Studyit: a tool to ease those NCEA nerves

Issue: Volume 94, Number 11

Posted: 29 June 2015
Reference #: 1H9crT

Encourage your students to use Studyit –www.studyit.org.nz – the free, safe and successful after-school online learning environment for students studying the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

Studyit is an online service that supports Level 1 to Level 3 NCEA and Scholarship students in the lead up to their final external exams. The site’s primary focus is on NCEA English, mathematics and science (including physics, biology and chemistry) at years 11–13. It also provides more limited support for a range of 15 other subject areas.

In each of these subject areas the site provides forums that allow students to ask questions and seek support in preparing for unit and achievement standard assessments. Students are encouraged to respond to each other’s posts, and substantial co-construction of knowledge and support for students occurs through the forums, so that they can learn from and with each other. The forums are moderated by other students and mentors. Mentors are all trained secondary teachers.

Achievement standards for mathematics, the sciences, and English have been repackaged specifically for students and include detailed explanations and links to revision material.

There are 15 forums where students can ask questions and get support from teachers and other students on the forums at night, in the weekends, and in the holidays.

Designed with input from secondary students, content and advice has been written by subject specialists and has been checked by student editors, ensuring that a student focus is retained throughout the site.

There is also a helpful section on ‘study and exam advice’ so students who aren’t sure where to start, or how to make the best use of that crucial time in the lead-up to exams, can be confident they’re doing everything they can.

A few study tips from StudyIT

Be prepared:

  • Go to all revision sessions for your subjects.
  • Have up-to-date course notes. If you don’t, ask your teachers for the latest versions.
  • Practise assessments and examination papers.
  • Know what is required for each achievement standard.

Planning:

  • Set regular routines of study.
  • Choose a quiet, airy, well-lit place to study.
  • Set study goals:
    • daily goals
    • weekly goals
    • long-term goals.
  • Know your deadlines.
  • Make a study timetable.
  • Do a small amount of study on each subject every night.

Relax:

  • Have lots of breaks (eg, break every 50 minutes for 10 minutes).
  • Eat healthily, sleep regularly and exercise.
  • Reward yourself regularly.
  • If stressed, ask for help. Your teachers want you to succeed; ask them!

Ministry of Education funded research found that

“What is … unique about Studyit is that it encourages a participatory culture where participants believe that their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another. Studyit is a community that provides strong incentives for active participation through a communal problem-solving approach.” (Trewern and Wenmoth, 2008, p41).

BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz

Posted: 6:10 pm, 29 June 2015

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