I understand all the concepts in 2u and 3u but can't do well on tests

[jmcdougall19]

Hey everyone,

 I found after doing my first set of 2u and 3u exams that i felt that I had a good understanding of the content/theory of the topics, however did really poorly on the tests themselves. To give more context I made summaries of the key concepts of the topic and by doing this I was sure that I understood all ideas. For example for integration, I made a summary with notes on how to integrate general formula, area between two curves, volumes ect. Then I would do heaps of past paper questions under timed conditions and also miscellaneous questions from test yourself exercises in my textbook.

But when I got into the exam I could not perform. As i expected they were questions that I had not seen before and I knew what the answer should look like, however I had no clue on where to start or what steps I needed to do in order to get the answer I was looking for.

Could it be that
- I don't actually have a strong understanding at all but think I do
- Have Exam anxiety
- Need to do heaps more examples under test conditions, even more than what I am doing now
- Something else

Ive tried doing some research but I would really appreciate it if there was any feedback from someone who was in my position.
Thanks

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey! First of all, this is super common, so don't stress too much about it!

My first question would be, how did you fare in those practice tests? If you are doing as many as you say and getting them all right under exam conditions, then you understand your stuff. There's no way you could answer all the questions under exam conditions if you didn't.

My next question would be, where are the questions coming from? You want to make sure they are of similar difficulty to what you'll actually be getting in exams - Trial/HSC papers are best for this! It might be that your practice just isn't quite testing you to the same level that the exam did.

If you were doing a range of tricky questions, and getting them all right, then your issue is with exam technique. This could be down to anxiety, or over-thinking, or any number of things - But if you get the questions right out of the room then don't get them right in the room, then logically, the issue is the room. This is a hard thing to deal with, but it comes with practice and learning to disassociate the exam with the result - No one would perform at their best if they spent the exam getting nervous about the significance of the result

I think it's just about being honest with yourself at every stage of the process - You are doing all of the right things! Perhaps reflect on where exactly you think the weak link is, and start there

[jmcdougall19]

Thanks so much, this was really helpful.

Yes, next time I do some practice questions ill be mindful of how many i am getting correct

Cheers

[jamonwindeyer]

Awesome to hear! Yeah, marking your practice is so important, purely to avoid developing false confidence (ignorance may be bliss but it doesn’t get marks)