It has been some time since my last post - things have been pretty busy! In between Art of Smart, and launching www.uniaustralia.com.au, blog writing has unfortunately taken a back seat!
I have had a number of emails from students however emailing me with questions and feedback on the blog which is always appreciated.
This week, I thought I would post my answers a couple of questions which have been emailed in to me. Hopefully, this little Q & A will also answer your questions as well.
Question:Regularly, when I have a study break, say for 10 minutes, I end up taking over an hour break as I procrastinate and use it to avoid study. How can I overcome this habit?
Answer: Generally I have found that part of the reason any student procrastinates is because they do not have a powerful enough reason to do work and be efficient. Additionally, it also comes down to time management.
From my research with top students, I discovered that many students would overcome this problem by scheduling in something that they really enjoyed – be it sport, hanging with friends, TV shows, speaking to girlfriends or boyfriends etc, at given periods – either at the end of the day, or over the weekend.
They would then make a commitment to themselves that they would not participate in the scheduled activity unless they completed their work. This meant that they had a powerful reason to not procrastinate, and stick to their break times strictly, as otherwise they would miss out on participating in their hobby.
Students maintained their discipline – to not participate in the event/hobby, by getting their parents involved, and/or teaming up with a friend to keep each other accountable.
Question:I have recently got back some assessment marks, and I have not done as well I would have hoped. I recently got (this is a fictional mark) 32/45 in an assessment worth 25%. I am loosing hope of achieving my goal ATAR so I can study my course at university. What should I do? Do I still have a chance?
Answer: Rather than simply telling you that you will be fine, use it as a lesson, and look to the future – which sounds nice, is encouraging, but at the end of the day does not mean a lot, my suggestion is as follows:
1. Encouragement – Yes – you can still do well. What is most important for your internal marks is your rank. Work on improving your rank, and use this as an opportunity to evaluate your study, and exam preparation, and exam technique.
2. Work out specifically what is required to improve your rank + maximise your chances of studying your chosen degree (to work out what degree you should study use www.uniaustralia.com.au for student reviews and rankings)
3. How do you work out specifically what marks you need to achieve over the remaining assessments to maximise your rank and chance of your ATAR? See below (get ready for some Maths)!
For example, if you have had two assessments for a subject so far (one outlined in the question above):
A1: You got 32/45, and it was worth 25% out of total assessments. Your raw mark therefore is: 0.71 x 25 = 17.78
A2: You got 23/30 and it was worth 30% out of total assessments – Your raw mark is therefore 0.766 x 35 = 26.83
Currently then, your total raw mark is:
17.78 + 26.83/55 = 81% (44.61/55)
This leaves 45% of assessment left. Let’s say you want to hit 90% mark.
You use the mark you want - 90% and minus your current mark – 44.61. This gives you the difference you need to achieve over your next assessments.
In this case, 90-44.61 = 45.39 out of a remaining 45 marks, meaning you would need over 100% in your remaining assessments which will be impossible.
So, reset your goal to 85%.
85-44.61 = 40.39 out of a possible 45 = 89.75%
Set this as your goal – and work towards achieve it. This way, in your internal mark, you will then achieve 85%.
Remember however that this will only be worth 50% for your HSC.
85/2 = 42.5/50
So, then, if you are aiming for a raw mark (HSC + Internal) of 90, you can work out what you need to achieve in the HSC.
90 (HSC Mark) – 42.50 (Internal Mark) = 47.50/50 (Total Mark) = 95%
So you would need to achieve 95% in your HSC Exam.
Do this for all your subjects – it takes a little time, but it gives you a realistic, and achievable plan for reaching your goal. Rather than hoping, you can see immediately that it is possible to pull your marks up.
Hope this helps,
Rowan
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