UCD Students' Union Exam Guide Christmas 2009

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Exam Guide Christmas 2009

RDSThe main exam centre is in the RDS on Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. The RDS is the cen-tral feature of Ballsbridge and is difficult to miss! However, don’t get confused between the differ-ent RDS grounds.

Within the main RDS Anglesea Road grounds, there are two exams halls – the Main Hall and the Industries Hall, both located beside each other in the same building. There will be porters on the gates to assist you, and signage indicating where the UCD exams are taking place.

To get to the RDS from the Belfield Campus, take any bus into the city centre, and get off at the Donnybrook Dublin Bus garage. Cross the road to the monument that acts as the world’s worst traf-fic junction, and take the left-hand road, following the River Dodder, because that just happens to be Anglesea Road itself. After about 10-15 minutes of walking, you’ll arrive at the entrance to the RDS on your right.

If taking the bus, you can get the numbers 4, 4A, 5, 7, 7a, 8, 18, 45, 63 and 84; they all drive down Merrion Road, the main road in Ballsbridge, which Anglesea Road intercepts at the Herbert Park Hotel.

There is parking available in the RDS at cost of €5.

BlackrockSome exams are taking place in the UCD Black-rock Exam Centre at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School on Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

The Blackrock Campus is located nearly half-way up Carysfort Avenue, on your right-hand side as you approach from the direction of Blackrock village. The Exam Centre is immediately on your right once you enter the campus gates. It looks like a secondary school gym, because, well, it used to be one.

The number 17 bus leaves from the main Belfield bus terminus and heads to Blackrock. Get off at the end of Mount Merrion Avenue, before the bus heads into the village. Walk past Frascati Shop-ping Centre on your right and Blackrock Shop-ping Centre on your left, until you see Carysfort Avenue, and take a right up it. It takes about ten minutes to walk from the 17 bus stop to the UCD Blackrock Campus.

You can also get the numbers 4, 4A, 5, 7, 7a and 45, as they pass through Blackrock. The Dart stops in Blackrock village, too. It’s often difficult to find parking on the Blackrock Campus and there are not many spaces available outside the campus. You’re best off getting public transport or walking.

Exam Centre Locations

The Students’ Union is providing a free shuttle bus for UCD students to get them to and from their exam centre. The bus operates on a continuous loop, beginning at 7.30am and ending at 8pm.

It departs Belfield from the ‘Xpresso’ bus termi-nus near the Glenomena Student Residences and behind St Stephen’s Chaplaincy. It heads south towards the Blackrock Campus, stopping right outside the campus gates, before heading up to Ballsbridge and stopping in the RDS grounds. From there it returns to Belfield and the magical loop continues all over again.

It leaves each location on the hour and on the half-hour. Places are limited so make sure to get there early!

SU Exam Shuttle Bus

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The SU isn’t going to let you face these exams on your own – we’ll be there in the RDS Exam Centre to provide you with pens, pencils and highlighters in case you’ve forgotten yours. We’ll also have drinks and bananas to replenish your energy if you’re feeling run-down.

We’ll also be helping you out-side of the exam centres. The SU Exam Shuttle Bus will bring you from Belfield to Blackrock to Ballsbridge in plenty of time for your exams.

The SU has been working with the university to establish a long-term 24-hour study area. As a pilot to ascertain the de-mand for such a facility, an out-of-hours reading room will exist in the ‘Rendezvous’, downstairs in the Restaurant Building. More information on this is available

later in the guide.As usual, the Education and

Welfare Officers are available to chat to you at any stage during the exam period. If they’re not in the RDS Exam Centre, they’re in the SU offices. And if they’re not there, they’re on the end of a phone line. Don’t hesitate to contact them.

Donnacha Ó Súilleabháin, Education Officer(01) 716 3111 | 087 952 7156 [email protected]

Scott Ahearn, Welfare Officer(01) 716 3112 | 087 291 7245 [email protected]

Introduction

SU Services During the Exams

Hi there,

Welcome to the SU Exam Guide Christmas 2009. For many of you, this will be the first time you sit end-of-semester exams in UCD, so we’ve pieced together loads of good advice that has helped not only myself, but plenty of other UCD students over the years.

Inside you’ll find info on how to get to the vari-ous venues, details about the SU Exam Shuttle Bus, library opening hours, information about exam formats and how to appeal a result of an exam.

We’ve also included some study tips, a study planner, and full details on what the Students’ Union is doing to make the exams easier for you.

The SU officers offer our best wishes, and re-member, we’re always here to help.

Best of luck, Donnacha

The website www.ucd.ie/exams has all the up-to-date information relat-ing to this exam session. Check it regularly!



1. Make a study schedule that shows what tasks you need to accomplish and when you plan to accomplish each task. This will provide you with the structure you need for effective studying. See the Study Planner in the centre of the guide.

2. If you try to do too much studying at one time, you will tire easily and your studying will not be very effective. Space the work you have to do over shorter periods of time. Taking short breaks will restore your mental energy.

3. When studying for a prolonged period, reward yourself with a short break when a particular task is finished. Leave your desk, but don’t go near the phone or TV!

4. Follow daily routines such as studying at the same time each day and in the same place, with distractions switched off or removed. Try to simulate exam conditions as much as possible in your study area, as we remember best under conditions that resemble those in which the original learning took place.

5. Begin with something fairly difficult, even a topic you don’t like. Achievement boosts confidence and energy for the rest of the session.

6. Study sample questions set by lecturers as well as previous exam questions to ensure that the material you are learning can be applied to the types of questions

that come up in exams. Check Blackboard to see if your lecturer has uploaded some sample questions.

7. Take care of yourself both during your study and exam period. Get a good night’s sleep each night. Eat properly; plenty of carbohydrates and protein. Drink water to keep yourself entirely hydrated. Avoid dependence on coffee or stimulant drinks.

Study Tips

Okay, so you’ve heard all

these things before, but

why are we telling you

again? Because they’re

tried and tested, and they

do work! Try to introduce

some of the below into

your study techniques,

and you’ll see the returns

in your exam results.



Exam Day AdviceGetting there

• Arrive in plenty of time to the exam centre. See the inside cover for details on the SU Exam Shuttle Bus, but remember – places are limited and it can fill fast .

• If travelling by Dublin Bus, check the timetable of whatever route you intend to take to see if it will get you there in time.

• If driving, obviously pay heed to traffic announcements on the radio. With Dublin entering Christmas mode, traffic problems will, of course, increase.

When you arrive at the exam centre

• Firstly, check your student number on the noticeboard to find out where you’re sitting, and find out what section of the hall your seat is in. There’s literally thousands of seats. Srsly.

• Pop over to the SU desk in the RDS Exam Centre for some free pens, pencils, highlighters, bananas and juice, and to chat to any of the officers.

• If you’re feeling slightly nervous, it might be best to avoid pre-empting the exam and comparing the material you’ve studied with your classmates. Alternatively, if you feel a discussion might ease yourself, go ahead.

• Either way, you will need about 15 minutes ‘quiet time’ to mentally rehearse your exam and run through your ‘game plan’ for the final time.

• Make sure you have some water or fruit juice, and a small healthy snack to bring into the exam hall with you. Pangs of hunger during an exam are a huge distraction.

During the exam

• Fill out your answer book before you begin, but don’t seal the upper corner until you are finished.

• Read the entire exam paper first, and then decide what questions you are going to do.

• Make a note of any ideas that come to you as they come; you might forget them when you get to the relevant question.

• Don’t leave any questions blank, use bullet points if you run out of time

• Check your answers before handing your answer book to an invigilator.

After the exam

• Don’t conduct a post-mortem, as it serves no purpose. Mark one exam down, and then focus on the next one.

If you’re late for

an exam – don’t

panic! Ask to

speak to the Chief

Invigilator who’ll do

what they can to

accommodate you.



Study Planner

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Topic 2Topic 1DAY Topic 3



Topic 4 Topic 5 Topic 6



Exam Regulations

As you’d expect, there are certain rules to be observed in university examinations. Some of the big ones include no cheating and no disruption

of the exam hall. You can be disciplined under the UCD Student Code for these, and similar, actions. All exam regulations are available to download at www.ucd.ie/exams.

Checking Grades

Provisional exam results will be available no later than 5pm on Tuesday 19 January. Final results will be available on Friday 12 February. If you’re unhappy

with your result, you can arrange with your subject/school secretarty to have a look at your graded papers. This process is free.

If you feel you have been graded incorrectly or unfairly, you can have appeal your result through the formal university channel – the Assessment Appeals Office. An application must be made within 30 days of receiving your results. You should check your papers informally first, too.

An appeal must fit certain criteria for it to be considered. You must have at leat one of the following:

1. Evidence of a ‘substantive irregularity’ in the way you were examined.2. Extenuating circumstances that the examination board were not aware of when awarding your grade.3. On stated grounds you can challenge the mark awarded to you, but only after you have contacted the appropriate school and viewed the script and how the marks were awarded.

Thinking ‘you should have done better’ is not a valid ground for appeal, nor is the idea that you might be ‘close’ to a higher grade. The fee per module for an appeal is €60, returnable to you with a successful result. Application forms and more comprehensive regulations are available at www.ucd.ie/appeals.



If you fail a module, you may be required to re-sit it, repeat it, or substitute it.

Repeating

Students repeat all coursework, assignments and assessments unless exempted by the school for academic reasons. None of the assessment from their previous attempt is carried forward.

They usually attend all classes, unless exempted by the school for academic reasons, timetable restrictions or capacity issues.

They receive an actual grade, which is suffixed by a (R), on their transcript to indicate it was awarded on a repeat attempt, e.g. B+(R).

Re-sitting

Students take the re-sit assessment, determined by the school, which is designed to determine whether the student has satisfactorily achieved the major learning outcomes of the module.

None of the assessment from their previous attempt is carried forward, however, where the re-sit assessment has more than one component, the student may be exempted from re-sitting any component where the school considers the student has already passed a similar component from their first attempt.

The re-sit assessment may be an end-of-semester examination or submitted coursework throughout the semester, or both. It does not have to be similar to the original assessment of the module.

They do not attend classes.The re-sit assessment

task is completed by the end of the semester immediately following the original attempt.

They only receive grades of pass (P), fail (F) or no grade (NG), with grade points of 2.0, 1.0 and 0.0, respectively. These grades are suffixed (R)

on their transcript to indicate it was awarded on a repeat attempt, e.g. P(R)

Not all modules offer a re-sit option. To find out what your options are with each

module, use the ‘module search’ function on www.ucd.ie/

students and select the ‘What happens if I fail?’

button in the module descriptor.

Subsitution:Some modules can be subsituted instead of re-sitting/repeating

them. Optional modules and electives

can be substituted for a fee – you should contact your Programme Office to discuss it further.

The appeals/repeats/re-sits/substitution processes can be quite complicated. Get in touch with the SU Education Officer,

Donnacha, if you need any help.

Failed Modules



An additional study facility will be based in ‘The Rendezvous’, on the ground floor of the Restaurant Building. Its opening hours are:

Week 12:Monday 23 November-Thursday 26 November, 11pm-3amWeek 13, 14, 15 (Revision and exams weeks):Monday-Friday, 11pm-3amSaturday & Sunday, 8pm-1am

You will be required to have your Student Card to swipe in and out of the facility. The facility will have study spaces for over 150 people. In order to ensure the

smooth operation of the facility, additional wire-less access points have been installed, as well as a

printer and photocopier.The facility will cater for both private

quiet study and group study. There will be full access to toilets and food and drink vending machines.

To ensure the welfare of stu-dents, two security staff will oversee the facility and there will be additional campus

security to escort students back to campus resi-dences, their cars, etc., if requested.

Additional Study Facility

Effective: 9 November-20 December

Day Time Issue Desk Admissions Desk Monday-Thursday 08.30-0.00 09.30-21.45 09.30-21.45 Friday 09.00-0.00 09.30-17.00 09.30-16.45 Saturday 09.00-21.00 09.30-16.45 09.30-16.45 Sunday 09.00-21.00 CLOSED CLOSED

Wireless in both the Library and Health Sciences are busy due to an exception-ally high volume of users. Should you have difficulty accessing wireless in these or other locations, it is advisable to move to a less densely populated location. Or please contact the IT Services Helpdesk or IT Centres



Q&As

You’re ready to go!

Exam Checklist

You’re comfortable with the material in this module

MODULE

You’ve looked at past papers and attempted sample exam questions

You’ve gotten a good night’s sleep

ZzZzZ

You have your Student Card

You have a bottle of water

You have all required stationery

You have optional additional resources (e.g. calculator, dictionary, etc.)

PAST PAPERS

STUDENT ID

CHEWY

MCMONSTER

LOTS O’ PAPER

DICTION-

ARY


Documents

UCD Students' Union Exam Guide Christmas 2009