Travisthetrout's Blog

[LPC] 30 days, 30 workshops April 27, 2009

With exams at the beginning of June, it doesn’t hurt to be a little prepared: bearing this in mind, I devised a study schedule for these 30 workshops (the content of which is examinable) as part of a revision plan, with 31 days in May this leaves one day free to be *completely* work free (starting early because I’m away bank holiday weekend). This then leaves a full week before the actual exams for CRAMMING and the usual exam PANIC.

(Picture: My rough schedule).

The key to this system is to go about things in a relaxed manner – just get as much done in the most efficient way possible.

Each day I’ve scheduled preparation for ongoing classes as well as revision sessions. For the days I’m not in uni I’ve designated a “catch up” slot for the times I’d ordinarily be in uni, for doing additional work on things that I didn’t have time to do because I was in class. For example today:

• Morning class
• Preparation for Patents and Copyright class next week: I did this afternoon waiting around for a Commercial property lecture. This involved a reading list of various information and legislation, as well as questions on the set reading.
• Because of the lecture, didn’t get home till late, so didn’t get as much done as I would have liked, but started working down my checklist which I have devised as a general outline (see below).
• Because I had a full day in Uni – on Wednesday when I have no Uni, I’ve marked the morning as a catch up session for both today and tomorrow’s work.

I appreciate that everyone has different systems and the way I work might not appeal to everyone – but one thing I think is useful no matter what way you is the general list I go through with regards to each workshop when revising.

What I do for Each Workshop (Class):

1. Check that I have all the material required: quite often we are required to print off material from the uni resources or look up stuff on the web. The first thing I always do is check it is all there. and then file it in order. For example, today I printed off revision questions on contract law that we did as pre-workshop work for commercial law/sale of goods and Traders’ Guide from Berr.gov.uk. ALSO be ruthless and get rid of things you don’t need – more paper you have longer it takes to get through. I had a whole crate of paper to recycle which I removed during my compulsory subject exams.

2. Review set pre-reading: When completing the reading first time round everyone attacks it with a highlighter. But NOW that you’ve actually done the class you have a better idea of what is important as the stuff covered in class has the most potential to appear on the exam – so using my workshop notes, I use a different highlighter and markup and annotate the pre-reading.

3. Write up Notes: Whether you type or write up your notes, it is a good idea to put them in a more organised and coherent way (of course some people can use the notes they made in class straight off): the important thing is to UNDERSTAND them and be able to NAVIGATE them.

4. Summary Page of Key Facts: Sometimes depending on the material of the workshop I feel it is important to do a separate page of KEY facts. This is particularly good if the exam you are studying for has multiple choice questions – this can even be just a list of the most important sections relevant to a topic.

5. Charts/checklists/flow diagrams: Frequently a topic will be capable of representation in a visual manner – E.g. steps that need to be satisfied before you can move onto the next thing, or a particular procedure that needs to followed before legal action can be taken. Vital information – a good summary to flesh out and keep you on track is great in an exam.

6. Legislation / Documentation: make sure all legislation, contracts, leases etc are correctly highlighted and annotated cross referencing between general notes and these documents is also pretty helpful. I like to also set out scenarios: if X happens, Y will apply, but if A happens both Y and B will apply, etc.

7. Tabbing: one thing that always amazes me in exam rooms is the extreme use or lack of tabs – no one ever seems to use in moderation. but in open book exams, tabs need to be labelled, coloured coded or be in whatever format that helps you to find your way around your notes with ease. I like to take the opportunity when revising to straighten this all out.

8. Exam Technique: always important to review exam technique, whether this is a list of everything you must talk about in a particular question; hints provided for by the tutors and the revision questions you have been provided with.

This may, at first glance, seem a lot to do – but today in the space of 2 hours (which was all I could spare today) I completed the first 4 points for my first workshop. The last four are the less time-consuming ones and I will be able to complete them in my catch up session on Wednesday.