Monday 8 December 2014

Fundamentals for an MCQ examination in India

As the examination patterns are changing across the globe in almost every section and level of competition, bigger question lies not only on the knowledge level of the participant but also on his speed and accuracy. One more enhancement that has led to a lot of emphasis on speed is that almost all competitive examination are turning onto an online platform and even their in the form of MCQs. So speed and accuracy is one part that one must have in his or her armoury. Its a very common phenomenon in competitive examinations like JEE, CAT and IIT that despite having a good command over the subjects even laborious students are not able to score as expected because of their knowledge level is due to lack of planning as how to divide the examination into different categories, allocate time and then assign the speed to them. Lot of time when we look back at question papers we think that oh we could have answered if little time was their or how could I miss the last page of the question paper. It’s better to get prepared than to remorse after the papers.
The most important and fundamental tip at this age of competition is -Do not chase attempts, emphasize over accuracy. This is the mantra most training institutes and mentors have been working for many years now. The relevance of this tip just shot up now. So, all of you who are preparing for examinations like CAT JEE and IIT, get into the habit of getting every attempt correct from now on. If you are not sure about your attempt, leave the question. If a question seems too easy, have go at it just to full prove your attempt. Do not have this misconception that attempting 10 questions in 20 minutes and getting 8 correct is considered better than attempting 6 and getting ALL of them correct.
 Now the big question is how to increase one's speed in examinations? In this blog we'll focus more on competitive examinations like IIT, CAT and JEE. We'll discuss about speed in board examinations in a different blog.

Get prepared for the battle 

It’s always good to be ready for the decisive days. Planning a proper travel that gives you ample time to sit and adjust at the examination centre may help you to get through certain early questions easily. Getting proper artillery for the examination is definitely required but its better and advised if we use same kind of stationary for last few weeks before examination can give us an edge at the time of “What to use when needed".

 Focus on pre requisites 

It may not look as required as it sounds but its so easy and simple that often students take this for granted. Writing name filling details may not be a tiresome job so always make a habit of filling these details before you start the actual paper so that its never in back of your mind as a burden that may create panic or writing too fast that may end up in filling of wrong information.
Habit of reading fast and reading between the lines.
 Reading too slow or trying to read and understand a lot during examination may kill a lot of time and result in a panic situation at the end. Its better to make a habit of reading and understanding questions and summarizing in some small paragraphs prior to examination. We can adopt a policy of writing gist of questions when we start preparing for the examinations.

Don’t indulge in lot of brainstorming during examination

We should have least pressure on mind at the time of executing the papers. Few tips that saves time from lot of brain storming while examinations are by taking part actively in classroom discussions and activities about the topic and keep discussing the topic with your friends once a while even on coffee tables. New ideas and innovative answers come through reading alternative books or chapters about the topic. In today’s E – Learning world watching video tapes and video compact discs about the topic help in sudden appearance of answers as videos are the best way to learn many fundamental topics. It can also be amalgamated with listening to audio tapes about the topic.

Which question to attempt and how

First of all we should try to solve the problems that save us from elimination zone if We cannot solve it, then we should try to eliminate at least two and then start solving, and then proceed with answering that question (if the negative marking is 1/4 or 1/3 of a correct answer). The chance of answering correctly now are more than negative marking scheme in which the chances of success with one choice elimination is 33.3% and two choice elimination is 50% for 4 choice exam. If all choices looks alien to you, do yourself a favour by quickly moving to next question. We often suggest students to go for theoretical questions first and then to calculative once. Our human nature is such that if we attempt a few confident questions in the beginning then we feel charged with positive energy that in turn increases our efficiency and speed for the rest of the exam.
All of this is more of less just complementary. We can never be sure of the method the top institutes is the use for getting the normalized scores for CAT. But in IIT and JEE our effort towards speed and accuracy yields a lot This is just an attempt to interpret based on evidence that we have got over the feedback provided by the students.

So all the best for your exams !!!!


Exams in India : A cake walk

Examinations are nothing but a platform to test the preparations. Its neither starting of the world not an end and also its not the final assessment of a student or his preparation. Its a known fact that examinations are a crucial juncture for which every one is worried about irrespective of how much he or she has prepared but even when you are prepared 100 %, the pressure ore we should say extra unwanted pressure will result in decreasing your efficiency by 50 %. Got exams coming up? A little exam stress is inevitable, but make sure you don't fall into. Some counselling activities have also been started by premium institutes like IIT – Kharagpur.
For details you can visit

http://www.iitk.ac.in/counsel/exam.php

 It’s always advised to be prepared for the examination. Preparation can depend of level of examination. We suggest not to treat examination as question of Do or Die rather a better preparation can turn examination into a simple cake walk.  This preparation includes the plan that one should make in order to answer the questions. The planning should not be made on the day of examination but we should set few weeks before examination and solve mock papers on the same planning. This will help us to answer efficiently and will feel a lot confidant as we know how to tackle the situation.

Try to know the pattern.

We should know at least the pattern of examination we are attending. Every board or college make the patterns public way before the scheduled date of examination. We should also have different plans for different kind of papers. In CBSE examination pattern almost all the papers are kept under one category and planing may suit all the subjects but approach to solve, what to start , and how much to answer can be learned through the CBSE Sample papers. We should solve this sample papers again and again to minimize the stress that comes once a new pattern that was their in the CBSE sample papers but was an unseen for us appears during the examination.

Last Night Effort.

 A term that lot of students use to define the strength that they have over mugging the subjects but maximum time it has resulted in a lot of panic during examination because last minute preparation gives least confidence to students and it can never replace a long term strategically study. We can over come this by having  a revision timetable and start planning well before exams begin. With this we should also set realistic goals and include breaks. We should make sure to get some fresh air or have the window open while studying where possible. Its no harm in being methodical, make books, notes and essays user-friendly so that it serves a better purpose at the critical juncture of examination. We should use headings, highlighting and revision cards, and get tips on other revision techniques from teachers and friends with experience of exams.

Food: Important aspect during examinations.

It’s necessary to have good and balance diet before examination, keeping in mind that the food should not make you sleepy and should make you comfortable while sitting in the examination room .We should never go in on an empty stomach as our concentration will jump from questions to our empty stomach. Fruits and proteins are good source of energy. We should avoid rice potato and other high carbohydrate enriched foods.

Forget and move ahead.

After the examination, it’s a common culture among students that we tend to discuss a lot with our friends and we are interested in knowing how others have written We should think that the time post examination is also to plan what to do with the result expected, asking friends and taking their feedback and comparing your performance will only add worries to it. It can be a possibility because of social pressure that the friend might lie to you and so the intention of analysis may loose its motto. It’s a fact that a majority of students come in the examination centre to perform well. Concentrate on how you will face your next exam or how you are going to spend your time efficiently.

Sleep well

Most people need at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night. If we make a habit of sleeping too late may hamper the normal metabolic process of the body and we may end up in getting nothing than perpetual dizziness.

Positive self assessment conversation

What can be best in the world than talking to yourself and doing a self assessment. Always take out time and analyze in a silent and healthy environment about pros and cones of your activities during examination. It will help you to delete unwanted practises and will result in better approach next time.

Hard work pays off

You cannot replace the mantra of “ Success come with hard work” so the best way to avoid stress during examination is get ready through continuous preparation and also try to generate a cross checking or evaluation process for yourself. It will help you to analyze how better you can perform as revision takes its course.
Hope this tips will help you to overcome the unwanted stress. If not, Please consult a professional for help.

उसे हिन्दुस्तान मे हम ऑरत कहते है

जिसको पहले हम
पॅदा ही नही होने देते
होने पर जिन्दगी भर कोसते है 
उसे हिन्दुस्तान मे हम ऑरत कहते है
जिसको खरीदने के लिये
दिवारो का सहारा लिया जाता है
खरीदार बेरोकटोक घुमते है
सामान अंधेरो मे गुम हो जाता है
नया दुकानदार भी शादी के नाम पर
अच्छा मोल भाव करता है
सामान को परखता है
इस्तेमाल करता है ,
पसंद ना आने पे जला देता है
दुकान्दार कभी कभी हमारे
घरो मे भी मिलते है ,
ऑर सामान को
हिन्दुस्तान मे हम ऑरत कहते है
जिससे प्यार सबको चाहिये
दुलार सबको चाहिये ,
सब की भुख भी वही
अलग अलग रुप अलग अलग नाम
बन कर जिन्दगी भर मिटाती है
भुख ना मिटने पर
सिर्फ नोंची जाती है काटी जाती है
खाने वाला पेट भर
अगले सामान की खोज मे
निकल जाता है ,सामान दम तोड देता है
एसे खाने वाले कभी कभी हमारे
घरो मे भी मिलते है ,
ऑर सामान को
हिन्दुस्तान मे हम ऑरत कहते है
इस सामान को एसे ही सदियो से इस्तेमाल करने वाले को मर्द कहते है

- Saurav Kumar Sinha

मौलवी साहब

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