Thinking skills and exam techniques

[GoingForTheGold]

Hi,
I have a dd in year 8. We are not UK educated so iam learning the system as we go along, making mistakes along the way probably.
One thing i have noticed (from seeing the test papers she brought home for science) which she is lacking, is the right thinking skills.
She studies a subject, if the question is worded in a certain way she could answer in a straightforward way and get good marks but on the test question is worded in a vague way (to my untrained eye) requiring the pupil to elaborate and compare etc, and her reply is lacking depth and therefore insufficient. So i understand why she doesn't get good marks for the answer despite actually knowing the full answer (but putting down only part if it). If it was a verbal exam rather than a test, and if the examiner asked further details in probing questions, she would have been able to show her knowledge. On a test, she thinks she gave satisfactory answer but apparently she didn't.
From the science test feedback it's apparent that she needs to learn:
1- to understand what exactly has been asked (understanding the depth of the question and how much detail is optimal)
2- organising her ideas and information clearly (analysing, deducing),
3- using scientific words.
Basically whole exam techniques.

How do we teach her these? I suppose a good tutor can give fool-proof pointers to use in all exam situations. She needs to learn those skills and practice a lot.

I am a bit of a needy person myself (i am an aspie) and i am very uncomfortable with vagueness and guess work so i really would like to find a no-nonsense fool-proof method, like a template with clear pointers to refer to, whenever she does those tests so she can see the examples of the methods used in replying, and the outcome (good one).

How do we go about it? Are there any online workshops? Anything helpful that we can work on at our own pace?

Looking at tutoring option too. I'm sure a good science tutor for instance, can train her in scientific way of thinking and answering.

Thank you in advance.

I have a y8 DD too (and one who has finished school).

A lot comes from practice and increasing maturity.
Some comes from understanding mark schemes.

So yes. Tell her to use scientific language. So atoms bond to form molecules, they don't stick together. That can be practiced with verbal explanations to. it is also needed for other subjects, you need to be precise.

Looking at how many marks a question in in science tells you the level of detail needed. My DD1 was a prime example of 'never write a sentence if she thought a word would do'. Broadly in science each mark needs a separate fact. So 'what happens when ...' if it is 4 mark question you need to say 4 things, possibly with reasons.

Answer the question. 'What do you see' is a different question from 'what happens'.

Taking back tests and seeing where marks were lost is really beneficial in my opinion. I'm not convinced a tutor is needed, but you know your DD best.

The only way to learn exam to technique is to do lots of past papers and practice questions and check them using mark schemes.

Thanks TeenTimeTwo and MongerTruffle . I am not confident in teaching her or developing what she can do.
One good example in her latest science test was a 6 mark question where her answer was only marked 1 point. She knew the subject but didn't answer well.
Example in front of me:
Q: Iron sulfide is a compound. It is made by heating a mixture of iron and sulphur. Describe and explain the differences between iron sulfide and a mixture of iron and sulphur.
A: She briefly wrote something like: iron sulfide is a compound, it's because it went through a chemical reaction whereas iron and sulphur are different as they are the raw materials compared to the compound. Something like that. Quite brief.

This was worth 6 marks, she got 1 mark.
Apparently she was supposed to write (copying from the teacher's notes):
"You can use a magnet to separate a mixture of iron and sulphur/ you cannot separate iron in the compound.
And properties in the mixture are the same for iron and sulphide but not the same in the compound.
And you can change the relative amounts of the substances in the mixture but in the compound you can't. In the compound the atoms are joined together whereas in the mixture atoms are not mixed together."

So to me it looks like a lot of sideway thinking is needed, out of the box thinking, lot of details, showing good control of the subject. She is graded Emerging. But she studied these. But she didn't or couldn't show her knowledge. If specifically asked the question about the possible outcomes if you tried to separate iron in the compound vs iron in the mixture, she would have given correct answers, but she didn't think of putting that specific detail in this question.

Perhaps it's easy to rectify, however i am not confident in my own knowledge and definitely not the right person to teach exam skills.
All i can tell her is to write down all she knows in the subject of let's say: "differences between a compound and a mixture" relevant to iron. I assume my approach probably doesn't help, since irrelevant extra info probably lose her points too (looking like she didn't understand the question and giving irrelevant details)
It was just one example.
That's why i thought of a tutor. I am not able to teach her myself for various reasons, starting from (mainly) not knowing anything about the subject, to lack of insight to the expected levels, from lack of time to lack of patience.

Past exam papers is good in terms of exam practice but i would still be clueless about where she would lose marks. Still, it's a good way of seeing what are the repetitive mistakes i think. So thanks for the suggestion.

I was hoping that there might be some targeted workshops or something like that. I keep reading Critical Thinking Skills classes for older pupils, yet we need it now at year 8.

Thank you for your input.

It is made by heating a mixture of iron and sulphur
In chemistry it's always spelt "sulfur".

One thing to remember is that, in general, you need to make one relevant statement for each mark.

I assume my approach probably doesn't help, since irrelevant extra info probably lose her points too
It doesn't, unless it specifically says "In this question you will be assessed on using good English, organising information clearly and using specialist terms where appropriate.", or words to that effect. However, in exams, students should try to be as concise as possible so that they have more time to answer questions.

www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse/biology-8461/assessment-resources
www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse/chemistry-8462/assessment-resources
www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse/physics-8463/assessment-resources

These are the new specification GCSE sample assessment materials. Your DD probably won't have covered most of the content, but it's worthwhile picking out some questions and trying to answer them, just to practise what you need to write in order to get the marks.

Thank you MongerTruffle.
I didn't know that you need one relevant statement for each mark and it's a simple pointer but makes sense.

Btw yes you are right, I just checked, in the test paper it is written Sulfur. I had learnt it as Sulphur in my school time which was sometime in the last century.

Anyway, it's useful info to find relevant statements for each points. Thanks for that.

I think exam technique will come with practice.

I know you've said you're not the right person to teach her ... but actually, from what you've said so far I think you've got a brilliant understanding of exam technique and you've analysed where she went wrong in her tests...so actually it would be brilliant if you sat down with her and went over past tests and explained how she could approach these types of questions in the future to gain more marks.

I really think you've analysed her papers very clearly. Sadly teachers don't have time to go through every paper with every pupil.

MongerTruffle thanks for the additional posts too.
I will check the links later on.

As for concise answers being required, in the exam paper it reads:
"... you will get marks for how well your answer is written. You will get marks for spelling, grammar, organising your ideas and information clearly, using key scientific words."
So looks like no extra irrelevant info needed.

Thank you Ishouldntbesolucky . I could sit down and go through the past test papers with her as long as the full answers and the marking info was provided.
Where do i get the past papers from? Do the exam boards provide the past papers? Are they in a book format that I can purchase either online or from WHSmith? I assume the book (if it's book format) has answers and marking info too?

I completely understand that teachers don't have time to go through every paper with every pupil. I feel that we are so lucky that this year dd's science teacher actually sends their test papers after marking it, with the explanatory sheet containing the correct answers too. I'm really grateful that he does that. In previous years no other teacher did that. We've always been in the dark about what's expected of dd and what's missing.

And MongerTruffle i just had a quick look at the links. It's brilliant.

Thanks again for your replies.