How I Study
Now this is one of those topics where what I say is not gospel and it may not work for you but I hope you can take some useful tips from it.
First things first the syllabus for each module isn't necessarily in a logical order (sorry BBKA). Have a look through it before and see if there are some you can group together.
I found that presenting a subject to a group you force yourself to know more if you have a study group obviously this is easier. If you don't there is a solution-quite often I give my colleagues or best friend a teaching session on a subject- they probably don't want to hear it but they're supportive enough to let me use them as guinea pigs- I'm talking a 5/10minute thing not an hours lessons! I find it's easier to tell non beekeepers what you've learnt as in the nicest way possible they don't have an opinion. One big thing I have learnt, especially with these modules, is once you have something figured out and straight in your head do not listen to others. Beekeepers all put their own slant on things don't let that confuse you.
The next thing I have and which fellow study buddies have adopted is my study book. What I do is write a final set of notes on every topic, I try and do this as I go but never have I stuck to it that religiously!That way I have a logical set of notes in my own language. I try and do this in one A5 notepad, that way I can throw it in my bag and read it at the hairdressers, on my break at work or wherever you have 5 minutes. I luckily have a photographic memory which has somewhat diminished since school but once this book is complete and I turn to the revision phase, I copy the book exactly, in its entirety into another notebook- this helps me massively to memorise it. I then also have a book to look back on when I need to carry out certain things or need to look up a subject.
Post it notes- as it gets near to exam I put them everywhere, now they have to be short and snappy otherwise this won;t work and they have to be in locations to make you read them. I use the back of the toilet door for slightly more complex topics! Next to light switches forcing myself to read them when I turn a light on or about to turn it off. On the back of the front door, again read them before you leave and next to my bed on the wall/ bedside cabinet so I read it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
I did make revision cards for my Basic and M2, I have tried doing this for the other modules but there's so much it's hard to condense so I've steered away from it now.
Leading up the exam I read back through the sections of the books I used to make my notes in the first place and do the available past papers. There are a lot of past papers available, I think you can buy them or you can find most on Facebook study pages related to the modules. I don't tend to sit and do a full paper but dependent on how much time I have I'll do all the section A questions, or a few sections Bs etc. I try and see what I can remember and if there are some I look at and have no clue I'll research it and make up a set of notes on the topic.
Hopefully this may help some of you. Some love a mind maps, I really dislike them but a lot of my group use these. Also don't forget to use the knowledge you have in your associations, see if a more experienced beekeeper will explain something to you or if they'll look over a past paper you've done and give their feedback.
First things first the syllabus for each module isn't necessarily in a logical order (sorry BBKA). Have a look through it before and see if there are some you can group together.
I found that presenting a subject to a group you force yourself to know more if you have a study group obviously this is easier. If you don't there is a solution-quite often I give my colleagues or best friend a teaching session on a subject- they probably don't want to hear it but they're supportive enough to let me use them as guinea pigs- I'm talking a 5/10minute thing not an hours lessons! I find it's easier to tell non beekeepers what you've learnt as in the nicest way possible they don't have an opinion. One big thing I have learnt, especially with these modules, is once you have something figured out and straight in your head do not listen to others. Beekeepers all put their own slant on things don't let that confuse you.
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| my M2 study book and revision cards |
The next thing I have and which fellow study buddies have adopted is my study book. What I do is write a final set of notes on every topic, I try and do this as I go but never have I stuck to it that religiously!That way I have a logical set of notes in my own language. I try and do this in one A5 notepad, that way I can throw it in my bag and read it at the hairdressers, on my break at work or wherever you have 5 minutes. I luckily have a photographic memory which has somewhat diminished since school but once this book is complete and I turn to the revision phase, I copy the book exactly, in its entirety into another notebook- this helps me massively to memorise it. I then also have a book to look back on when I need to carry out certain things or need to look up a subject.
Post it notes- as it gets near to exam I put them everywhere, now they have to be short and snappy otherwise this won;t work and they have to be in locations to make you read them. I use the back of the toilet door for slightly more complex topics! Next to light switches forcing myself to read them when I turn a light on or about to turn it off. On the back of the front door, again read them before you leave and next to my bed on the wall/ bedside cabinet so I read it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
I did make revision cards for my Basic and M2, I have tried doing this for the other modules but there's so much it's hard to condense so I've steered away from it now.
Leading up the exam I read back through the sections of the books I used to make my notes in the first place and do the available past papers. There are a lot of past papers available, I think you can buy them or you can find most on Facebook study pages related to the modules. I don't tend to sit and do a full paper but dependent on how much time I have I'll do all the section A questions, or a few sections Bs etc. I try and see what I can remember and if there are some I look at and have no clue I'll research it and make up a set of notes on the topic.
 |
| past papers are available in the BBKA shop |
Hopefully this may help some of you. Some love a mind maps, I really dislike them but a lot of my group use these. Also don't forget to use the knowledge you have in your associations, see if a more experienced beekeeper will explain something to you or if they'll look over a past paper you've done and give their feedback.
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