Keep calm matrics . . . prelims do not have to be daunting task
WRITING Matric prelim exams and receiving your results can be a distressing eye-opener, but pupils who perform worse than they would have hoped still have time to use the experience to their advantage before the final exams.
That’s the message from, education expert Dr Gillian Mooney, Dean: academic development and support at The Independent Institute of Education.
“Time is fast running out, and some pupils may feel things went so badly with their prelims that they might as well throw in the study towel,” she says.
“However prelims are there for a reason – to serve as a test run for the finals, and to guide pupils in their last week of studies. If that is kept in mind, and pupils actively take control over their preparation in coming weeks, dire prelims don’t have to be the forerunner to disastrous final marks,” Mooney adds.
Mooney says pupils should also keep in mind that prelims are often pitched at a slightly more difficult level on purpose, to serve as a wake-up call, and that the most important steps to take right now are firstly to avoid panic, and secondly to take back power by putting in place a winning strategy for the weeks to come.
She says the following steps can turn a poor performance into a good one, and a mediocre one into a great one: mean the difference between being accepted into your course or institution of choice next year or not.
Very importantly, stick to your roster and don’t fall victim to procrastination and constant re-arranging of said roster. Right now, you DO still have enough time to get through and master all your work. At the end of the month, that picture would have changed quite substantially.
If you’ve left room for a movie on a Friday night, why not make that movie one which covers your setwork?
You’ll be approaching the subject from a different angle (and use even your downtime efficiently), which deepens your understanding of it.
For other subjects, you can find TED talks about topics you find particularly challenging, for instance. These will not only help you to better understand something, but are quite likely to also increase your enthusiasm and inject some muchneeded inspiration into the study process.
It is not too late to get someone to help you master your most frustrating subjects. There might be a retired teacher or recent graduate in your community who can help, or you can enquire at your school whether such assistance is available. Getting the insight and assistance of someone who is not your regular subject teacher can provide fresh perspective and approaches you may not have been aware of before.
Whether you are going to study at a public university or a private higher education institution, any good institution will be able to provide guidance and resources to their future students. Student counsellors will be able to provide insights into how current performance matches future options, and what is required in terms of intervention to ensure you can access your choice of qualification. Additionally, good institutions will be able to provide you with practical resources, such as papers from previous years.
“The importance of prelims should not be underestimated, because they may very well influence your options down the line. For instance, a higher education institution may decide to withdraw a conditional offer if you did not perform well,” says Mooney.
“However, using the learning from your prelims if things didn’t go to plan is one of the major reasons these exams exist in the first place. So if you resolve right now to take stock and take action, and throw yourself into preparing for your finals, there is a very good chance that you can turn things around and put in a final performance that will render unfortunate prelim results almost inconsequential.