One strategy I encourage students to do in lead up to exams is to keep a list of mistakes, where every time they get a question wrong, they keep track of:
- the topic
- the type of question
- what mistake they made
- And what they should do differently next time or what specific content did they need to learn to not get it wrong next time
They should also keep a tally so if the same mistake happens again they can keep track and makes it easier to spot patterns. A student might notice that they keep forgetting units, using the wrong formula, misreading the question or giving answers that are too vague.... or might notice that questions on specific content/topics are their weak points
I also suggest taking a photo of each question and saving it in a folder on their phone or computer so that way, students can quickly find and retry the questions they struggled with instead of searching through old worksheets or practice papers.
The mistake list should also help guide their revision so if several mistakes come from the same topic /subtopic, that is a sign the student may need to review their notes / relearn part of the content or complete more questions in that area.
It is also important for them to retry these difficult questions later without looking at the answer..as getting a question right straight after seeing the solution does not always mean it has been properly understood.
Timed practice is another key part of exam preparation, and especially for hsc and trials, getting them to complete a full three hour practice exam in one sitting is ideal, or at least in three one-hour sections if they dont have 3 hours free in 1 go. The main goal is to practise working under time pressure.
So overall by the time exam is on, students days before can read through their mistake list /retry saved questions and review the areas where the same errors kept appearing, to help reduce repeated mistakes.
