LEARN HOW TO HACK EXAMS | Event Date: Saturday, 13th, February 2021
The School of Liberal Arts & Applied Sciences, Department of Psychology conducted an International Webinar titled, “Learn How to Hack Exams” on 13 Feb. 2021. Ms. ZebaSamrah T.A, Asst. Professor, Psychology, Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science was the resource person. Ms. Zeba’s lecture was divided into three parts with five elements. The participants were taught how they can make use of their environment, body parts and smart work to activate their brain filter by using the five hacks.
Hack #1 – Organization of the Study Environment: Various tips were shared on organization of study environment and stationery.
Hack # 2 – Timing the Study: Necessity of making a to-do-list was explained and a free template for students’ use was shared. Various important sub-topics like the importance of monitoring the personal energy levels, personal limitations, having a study schedule structured; and various research-proven techniques to fight procrastination were conveyed. A pomodoro planner was shared with the students to fight procrastination. Tips on making a journal planner were communicated along with a weekly planner being shared to help them get started.
Hack #3 – Reading: Important concepts in critical thinking, critical reading and various reading strategies, and various speed-reading techniques like skimming, scanning and SQ3R were discussed.
Hack #4 – Writing: Importance of highlighting the keywords, structuring and making notes using stories, mnemonics & acronyms was conveyed. Various research proven methods for learning, techniques like spaced learning, interleaving and smooth repetition were shared next. Students were introduced to the concepts of making notes using flowcharts, mind maps, flash cards and sticky notes. The famous Cornell notes making method was explained to the students as well. Various tips on organizing the notes were elaborated so that the students can revise stress free before the exams.
Hack #5 – Revision: Students learnt how practicing the old question papers helps in prepping the brain to easily face the questions during the exam time. How to overcome test anxiety with breathing exercises and technique of positive justification of anxiety was explained to the students. Also, a brief on avoiding negative self-talk and the benefits of positive self-talk leading to increase in self-confidence was given. Students were shown the powerful super brain foods that they should snack on during exam time, which will help their brain stay focused and recharged. The importance of switching off their brains thought train before sleeping and reasons to avoid using the electronic gadgets before going to bed were discussed. The Facebook events post reached 20,899 people with 112 reactions. The event had 288 registrations across the world. The Facebook live event video reached 53 reactions with 3600 views.