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 !!!!
