DEAR COUNSELLOR, I have a problem of SPEED. i HAVE ALWAYS FAILED TO DO ALL QUESTIONS DURING EXAMS AND THIS AFFECTS MY PERFORMANCE. What can I do to FINISH IN TIME? Nathan Try to attempt as many sample tests as you can and track your average problem-solving speed. If you do not try out question papers before, it will be pretty difficult to write quickly in the exam. Preparing for an exam is like taking on an important project that can be ushered in with a strategic plan which you must stick to religiously. Take a deep breath and read every question carefully and design a plan to apportion specific minutes for each question including time at the beginning for planning, and at the end to check and finish things off. You can also increase your writing speed by reducing the size of your letters to allow your wrist and fingers move quickly and flexibly in the paper. How you structure your time will vary according to the way you work, and the sorts of questions you have got to answer. Start by working out what carries the most marks and launch straight into your favourite topics. The art of answering is all about knowing what the reader expects. Examiners have a habit of dressing simple questions up in bewildering language: do not dismiss an option before thinking about it logically for at least a few seconds to understand the flow and logic plus the questioning technique. Develop the ability to solve the questions quickly with utmost accuracy. Concise and complete answers will read much better than broadly conceived and unfinished ones. So narrow your answering technique rationally and avoid misfiring questions. A messy handwriting could lead to loss of marks. Do not leave exams early because such time is absolutely irreversible. Sit and re-read what you have written; double-check all of your answers, spelling errors and rewrite any illegible, hastily-scrawled words. Twenty minutes hanging about outside the exam room waiting for your friends to finish is fairly inconsequential. YOU DEBATE Romaine Gihozo Uwase Mutoni Romaine Gihozo We have all passed through that stage and the best way forward is to practise; you need to take tests and exams on your own and time yourself to see how long you can take with it. Practice helps you to know where you take more time and how you can improve your exam speed. Uwase Mutoni: As teachers always tell us, answer the questions you know first, mark the ones you are fairly sure of and go back to them later and go for the difficult ones last. This enables you to use your time properly and answer well questions which earn more marks. Placide Mutabazi Julius Rubagume Placide Mutabazi: Take time to plan for your answers. This requires one to first highlight key answers of different questions which fetch more marks. Writing down key answers help you to answer quickly and also helps you to be calm and gives you confidence. Julius Rubagume: We were all helped by our teachers to deal with that problem, so in my opinion, consider talking to your teachers about it. Teachers are familiar with students’ problems of a kind, thus with experience, they can offer you tips to help you to improve on your speed in exams.
