| Hints on Study & Exam Techniques |
Editor’s Note: These hints do not include any material on which candidates will be examined, but are provided by members of the CAS Syllabus and Examination Committees to encourage candidates to do their best when sitting for CAS Examinations.
"Hints On Study & Exam Techniques" is largely based on the experience and advice of others and was originally prepared for Society of Actuaries candidates by James L. Clare. Later, it was adapted by G.D. Morison for use by CAS candidates and was updated in 1992. The CAS will be glad to consider incorporating further comments and suggestions periodically. If you have any changes to suggest, please send them to the CAS Office. Motivation
Motivation is the single most important ingredient in learning—and in passing examinations. Motivation suffers when candidates worry about or are preoccupied with personal matters or other problems. This suggests that candidates should keep studying and exam taking at the very top of their lists of priorities, and should always have a constructive attitude about their studying. In particular, candidates should approach the exam as an opportunity to enhance their knowledge and understanding of actuarial science, rather than as an obstacle in their paths to membership in the CAS.
Motivation is increased by incentives, such as the following:
A number of doctors, educators, executives, and personnel people all agree that motivation can be greatly increased by having a goal in mind. Candidates must determine their goals and keep them in mind.
Techniques
It has been proven many times in various countries, both by individuals and by controlled groups, that improved study and exam techniques can strengthen a candidate’s mastery of a subject and increase his or her exam scores significantly. Provided that the candidate is motivated and spends enough hours studying, techniques such as those given here may often make the difference between failing or passing an exam.
Each person has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, so candidates are advised to work out their own personal sets of techniques which will work best for them. What follows is merely a set of suggestions to help candidates in getting started in building up their own techniques. The Challenge It is easy to underestimate the effort that is required because substantial changes may be needed to switch from college or university life to successful study of actuarial examinations.
University courses often stress understanding, and usually do much to smooth the path for the student with lectures, personal contacts, organized places of study, and a focus on learning.
By contrast, actuarial candidates must work a great deal on their own and generally must make a "long and grueling" journey to reach their goals. Much actuarial studying is normally fit in after a full day’s work, or is done on a weekend when one’s friends are free to do as they please. Making adequate time available for studying requires sustained self-discipline and is a purely individual and personal responsibility.
Schedule of Study
There is only one substitute for hours of study time omitted one week. This is at least as many additional hours of study in another week.
An unavoidably "necessary condition" for success in studying (though not necessarily "sufficient condition") is simply spending enough total hours in studying.
Candidates must decide how many hours in total they need to study. Then they need to set out their schedules in writing, specifically stating the weekday evening and weekend periods allocated to studying. They then should total the number of hours made available. If the total hours scheduled are less than the total hours necessary, candidates should expand their schedules until they at least have equalled the required total time plus an additional cushion for absorbing time that will inevitably be lost along the way on account of illness, work pressures, etc.
Then candidates should fit all the segments of the Syllabus into their schedules so that they will thoroughly cover the course of reading in good time before the exam, with time left over for a thorough final review. It is important for candidates to spread their time over the entire Syllabus in some deliberate way, for example, in proportion to the pages of reading material on the Syllabus.
Candidates may find it helpful to study several subjects within an exam, or all of them in parallel. This gives them more variety each week, and may give them a combination of both study that is more appealing and study that requires greater effort and concentration. Particularly demanding study may be best left for weekends when candidates are less fatigued from regular work.
It is a good idea for candidates to keep a record of the hours they spend studying. Even if candidates are completely confident that they know the Syllabus before putting in their required total hours, there is much to be said for carrying out their full schedule and completing their total time quotas.
Retention
As part of human nature, our memories forget facts and ideas most rapidly during the time immediately following our study of them. For a given number of study hours, therefore, candidates will remember more if they review promptly and frequently. It is recommended that candidates review what they have learned as part of ending their study for the day. As they begin their next study session, candidates should review what they learned the last time and what they learned during other recent sessions. Then they can recall points they have learned during odd spare moments in between study sessions. It is important for candidates to leave time for a thorough final review before the exam.
In their study for the mathematical sections of the Associateship examinations, candidates are advised to work out as many examples as possible in order to acquire facility in the application of the mathematical principles and methods to specific problems. The questions on the examinations for Parts 1-4 are multiple-choice.
There are some analogies that can be made between preparing for an actuarial examination and learning to drive a car. Most inexperienced drivers have good motivation for learning to drive and have a strong goal clearly in mind. Yet they still need to practice their driving skills until they become "second nature." This is easier to do if they keep practicing their driving in the days immediately after a lesson. Candidates should equally be the master of their actuarial studies by the time they enter the exam room. Experienced drivers should be able to pass a driving test not just on a few familiar streets, but over any legal route. In the same way, actuarial candidates should be able to pass any set of exam questions which has been drawn from the Syllabus.
Candidates should note the considerable emphasis in actuarial examinations on knowledge. However, they should remember that the best way to learn facts by heart is to understand the whole subject, and to tie together ideas which are related. They should look at any single subject from several different angles, relating what they learn to what they know already. Candidates should look for as many connections as they can between their actuarial work and their actuarial studies.
As humans, we learn by doing. While the extent of a candidate’s notes will be a matter of his or her own personal tastes, taking thorough notes will be a good investment of time for most people. For candidates, "translating" the subject matter into their own words helps their memories, and forces to their attention those items which they do not really understand and require further study. When, upon reviewing their notes, candidates find gaps in their knowledge or in their understanding, they should bear down on those areas and master them.
Another study technique candidates might want to try is to test themselves as they go along. They can review previous examinations when they start to study to get an idea of the mastery of the Syllabus expected. Candidates can also take these as "trial examinations" to help them in testing their knowledge and understanding of the course of reading, and in improving their exam speed and confidence. Some candidates deliberately test themselves; others prefer not to do so.
Candidates should expect a gradual gathering of momentum as they begin their study for a particular exam. By keeping at it, according to their plans, candidates will find their rate of progress speeding up after the first few weeks.
When a candidate finds himself or herself getting very "stale," one possibility is to stop studying altogether for, perhaps, three days. Then the candidate should continue on with his or her study plan, no matter how he or she feels, for at least the next month or six weeks. A candidate’s study plan should have enough spare time available in it to allow for such occasional "down time." A mixed schedule, with a weekly combination of subjects that the candidate likes and subjects that he or she finds difficult, will help to minimize staleness.
Discussing the Syllabus with friends taking the same exam, or with others who have passed the exam, will help candidates remember the material firmly and to understand it. It also helps candidates to realize their own gaps and difficulties. If effective study circles and tuition courses can be found, they will give candidates a different slant on the subject, give them a chance to review and to practice, keep them moving through the Syllabus, and help to combat lethargy and self-satisfaction.
Candidates should beware, however, of someone else doing their own thinking for them. It is imperative that they develop and maintain their own command and understanding of each subject. When reading, candidates should challenge the author in their minds and debate with him or her, rather than merely swallowing everything whole.
Formulating Answers
Multiple-Choice Questions Candidates can definitely improve their speed and mastery by seriously practicing on sample examination-type questions before the examination. It helps to have a good understanding of the subject material. Candidates can also develop valuable shortcuts, such as eliminating impossible answers by checking out boundary conditions or by inspecting other aspects of certain suggested solutions, or by substituting numerical values and cutting out some answers. Since questions are varied, candidates will need a variety of techniques to cope with them.
In a multiple-choice examination, speed is an important factor. Candidates increase their chances of passing if they are able to seriously attempt each question on the entire paper at least once. It may help them to determine the
proportionate number of questions to answer in the first half-hour of the exam, to check how much ground they cover in that time, and then accordingly either speed up, or slow down and dig more deeply.
When pressed for time, it may pay for candidates to omit a few multiple-choice questions which they expect to take more time than average, so as to have time for a larger number of more quickly-answered questions. For example, a cluster of questions may have a common introduction which a candidate does not readily grasp, in which case he or she might skip the entire cluster at a first attempt.
Candidates may find it helpful to keep a list of the number of the questions not answered so that they quickly can get an idea of how many they are omitting. This will allow the candidate to quickly return to these questions.
Candidates should change their answers only if they are sure that their first solution was wrong.
Essay Questions
The model response to the typical essay question is brief, less than one-half of a written page. Be concise—candidates do not need to answer in complete sentences when a well-composed outline format is more appropriate. Candidates should not waste time on obscure details. They should show that they have learned the relevant material and that they understand it. They should state the obvious, if it is part of the answer.
For questions which require candidates to work a numerical solution, candidates should take the time to set up the problem so that they document their understanding. They should set forth relevant equations or formulae, then enter appropriate values. They should lay out complicated calculations in tables which demonstrate their understanding of the correct solution.
Candidates should keep each answer relevant to the precise question being asked. They should make sure they first understand exactly what is wanted before they begin to answer a question. When they have written part or all of their answer, they should take another look at the question and make sure they have answered—not their own question—but the question as set on the examination page.
If candidates are asked to "discuss" a proposal, they should list all significant arguments both for and against it.
If a candidate believes that a question is ambiguous, or that it does not provide all the information necessary to answer the question, the candidate should state how he or she interprets the question and/or what assumptions are made to answer it.
Candidates should take time to write legibly, since examiners can only give credit for what they can read. They should try to "organize" their answer. Then, their main aim is to get down as much relevant material as they can.
There is no advantage to answering the questions in any particular order. Candidates may answer the questions in the order given if they wish. Alternatively, candidates can quickly read over the whole paper, warm up with whichever question comes easily to them, gradually work into the questions they find more challenging, and end on a question that they think can be answered readily even though, by that time, their energy and concentration may be falling off.
Note that since each question is graded separately, each answer must be self-contained. Candidates should not say, "Part of my answer to question 1 is found in my answer to question 3."
It is important that candidates remember that they have limited time. Candidates will find that it is worth checking their progress to assure that they have an opportunity to respond to every question. If they know that a question will take too much time, they can pass it and return to it later, if time permits.
Final Mental Preparations
Olympic and professional athletes often vary their training schedules as a major contest approaches. They often ease up on endurance training, and shift their aim to sharpening their alertness, their effectiveness, and their will to win.
In any exam, it is just as important that candidates be alert and effective, with all their wits about them, and with an eager desire to do their best.
Some candidates fail in the first half-hour or so of an examination. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say they "defeat themselves" in that time. They become pessimistic and discouraged, and think too much about the possibility of their having made a bad start in answering the questions.
Other candidates, with the same ability, knowledge, and preparation—and making bungles just as bad in parts of the exam as the first type of candidates—nevertheless succeed in passing the same exam. As in life itself it is also true of actuarial examinations, the difference between failure and success is often linked to a person’s attitude. Confidence and optimism, based on mastery of the subject through hard work and many hours of study, will help a candidate to keep going.
Instead of wasting time and energy worrying about how badly they believe they are doing, candidates should do something constructive on another question. They can always come back later to the weak answer, time permitting.
Candidates should never give up in the exam room. They should use every minute and every second of the available time. They should not "grade their own papers," and decide not to hand in an answer to a question or two because they feel it is all wrong. They should hand in all of their answers, and let the examiners do the grading. At least one candidate has not handed in some answer pages which he or she had condemned in his or her own mind, only to find out later that the work was correct, and to find out still later that he or she had narrowly failed to pass.
Books to Read Some candidates may find it a good investment of their time to read one or more books discussing study and exam techniques. On the other hand, many candidates have successfully completed all their examinations without reference to such texts. These texts will be of little value to a candidate with solid study habits. For those candidates who have not developed good study habits, then these types of texts are more likely to be worthy of their consideration.
It is up to the candidate to decide for himself or herself on a single strategy to follow, especially if he or she refers to more than one book. While all books will have a common thrust, there may be some differences between them on certain points, such as on the most desirable level of the extensiveness of the notes a candidate should take. It is important for candidates to not chop and change from one technique to another during the time they are studying. Rather, they should read such books as they wish, and decide for themselves a single, clear path to travel—and then stick to it.