The key to truly succeed in academics be it for any subject (it could be science or arts), is to practice. The practice is basically the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement, and it helps us perform with more ease and confidence. As human beings, we don’t like to be told that we are wrong and we are accustomed to doing things that we are good at; it gives satisfaction and it’s a form of self-validation. However, if stop learning or practicing, we will be standing at one place and there is no way for progress. Learning something new will be difficult and practicing to become better at it can be an arduous process but nonetheless, the end result will be worth it.
In Singapore, the education system highly values meritocracy and hence the idea of “hard work deserves credit” forms the base of providing equity in education. This means students from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds are provided equal opportunities and they are allowed to “compete” equally in the same area right next to each other. The best among them progress and it’s all up to the students’ determination, persistence, and perseverance.
The biggest advantage of the era of the internet is accessibility. Tuition agencies in Singapore make use of this platform to promote their services, to provide students with tutor options, to allow for online tuition services to operate and they even upload free resources for downloading study materials and test papers. There are free test papers for secondary school, primary school, and every other standard. Hence students of all age groups can easily access the resources to utilize them.
The means and ways are out there to utilize but oftentimes students are unsure about how to use these free test papers effectively to prepare for exams. Beavering away blindly will not bring your grades anywhere. Practicing with purpose is of utmost importance.
Firstly, it is not necessary that you have to have read and mastered all your content before attempting a test paper; in fact, it is impossible to do as such. One cannot internalise all the content completely and hence a more targeted approach has to be carried out; basically, smart studying is what’s needed to be done. After attempting a test paper and getting it marked by your tuition teacher, take a look at the places in which you have gone wrong. This is how you can identify the topics and specific areas that you are weak in.
Thereafter, read through the content and attempt the questions that you couldn’t do previously. This way, you will not forget the content and you would not commit the same mistakes again. During exams, Students often make careless mistakes when they miss out important details in the question. It is important to annotate and draw your attention to important pieces of information that will guide you in answering your questions.
Annotating beside the questions as to what concepts are being tested, or underling keywords in the questions or texts will go a great way in helping you answer succinctly. This technique is something that cannot be mastered overnight and can only be done so by practicing over and over again using the free exam papers.
Keeping a positive mindset about progress is crucial. Befriend the anxiety and fear in you, acknowledge the challenge and be willing to accept what comes your way. Never fear to make mistakes, celebrate effort and risk-taking and do not beat yourself up for imperfection.
After exams whether your grades make you feel happy or sad does not matter. Even if you had topped your class in that examination, you would have made mistakes in that paper and what you have to do next is to take the necessary steps to ensure you don’t make those mistakes again. Identify your learning gaps, seek the guidance of your tutors and act on patching up those gaps before they start widening.
BOTTOM LINE
