Exams and Revision

Conclusion

In this chapter we have covered some of the common strategies used by local and overseas students for coping with the demands of tertiary study. If this catalogue of problems and pitfalls has made you nervous about your own chances of success, listen to this list of problems which a Chinese student faced in her first year of study in Australia :

Because of a lack of basic vocabulary I had some difficulties in following lectures, as well as in taking notes. I had no idea how to take notes for a start, and didn't know how to handle timetable and leisure time. . It took rather a long time to get used to the libraries and when I

Asked the staff behind the inquiry desk, I was never sure if I got what he meant. There was very little contact between me and my class­mates in a big hall where the lectures were taking place. I was very slow in reading and writing. Meanwhile I doubted if my own notes could be of any use and was anxious how to catch up with others most of the time.

When it's necessary to speak to the lecturers or tutors, I was conscious of my own awkward way in expressing myself, and was worried about assessment and final marks from an early time. There always were problems in essay writing and in understanding what our teachers' expectations were. I was not sure how to prepare for tuto­rials, and had many difficulties in giving a seminar orally.

With in all these problems, you might expect that this students failed. Not at all - she managed to adapt to the new system and finished up as an Honours student in her two major subjects. And that indonesian student whom We quoted so regularly in this chapter not

Only became an Honours student but finally gained her PhD in Australia and is now a lecturer in her own country. So these difficulties can be overcome ...

Summary

Here we have outlined some of the learning strategies used by experienced students from both Australia and overseas. These strategies deal with problems relating to