Assignment help and preparing for exams

Roxanne Nguyen  0:03
Hi guys, welcome back to another UTS student hacks episode. Today we'll be talking about 
assignments help and preparing for exams. I'm Roxanne, I'm in my fourth year of Medical Science and 
International Studies majoring in Japan. And here we also have-

Kelly Ding  0:14
Kelly! I'm also in my fourth year of one business major in accounting. Before we get right into it, 
get some water for and snacks to help accompany you through this podcast

Roxanne Nguyen  0:24
Exams are approaching. Have you checked out how many exams you have?

Kelly Ding  0:26
Yeah, I have. So luckily, I only have two this semester. And they're both online. So I have a 
window to prepare myself and prep for it. How about you?

Roxanne Nguyen  0:35
For me, I have one exam on the website. But because I do International Studies, our exams are 
mainly in STUVAC, but I haven't received any details. So technically have two exams.

Kelly Ding  0:46
If you didn't know, final exam, timetables are out. If you notice that there's a time that isn't 
quite suitable for you, you can apply for special consideration. There's a link right now on the 
closed captions.

Roxanne Nguyen  0:57
Yes, if you just look down below (
https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/managing-your-course/classes-and-assessment/special
-circumstances/special-consideration)

Kelly Ding  0:59
This link takes you to a step by step guide of how to apply for special consideration. 
Alternatively, you could simply google "special consideration UTS exam", and it should be the first 
thing that comes up.
Roxanne Nguyen  1:12
So Kelly when's the actual time for STUVAC back?
Kelly Ding  1:15
So final STUVAC is for the main session true for the main calendar, it's from the 24 to 28th of 
May, where for the final assessment period is from the 29th of May to the 19th of June.
If you're not in the main counter, don't worry, those dates are also on the academic UTS

calendar, you can simply google UTS  academic calendar, and it gives you all the dates when the 
semester starts. When the semester ends, do you ever have an all the other important dates. So for 
example, for the Graduate School of Health, your final STUVAC   will be from the 7th to the 11th of 
June. And your final assessment period will be from the 12th to the 26th of June, it'll be 
different for other calendars. So be sure to take a look at that website.

Roxanne Nguyen  2:00
Leading up to exams, what new UTS resources have you been using, or that you use during your first 
year?

Kelly Ding  2:05
Looking back at first year, I was more stressed than I should have been. And yeah, because it's a 
university exam. Never done one don't know what to expect, is going to be very difficult? So in my 
first year, I made the effort to seek out resources that UTS had. So I personally attended a lot of 
U:PASS revision sessions that they usually hold during in first year. Yeah, in first year, in first 
year, like the subjects that  U:PASS covers, are typically first year subjects. So that's why we're 
in first year, if they had it now, I would also go.

Roxanne Nguyen  2:43
Same here, I would do the same.

Kelly Ding  2:45
Yeah, because they have an amazing range of resources that you could do, and that they give you. 
And so it's like an invaluable resource because they're run by students who previously done well so 
they know. They know more tips and tricks that can help you get through that particular subject 
that might mean might be notoriously hard. What about you Roxanne?

Roxanne Nguyen  3:07
Since I'm in my fourth year now, looking back in my first year, I definitely was stressed when the 
exams like finding out the exam dates, it was very stressful, realizing like, "oh, there's only one 
month left before the final exam". And I didn't know what exams was like, but back then, I remember 
searching up practice exams. So sometimes on UTS library, they would have exams from previous years 
for the subject. And that definitely helped, especially like seeing the format of what it might be 
like, but it's been quite a while now. So I'm not so sure what it'll be like, since all my exams 
currently are online, and back then it was in person. So I'm not so sure. But I definitely utilized 
a lot of  U:PASS sessions as well, like meeting students in the class. And then they're also taking 
the same subject, it was very much easier to ask questions to the teacher since they used to be a 
student as well. Well, they- they are a student who did the subject. So it's much less scary to ask 
something that personally, you would feel like, "Oh, this is not a big question like I should 
understand". But because you know, it's more inviting and -

Kelly Ding  4:14 less daunting.

Roxanne Nguyen  4:15
Yeah, less daunting, socially. So I definitely like the sessions that U:PASS had to offer. And I 
attended a lot of them. And then I met a lot of people along the way.

Kelly Ding  4:23
Yeah. So if you're curious about whether or not your subject is covered by you pass, and whether it 
has any revision sessions, there'll be more info released closer to the date. So keep an eye out 
for your emails, and any announcements from U:PASS , did you use any other resources to help you 
prepare for the final exams?

Roxanne Nguyen  4:42
Recently, I joined UTS Med Soc. And what they did was they had a drive with previous student notes 
who were very kind to share the notes on subjects typically be a bit more harder to understand. So 
that was really helpful. And also attending study sessions that the society attended. Yeah, same 
where it's like, if you don't have a group in the subject, if you go to the study session, you're 
more likely to study and study as well as with other peers, who also do the subject or other 
students who did the subject before. And they could like, just be like, "Oh, you don't understand 
this. Let me explain it to you". Depending on what you study, you know, join the society, that's 
part of your faculty. And if they hold any study sessions, join?

Kelly Ding  5:25
Yeah, join. Yeah. Other than that, you can always ask people in your class. So literally just type 
in the chat, "Hey, I want to start a study group session. Does anyone want to join?", and you might 
find someone who's just as keen as you to do well on the subject. And you guys can go over notes, 
go over concepts and create your own little study group because that's, that's how I did- how I 
formed my study group in first year and second year, and they're my study group to this day, and we 
always make notes prepared for exams, and help each other understand concepts that are difficult.

Roxanne Nguyen  5:59
Another important topic regarding final exams is getting your laptop ready. Are any of your exams 
online, Kelly?

Kelly Ding  6:04
Yeah, so all my exams for the semester online, like just like last year, so they gave- give me a 
window to finish my exam, I have one accounting, so where it's a little special, where it will be 
AI invigilated. So they will use Proctor U software to kind of make sure I'm not doing anything 
dodgy during my exam anything sus. And so you need to make sure your laptop is equipped to run 
Proctor U , as well as exam at the same time. So ensuring that you've installed Proctor U correctly 
and making sure it actually works. There's actually a practice exam that you can do to see whether 
or not Proctor U is working. And this practice exam is literally just a bunch of random questions 
not related to a degree or the subject literally is like a tutorial to make sure

you understand and making sure that Proctor is actually working for my other exam, which is not ai 
invigilated. If it's an open book exams, you can access your your files on your computer, things 
like that, making sure that they're in an organized manner where you can easily access them and 
find the information that you're looking for.
What about you, Roxanne? Roxanne Nguyen  7:17
My exams this semester are both online. So usually what I recommend is to actually keep up to
date with announcements on canvas. The tutor? The demonstrator? The coordinator! The coordinator 
always sends updates of like on announcements like where the exams would be. And especially for 
online exam that isn't on Proctor U, I would  recommend checking it like a week ahead to understand 
like, "Oh, it's on this website and this is the format of things". I would really recommend 
actually to just in case like at home, it might be noisy or like your internet connection cuts off, 
I would definitely recommend if you have the opportunity to actually try and study on campus.

Kelly 7:50
And if you know that your environment at home isn't the most suitable for an exam, consider 
contacting your subject coordinator. They can help you possibly come up with an alternative

Kelly Ding  7:59
Another thing, besides just preparing solely for exams is making sure that your mental and physical 
health are kept up as well. Because this is a stressful time for everyone. Final exams is the final 
stretch of this semester. We have been we have gone through a rollercoaster ride, it's really 
important to have a little check in mental health check in physical check in like take some time to 
relax.

Roxanne Nguyen  8:49
And it's very important also leading up to exams you don't want to burn out on the day off, or you 
know have your health worsen, says you've been making so much preparation towards it, check in with 
yourself or maybe have a friend also check in with you and you can check in with your friend. And 
also you can check our previous episodes where we talk about mental health check in.

Kelly Ding  9:07
Yeah, so take a look at our other podcasting episodes from the previous semester. This semester 
prior to that one about tips and studying as well as making sure that your mental health is good.

Kelly and Roxanne  9:21 Good. Yes. Good.

Kelly Ding  9:23
Lack of a better word, but good, but rather it's okay to not be okay. Your feelings are very valid.
Roxanne Nguyen  9:29 And you can also-
Kelly Ding  9:30
Yeah, so if you have any other questions, feel free to drop by the student learning Hub in building 
2 level 4. If you have any questions, they can help direct you to the right resources,services, 
resources, things like that.

Roxanne Nguyen  9:47
Thanks for listening. If you want to check out any of our other previous episodes, they are on our 
website and other sites like Spotify. As always a special shout out to UTS  startups for allowing 
us to use the podcasting space. Don't forget to join us next time.
Kelly Ding  9:59 Until then.
Kelly and Roxanne  10:00
See ya and good luck.