Notes on:
Acres, D. (1991) How To Pass Exams
Without Anxiety, 2nd edition.
Plymouth: How To Books Ltd
Dave Harris
There is constant advice requiring students to ask
themselves questions such as 'why am I doing
this? Why am I looking at this
book?'(11). We can use Kipling's six
questions: What? Why? When?
How? Where? Who? to structure
our notes or our mind maps. [There is a
clear instrumental intent already, with the main
interest for students being how to manage
knowledge. As usual, we don't know what sort
of students this is designed to help, unless study
skills are assumed as being universal].
No doubt students will be asking themselves why
they should read this book, and all sorts of
supposed questions appear, together with
answers. For example 'Q: do the ideas
work?. A: yes. Every one of the
ideas… has worked for some students
somewhere… I also use them… and did so
to write this book'. However, you 'must pick
and choose those ideas you feel would suit you and
your needs. Add them to any ways you
[already] have' (13). Other claims include
'[this book is] very comprehensive. It does
not moralize... It is clear and
straightforward to use… Uniquely it combines
revision and examination techniques with ideas for
coping with your whole lifestyle, including any
anxiety you may feel' (13). [There is also
an admission that 'personal needs' lay behind the
writing of this book as well, (14)]. Claimed
experience leads on to seeing achievement as a sum
of five factors: ability, determination, work
rate, techniques, coping with your self as a
person [presumably, none of the last four are any
good if we don't have the first one?]
With revision, the advice is to set a
clear and specific target and timescale, and to
verify success with other people. It is
necessary to 'pick a task which is sufficiently
demanding' and 'have a feeling of accomplishment'
(21). It boils down to getting a good idea
of the task, setting priorities, and arranging the
tasks according to 'interests
understanding/knowledge, and ease/difficulty' (24)
[All of which assumes you know how to learn
effectively already]. You need to spot topics,
think up your own questions, take group notes on
the different topics, then reduce your notes to
key words, swap them with others and discuss
them. We can reduce notes by using spider
diagrams or patterned notes rather than linear
ones [with a reference to the dreaded Buzan,
28]. You need to keep a diary to monitor
your own progress, choose a mixture of topics to
revise, choose the most effective place to revise,
and above all, be honest with yourself.
We must be active in asking and setting our own
questions and in motivating ourselves.
Motivation can be managed through behavioural
techniques such as taking rests or breaks.
We must organize our time, producing a timetable
for revision and a set of daily targets. 'A
very important rule of thumb [is that] for every
one unit of time… you give to reading…you
should spend at least the same amount of time on
trying to recall what you have just read' (35) [no
understanding required]. You must 'make the
most ACTIVE use of a as many of your SENSES as
possible' (38). [Lots of pretty obvious
points are then made -- keep file cards, use
abbreviations, and do not use commercially
produced prompt cards like the ones in the 'Key
Facts' series [it's not clear why—a rival
system?].
'The best way of remembering is to have a real
understanding of a topic' (44) [so maybe I was a
bit harsh before -- do these techniques help you
do that though? ]. You need to associate
ideas, verbally and visually. You can use
your eyes to assist recall [based on wacky Neuro -
Linguistic Programming stuff]: 'visual eye
movements are upward eye movements' so 'don't
allow your eyes to drop down' (44). Use
'repetition'— mnemonics, rhymes,
associations—practice and test your self.
When it comes to examinations, the basic
advice is to stay healthy and to regulate your
efforts, to simulate and practice. Use
comments and other feedback from teachers [but why
don't students do this?]. [There is nearly
some advice to selectively neglect, 55, but a note
of caution is also sounded]. Getting lists of
examiners' criteria is useful [but what follows is
rather descriptive and uncritical, for example]
use 'short simple sentences and a direct style of
writing', avoid 'over elaborateness, over
wordiness', and avoid the 'use of slang or spoken
expressions'. Try not to make the examiner
feel 'bored by a candidate who has evidently put
little effort into the exam' (56). [It's
rather like a flimsy and uncritical version of
Bourdieu on academic style].
There is then a rather aristocratic moment,
expressing the view that examinations are not
always the key to happiness, and, at the same
time, denying working class fatalism and a naive
belief in techniques (57) [but this a whole book
is about techniques!].
When it comes to taking the exam, we might borrow
some ideas from Rowntree [the legendary SQR3—I
don't think it is original to Rowntree]. We
need to plan, review and question. We need
to underline the key words in the question, and
some key words are defined, 64f—'outline,
relate'. There are some guidelines on style
(66), very conventional ones including the need to
write your answers with 'a beginning, a middle,
and an end'. You must also 'try not to start
your final paragraphs with 'Finally…', or 'In
conclusion…' These are 'boring, repetitive, and
tend to cause examiners to yawn' (67).
Finally, you need to manage your time, read the
instructions, and write legibly.
You also need to cope with anxiety.
Arousal is good, but excessive anxiety is
bad. You might consider practicing
techniques of breathing, muscular relaxation, or
visualization (72). You want to learn,
practice rehearse, and 'develop a balanced
lifestyle', and 'stop thoughts that worry you'
(73). You need to rationalize your
anxieties, think what the causes of them might be
and then be positive: 'set a goal… Determine
an approach… Have a plan of action'
(76). You can visualise stressful
situations, so that when you feel like tensing up,
you can stop and relax. There is a checklist
to reduce anxiety on 79—you need to avoid thinking
about the past or future, focus on a practical
action in the present. Constantly command
yourself to stop being negative. Be positive
about examinations as a chance to do well
(85). Note your reactions to places or
times. Practice yoga. Relax before
exams. Don't get there too early. Get
proper sleep and 'enjoy the close company of
others' (90). 'Seek out those people to whom
you can talk with confidence… Take this book
along. Use it together' (91).
You can increase your relaxation by developing the
right sleeping postures. There are also
techniques to use in emergencies to produce quick
relaxation, based on Madders. Yoga breathing
is one example (94). You can tense your
muscles and then relax them (97). You can
use a relaxation programme, outlined on 98 F.
It is important to visualize success (102
F). You can join a self help group. You can
learn to ask polite questions. Then there is
a final list of tips, such as the need to
'constructively support each other…
cooperate… make group decisions binding on
each member of the group'[unpleasant and
risky?]. Use this book (107). Listen
and summarize. Work in groups to explain and
discuss. Brainstorm and do presentations to
each other.
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