Exam Study Expert: ace your exams with the science of learning

Welcome to a very special series of episodes on Exam Study Expert, where we're unpacking the lives of individuals who have achieved success in a certain field, figuring out what motivated them when they were at school and university, finding out what they chose to study and why, and learning their top tips for success in their own field, or in life generally.Today: the most inspiring story I've had the privilege of telling here on the podcast, the tale of a boy from a Fijian village with no electricity or running water, who grew up to be a highly respected business leader managing several hundred thousand employees and advising government on economic development.His story beautifully illustrates the power of education to unlock opportunity for anyone, no matter what your background. If you are looking for a role model who achieved great things in life despite total absence of privilege, and remained kind, humble and generous throughout, look no further than Josaia Mar.*ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/Or read my exam technique book today at https://geni.us/exams *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on suggested books. You pay nothing extra. I make these recommendations based on extensive personal experience and because I think they are genuinely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I receive.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Are you doing a PhD, or considering doing one some day in the future?We interviewed six current and former PhD candidates at some of the world's great universities - Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton - to get the low-down on what it's really like. They share some great wisdom, sometimes with the benefit of a little hindsight, for how to approach your PhD to make life that bit easier.If you're in the middle of a PhD or about to start one, you'll learn a highly actionable set of tips for:- Managing your time- Setting goals- Staying positive- Coping when the going gets tough (because it will)If you're thinking of doing a PhD one day, our guests today offer a rare insight into what doctorate research is really like - find out what you're getting into before you take the plunge!*From this episode: If you'd like to contact video game designer Emma about her research, she is on Twitter @EmmaJoyReay.If you'd like to connect with me on Twitter for more productivity tips and to let me know how your PhD is going, I'm @ExamStudyExpert.With thanks to all this week's contributors:- Dylan Morris- Christina Courreges- Kalina Naidoo- Aled Walker (find out more about Aled at https://aledwalker.wixsite.com/aled/home)- Emma Joy Reay (connect with Emma on Twitter @EmmaJoyReay)- Andrea di Antonio (connect with Andrea on Twitter @DiAntonio823)ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/*As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases of books and other products we link to. This may generate a small amount of income for us, but has no impact on what products we and our guests choose to recommend to you.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Strategies for dealing with test-day nerves and exam-week anxiety: discover the counterintuitive science behind “the butterflies”, and learn to tame them, with these seven strategies from psychology. This episode draws on nearly a decade of research into the art and science of getting the best possible mark on exam day, which underpins our new book, Outsmart Your Exams, which is available here: https://geni.us/examsABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/*As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases of books and other products we link to. This may generate a small amount of income for us, but has no impact on what products we and our guests choose to recommend to you.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Ever wondered how to get the most marks you can in multiple-choice papers? Tricks to improve your guessing, what the science says about strategies for maximising your mark on multiple-choice, and avoiding traps the examiner might set for you: it’s all in here. This episode draws on nearly a decade of research into the art and science of getting the best possible mark on exam day, which underpins our new book, Outsmart Your Exams, which is available here: https://geni.us/examsABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/*As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases of books and other products we link to. This may generate a small amount of income for us, but has no impact on what products we and our guests choose to recommend to you.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Today's episode features a panel of guests: teachers, professors, tutors, even students, sharing some of their favourite exam-taking strategies, together with some of my own all-time top tips for exam week and the exam hall.An ingenious set of techniques to help maximise your mark in the exam itself.Learn more about Outsmart Your Exams, the first book from Exam Study Expert, at https://geni.us/examsABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/*As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases of books and other products we link to. This may generate a small amount of income for us, but has no impact on what products we and our guests choose to recommend to you.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Learn more about Outsmart Your Exams, the first book from Exam Study Expert, at https://geni.us/examsIn this episode, discover the three golden principles for great exam technique, and along the way, pick up a host of "trade secret" test-taking strategies which you can use right away for higher marks in your exams.Principle 1, The Principle of the Aggregation of Marginal Gains: learn how doing the little things unusually well can add up to a big advantage on test day.Principle 2, The Elimination of Surprise: because forewarned is forearmed. Principle 3, Going The Extra Mile: discover the areas you can go further and faster than most of your classmates.This episode draws on nearly a decade of research into the art and science of getting the best possible mark on exam day, which underpins our new book, Outsmart Your Exams, which is available here: https://geni.us/examsABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/*As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases of books and other products we link to. This may generate a small amount of income for us, but has no impact on what products we and our guests choose to recommend to you.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Rachael Williams joins us to talk about dealing with emotion and anxiety in our studies, how to combat procrastination, and get through exam season. A fascinating interview packed with very practical tips: from developing your own personal mission statement, to how to optimise your daily routine, to how to discuss exams and stress with your family, to how standing like a superhero can make you feel like one!Links and resources mentioned in this article:- Three-minute breathing space video (or search YouTube for more) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iebciuBXCh4- The Calm or Headspace apps if you want to give mindfulness practice a go: https://www.calm.com/ / https://www.headspace.com/- Rachael Williams is happy for you to get in touch directly at info@thelivingroom.uk.com*If you'd like to know more about truly effective study and revision techniques, start here: https://examstudyexpert.com/memorisation-techniques-for-exams/Download Exam Study Expert’s guide to using learning science to learn faster and remember more than ever before, at  https://examstudyexpert.com/freetips*ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/Or read my exam technique book today at https://geni.us/exams *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on suggested books. You pay nothing extra. I make these recommendations based on extensive personal experience and because I think they are genuinely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I receive.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome Dr Adam Putnam, who is an assistant professor at Furman University, to share his fascinating insights about:- Mnemonic techniques: widely misunderstood but can be powerful tools- Retrieval practice, and how to implement it effectively- A psychologist’s perspective on the art of focus and productivity.*Links and resources mentioned in this episode include:(These show notes also available at: https://examstudyexpert.com/adam)Adam recommended a couple of great books in this episode if you're interested in the art of working more productively, or learning more about mnemonic techniques:·        “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen (available from Amazon https://geni.us/davidallen)·        “Your Memory: How it Works and How To Improve It” by Kenneth Higbee (available from Amazon https://geni.us/yourmemory) You can find Adam online at www.adamlputnam.comFor more information about first-letter mnemonics (acronyms): https://examstudyexpert.com/chunking-and-memory/#acronymsFor a quick guide to the pegword method: https://examstudyexpert.com/pegword-method/For the committed mnemonicist (yes, I'm pretty sure I made that word up) wanting to learn the major system, Wikipedia has a pretty decent overview to get you started. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system Download Exam Study Expert’s guide to using learning science to learn faster and remember more than ever before, at  https://examstudyexpert.com/freetips*ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/Or read my exam technique book today at https://geni.us/exams *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on suggested books. You pay nothing extra. I make these recommendations based on extensive personal experience and because I think they are genuinely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I receive.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

10 "study hacks" to get you better exam results, faster, including:- Engineering your environment for success- How re-planning your schedule to REDUCE your work hours can help you achieve MORE each day- How to do high-intensity "memory workouts" to make exam day feel easy- How to manage your diary and why it pays to help your friendsLinks and resources mentioned in this episode:- The Exam Study Expert blog, www.examstudyexpert.com- Episode 7 of the Exam Study Expert podcast, with Yana Weinstein-Jones- Episode 4 of the Exam Study Expert podcast, with Joachim Cassel- The D'Nealian pen gripDownload Exam Study Expert’s guide to using learning science to learn faster and remember more than ever before, at  https://examstudyexpert.com/freetips*ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/Or read my exam technique book today at https://geni.us/exams *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on suggested books. You pay nothing extra. I make these recommendations based on extensive personal experience and because I think they are genuinely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I receive.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).

Today we’re talking languages: tricks for memorising your vocab lists more easily, how to get your head round the grammar, and some handy exam technique tips to make sure you get the highest possible grade in your exams.I’m joined by my friend Joe Hytner, an extremely experienced Classics teacher and private tutor. Joe is a Latin and Greek specialist, but many of his expert tips would apply equally to French, Spanish, German or any other modern language.Links and resources mentioned in the episode:- For high-quality tuition in any subject, check out Joe and his team at www.titaniumtutors.co.uk (in-person in the UK, or online worldwide)- For John Taylor books, try his Latin to GCSE Part 1 (https://geni.us/latin1) and Part 2 (https://geni.us/latin2).- For free Eton Greek grammar exercises: www.etoncollege.com/GreekProjectDownload Exam Study Expert’s guide to using learning science to learn faster and remember more than ever before, at  https://examstudyexpert.com/freetips*ABOUT YOUR HOST: William Wadsworth, Founder & Learning Scientist at Exam Study Expert“Memory psychologist, independent researcher and study skills coach. I help ambitious students to study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.”BOOK 1:1 COACHING to supercharge your exam success: https://examstudyexpert.com/workwithme/Or read my exam technique book today at https://geni.us/exams *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on suggested books. You pay nothing extra. I make these recommendations based on extensive personal experience and because I think they are genuinely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I receive.Questions? Comments? Requests? Or just want to say "thanks" - send me a text message (I read them all!).