CBSE notes – A key to secure better marks

There is no one way to study. Some students go through the whole syllabus while preparing for exams while some students choose to just go through the key points. For some scoring good marks in exams is still a dream. The experts recommend preparing notes for each subject as it is an easy way to score high marks in all subjects. There are several good reasons as to ‘why one should prepare notes?’ And the list, believe me goes longer than thought.

For preparing CBSE notes one has to go through the entire chapter to find out the important concepts in the chapter. An exercise like this also helps in finding out the key points in the chapter. One can go through such notes just before the exam as they consist of key points. It makes revision easy and quick. Reading through one’s own notes helps in understanding and it is commonly believed that writing helps to remember better. Listed below are some important points that one should keep in mind before preparing notes.

• Be precise - While preparing notes one should know which points to include as the key points and which to summarize.
• Use visual cues - For some students it is easy to learn concepts with the help of figures, diagram, and flow charts etc. So while preparing CBSE notes one should always follow the style of learning that suits them and makes topics easy to learn. One can also use simple language while making CBSE notes as it makes learning easy.
• Cover all topics - Notes should be prepared in such a manner that it covers each and every topic, starting from the most important ones to the ones that are least important.

Extracting the important studying material should be done after going through the whole chapter. If the CBSE notes are prepared carefully then nothing can come in your way of attempting all the questions and getting good marks. If the CBSE notes are prepared in the correct manner, then a student need not to go through the whole chapter again at the time of revision.

Last minute revision should be avoided as it does not help improve recall but creates confusion. So it is advisable that students do not wait till the last minute to start revising using CBSE notes. All revision should be completed at least an hour before the examination.

Students who wait for the last few days for preparation, usually end up getting confused. It often results in poor recall at the time of attempting the question paper.

The message is clear for all the students. Start preparing your CBSE notes before it is too late. To walk on the path of success, one should follow the above mentioned points. Scoring good marks will no more remain a dream.

School exams

One thing that students detest the most during their school lives is school exams. Under the current Indian education system, school exams are usually considered as the most reliable means of assessing a student’s progress. Undoubtedly, paper & pencil exams are important ways of assessing students’ understanding of concepts, but relying solely on paper-pencil based assessments as the only way to test how much a child knows may not be right. There are various ways other than school exams that can prove immensely helpful in assessing students’ progress in schools. Teachers can also assess students through various classroom activities like discussions, debates, practical assignments etc.  However, these techniques of assessing could possibly be time consuming and also require the teacher to be very insightful about child psychology. These techniques require teachers to practice strict caution against biases coming into play and demand from the teacher to be a lot more patient, so as to allow students to become comfortable with the set-up.    

Changes introduced by CBSE in its assessment system

Unlike the other educational boards in India that still continue to rely solely on paper & pencil school exams to evaluate ‘how much the student has understood’, CBSE has made an attempt to move away from this system. Under the new scheme (CCE) adopted by CBSE, along with the paper & pencil tests (summative assessments) students are also evaluated through various classroom activities (i.e. formative assessments) like quizzes, presentations, etc.  CCE also lays a lot of emphasis on the assessment of students in co-scholastics areas that contribute to the holistic development of student. In light of all the attempts made by the CCE to bring freshness into the education system, care has been taken not to undermine the importance of the traditional testing system (based on paper & pencil tests).    

How to prepare for school exams?

In order to excel in school exams (formative assessments and paper-pencil tests) it is very important for students to be attentive in class. Being attentive and focused in the class helps students to effectively understand the concept; as a result it helps them perform well in the classroom discussions. Likewise for the summative assessments it is very important for students to extensively go through the study material and understand all the concepts thoroughly. After understanding the concepts, the next important step is to test their understanding by taking chapter-wise tests. There are a few websites that provide such tests for students studying under CBSE, ICSE, Karnataka, Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu boards. The chapter-wise tests available on such sites are in multiple-choice & question-answer formats that ensure thorough testing. Apart from these chapter-wise tests, students should also try their hand at sample papers/ model tests available at such websites. These mock exams can also help students test their exam taking skills. 

Wishing you all the best for your school exams!

Happy studying!