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GCSE Study Skills Course at Al-Khoe School, London 1999 |
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The Education Committee of the Council of European Jamaats was approached by the Az-Zahra and As-Sadiq Schools of the Al-Khoe Foundation in London, UK, to conduct a mini session of the CoEJ's Study Skills course. The course was to be aimed for Year 10 and Year 11 students, who are preparing for their national GCSE examinations.
The school had heard of the successful sessions held in Birmingham by the Education Committee of the CoEJ. As a matter of natural solidarity between Shia organisations, CoEJ unreservedly and enthusiastically acceded to their request, and arranged the tutor and supplied all the relevant notes for the course. The course was conducted by Dr Mahmood Datoo.
Due to time constraints, the school had asked for three specific topics to be covered. The sessions were run twice in the day. Once for the Az-Zahra girl students, and the other for the As-Sadiq boys students. In each group, there were about thirty participants.
The topics covered were Time Management, Revision Strategy and Examination Techniques. The course was conducted by interactive and question-answer sessions between the presenter and the students.
The Time Management module involve the participants in making their own yearly and weekly timetable, thereby identifying any "free" time during a typical term-time week. The correlation of the yearly to the weekly timetable was highlighted with examples. The adoption and modification of the weekly timetable was explained and the importance of adhering to a realistic weekly timetable was discussed and emphasised.
The Revision Strategy module looked into the importance of regular revision of notes, with a view to retain and recall the material studied. The importance of using the notes, and how to modify the first draft of notes, was gone into in some detail. The danger of procrastination during a revision session was highlighted by citing many daily examples encountered by the students. A regime of effective study and break sessions was detailed.
The Examination techniques discussed the do's and don'ts of things for the day before the exam, the day of the exam itself, and in the examination room. A strategy for tackling an examination paper was gone through with a view of scoring as high a mark as possible. The importance of relaxation and its effects, as the exams get near, was discussed, using the students' own experiences.
Feedback: The students had to fill out a brief questionnaire after the session to allow the CoEJ and the Az-Zahra and As-Sadiq schools to gauge the usefulness of such a course. The following are samples of the students' unedited comments:
Personal Usefulness:
"Helpful and I will take the advice into account definitely!"
"Some parts were very good."
"0% useful because it is too little too late."
"It gave am an idea of where I was going wrong in my studies and how to put it right.!
"I found it OK. Not too useful. Some things were quite useful."
Notes:
"Very helpful indeed."
"They will help me to come back to it at a later date."
"Not bad."
"The notes given were great."
Course Duration:
"Not long enough."
"Too short."
"It was too long."
"Okay."
What changes would you like to see for the next course?:
"More time, and more breaks between topics."
"None."
"Note taking topic should be included."
"Some food should be served."
"The course should be run earlier during the year."
"Less time spent on Time Management."
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