Examination! Everybody’s Anxiety. “Study” or “Revision”? What’s the BEST Strategy?

The examination is everybody’s anxiety. However it can also be stress-free. You CANNOT wait for weeks or days to the examination day and then start thinking how you should study or revise. You want stress-free? You just need to know what it is, how it works and you find a way to make the best of your time and effort, and find a strategy to make it work to your advantage.

In this video I defined what “Examination” is and it’s main intention. This concept is important for you to understand the topics that follows.

Then I shared my personal experiences on how I overcame and managed to score close to a 100% for a subject I knew almost nothing about in my graduation year. Just few weeks before the major examination. I am not encouraging anybody to leave everything to the last of the minutes. But I am sharing with you that if you knew such strategies exists, you will do so much better. 

Finally I went into great length describing what to me is the ‘Ultimate Revision Strategy” for examination. Making the best use of the principles of memory retention and time. And how you will surely know you are ready for the examination. Because too often than not we hear people say, “I already studied. I read and I understood everything. But I still failed.” Something very important is missing. And I’ll reveal to you what that is.

Watch the video till the end. You’ll learn a thing or two.

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Examination! When do I start Studying or Revising? How do I work that out?

How do I know how to determine when I should start my revision? Should I rely on my teacher’s template or wait for my friends? Am I revising or studying? Should I do it fast or slow? What attitudes should I have? If I don’t understand something or cannot solves problem what do I do?

By the time you hear about examination planning from your teacher, it is usually too late.

In the previous video on “Examination! Everybody’s Anxiety. “Study” or “Revision”? What’s the BEST Strategy? and more…” I mentioned about starting the last subject first. 

But what does it mean? How early is early? How do I know if I have allocated enough time?

All these and more in the video where I elaborate on the topic on ‘how do I know when to start studying or revising’ and many more important tips to help you become more effective.

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Four-Levels of Responsibilities & Quality Works. What are they? Why are they important life-skills, and more…

This video is perhaps one of the most important ones I’ve created, that is closely related to coursework. It addresses attitudes and motivation towards the coursework and generally about why and how you chose to behave, and do the things you are doing right now.

There is nothing more important than leaving a legacy when you know that potentially one day your voice will never be heard again. 

Before anything else can be meaningfully proposed and executed, the types of Responsibilities you chose to function on, and they definitions of Quality, needs to be understood.

In this video I talked about 

1. “Four-Levels of Responsibilities’ and
2. defined what “Quality Work” means, and described how “Quality Work” looks like. 

The two major principles which I discovered, influenced the way I think and work & teach, and modeled since I first became an educator more than 2 decades ago.

All opinions are mine and mine own. You don’t have to believe or follow them. But take time to listen, think, and make your own conclusions how you wish to live your life.

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Stress-Free Coursework is NOT a Dream. Learn more about this and how this can be YOU in this post.

Stress-Free coursework? Yes it is totally possible. But you say the coursework is often stressful and time-consuming for many students, it is time this must change.

In this video I’m going to show you that a stressful coursework need not be so, and how you can achieve a relatively Stress-Free coursework for yourself. 

I will not guarantee a 100% stress-free coursework because there got to be some degree of tension and challenges.

By being stress-free, essentially that meant not needing the unnecessary ‘stress’ like a regular student who does not know what is going on in coursework.

All you need is to understand a few things on how the coursework works. And the objectives of each and every design process steps. Make sure you get your objectives clear and complete, before you move on to the next step or design phase. If you do that I can almost guarantee you a Stress-Free journey.

Learn how you can be Stress-Free in the video above

And if you like the video and the contents I produce for you, let me know in the comments below what else you like to watch and learn. And I’ll make them for you.

Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.

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Ideas Generation and Three Broad Areas you MUST note

Why the three broad points to note for Ideas Generation is important in this series of “Design and Coursework Chat’

“What are you doing?” “Why are you doing this now?” “You meant this for a kid 5 year old? You kidding me?” What is going on in this page? “Why is this so tiny? etc. When someone looks at your work and if these are often the questions asked, then this video may really be for you.

The Ideas Generating portion of the coursework is one of the most important part of the coursework. This is where your idea / solution begins; actually this began way before this; the moment you drafted the Design Brief. 

However the Ideas Generation part enables you to document and illustrate the solution(s) visually, communicating the intentions of a solution in the form of graphics and illustrations. 

The idea(s) can be further manipulated and evaluate via a series of modeling, and working iteratively simultaneously on paper.

Today’s chat I listed THREE board areas everybody ought to note:

1) Adding in a “Sub-Title” (i.e. the Design Specification) to your Title (‘Ideas Generation’),

2) Noting without fail the “User and the Environment” every moment of the ideation (and development) attempt, and

3) Including the “User and Hands/Body Parts” in your solutions.

These notes if applied, may make a big difference to the way you present your work. Making them accurate and focus, comprehensible without/minimal external questioning and clarification to find out what is going on, and helps you with sizes, proportions, materials and jointing methods, as early as at the Ideas Generation phase.

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Ideas Generation and Development; How do they look like? Part 2 of 2: DEVELOPMENT

The first part of this Ideation and Development series I talked about Ideation; how do you know if you are Ideating and not Developing an idea. 

In this second series I talked about, of course, Development. 

Part 1 of 2 can be found here: https://designjournalsos.blogspot.com/2022/02/ideas-generation-and-development-how-do.html

In both in the ideation and development phase of the design process you’ll get the opportunity to think of alternative ideas. And this is NOT an option even though you may think to do that, we are at the ideation phase, not development. 

Let me propose to you that in the development phase you will still need to generate possibilities, but this time, your end goal is different. In Ideation your end goal is to have options and alternative ideas or broad concept of a solution, of which you can choose the best - for development.

In this video, I chat about Development:

When you are at Development, you explore options, but you refine and fine-tune with the end goal of choosing the fastest, most efficient, the best way to make and to finish. The most suitable material and jointing method - and the quickest and cheapest and the easiest, etc. Without any compromise to the desired functionality and aesthetics.

In development your drawing style changes too. Sketches become more drawing like. More precision drawings. With dimensions. Technical drawings, view and section views start to populate the page rather than free flowing arty sketches. More presentation like drawings with bold outlines or extra emphasis, etc.

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Ideas Generation and Development; How do they look like? Part 1 of 2: IDEATION

I often hear questions and confusions about Ideas Generation and Development. How do I know if I am Ideas Generating and how do I know if I am Developing ideas. How do I do them?

Well as the titles imply, “Ideas Generation” taken literally means you produce lots of ideas. You ‘generate’ them. Many. Think of it as Sketching and Exploring many ideas.

Here you ask lots of questions that will prompt you to think and sketch many possibilities. Different ways to function. Some minor improvements and then next one. Next one. Next one. Next one. Creating lots of wonderful creative alternatives. 

Those that works those that not. Who cares. That’s Ideas Generation.

In this video, I chat about Ideas Generation:

In the next video I will talk about Development. Part 2 of 2 can be found here: https://designjournalsos.blogspot.com/2022/02/ideas-generation-and-development-how-do_25.html

“Development” does not sound anything like exploratory any more, does it? When you develop, you refine. Fine-tune. When you work on details, you won’t be in the playful discovery mode like you would in Ideas Generation. You pay more attention to details. And work towards finalisation and a final concept ready for presentation and prototyping.

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Size and Proportions: When Designing Holders and Items (to hold)

In this video I chat about practical tips and guides related to sketching ideas with the items to hold or store, or anything. 

A common problem and sight in students’ journal when they sketch or draw, more often than not, they do not get the relative size and proportions right. Lacking of an awareness is one possibility. 

Example of a Paper Clip Holder

Look at the example above, can you find the paper clips? Do you have an idea how BIG this Eiffel Towel will be in real life? For a Paper Clip holder the design is an oversize. An overkill. But I can almost guarantee that the student who sketched this would not have any idea that it is so.

Sketches usually show UNUSUALLY OVERSIZED HOLDERS with extremely tiny items, whatever they may be, that the holders are supposed to hold.

Watch the “Design & Coursework Chat” video to learn about what’s going on. How to identify out of proportion sketches when the size of the holder does not match the items to be held. How to overcome this? What are some general tips and guides to overcome this common problem.

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Product Research (Analysis) using the PMI Method - Design & Coursework Chat with Mr Daniel

The Product Research (Analysis) activity using the P.M.I. method is one of the most frequently used strategy in Design and Technology Coursework Journaling. 

The three acronyms (P.M.I.) form Plus, Minus and Interesting makes it very easy to apply and analyse or study an existing product. In the video I break the P.M.I component down and suggests a more effective way to use the PMI by not considering the ‘M’ Minus of the PMI. You can but I’m say you need not. But if your teacher insists, then DO. It’s no big deal.

In the video I also try to explain the differences between Plus and Interesting. A little nuance I discovered which many students (and teachers) find VERY challenging to differentiate, and tell apart when they try to analyse or study an existing product using P.M.I.. 

What makes the product Good but not (yet) Interesting. I’ve noted the Good but I cannot find anything Interesting. This looks Interesting but I’ve already noted it as Good. HELP!

If this sounds like you, you cannot miss this CHAT on ‘Product Research (Analysis) using the P.M.I. (Plus, Minus, Interesting) Method ‘ on Design & Coursework Chat. Look out for the other videos in the playlist on Design Problem and Situations, and How you can use the 5Whys.

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