
Creative tips on managing your progress
Here are some additional tips from the student tips on managing your progress:
“Other than planning early, regularly reviewing progress, replanning and working with study buddies, personal discipline and consistency are crucial. By this I mean trying to do everything as scheduled, and consistently. So, if you have planned to study from 9am to 12pm, then that is what you should always do, even if that is the time when the weather is pleasant. Some unforeseen events must of course be attended to. It is here that replanning for the day(s) affected becomes important.” Fiona, Law
“I found giving myself rewards after reaching a certain milestone, for example revising all the lectures under a certain topic or completing an essay plan , helped to keep me motivated and on track. For example, I’d treat myself to a hot drink or indulge in a hobby. Also, when I was planning my revision, I would make a list of every lecture I had to revise and then cross each one off as soon as I had tested myself on that topic and hence finished revising it. Don’t underestimate the power of drawing a line through a few words (it’s the rewarding act of progress)!” Olivia, Psychology
“ I wrote on a piece of paper my key aims and stuck it on the wall by my desk. I then got a bunch of these dot stickers, and every time I did something which got me closer to one of the objectives, I stuck one next to the relevant objective. It became a nice visual representation and reminder of how much work I was doing towards my goals, and if I spotted that one quarter of the page was emptier than the others, I could shift some more energy towards it so nothing got left behind” George, Urban Design and International Planning
“Use technology and digital trackers to get the most out of your time and resources. You can also set reminders and daily goals to get your head in the game and get ahead of the other people in your course.” Simone, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology
We hope that the tips and experience shared by the student team would come in handy in similar situations. See you next week!
