Study and Test-Taking Tips and Techniques G

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Study and Test-Taking Tips and Techniques

G lancing through this Study Guide may stir up feelings similar to those you had when you were studying for examinations in school. You may be reflecting on the value of investing time and effort to attain one of the most important credentials in the antimoney laundering field: the CAMS certification. Attaining this credential requires that you be well prepared before sitting for the CAMS examination. How do you do it? You need to allocate and manage your time wisely and juggle your personal, professional, community and family commitments. Time management is just one of the many hurdles you need to overcome before you begin focusing your efforts and enthusiasm on preparing for the CAMS examination. You may need to review your study habits, revisit your learning style (how you best study and learn) and understand how to study for this particular examination. In this section, we offer a collection of topics which may help you address these issues and prepare for the CAMS examination. The general strategies and suggestions detailed in this section originate from a vast body of research on adult learning, test-taking and test anxiety management.

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Understanding How You Learn

Individuals who join programs designed to enhance their knowledge and advance their careers are already committed to building up and improving their knowledge. Beyond this commitment, it is natural to wonder how to start. The responsibility is on you to manage your own learning process. Not only can studying be frustrating and difficult, managing your own learning process can be a challenging undertaking that needs proper discipline. Moreover, because on-going training is generally required for professional advancement, it is imperative that you understand your own learning process.

It may have been awhile (usually years) since most adult students, such as you, made a commitment to formal learning.

Learning How To Learn

Part of being a good learner involves understanding how you learn best. Adults have special needs and requirements as learners. Despite the increasing number of adult students, the subject is still relatively new to both adult students and educational researchers. So how much do you know about the abilities and skills you will need to succeed in learning? Recognizing and learning about the most common characteristics of adult students may help you identify and address areas that need improvement. Here are some of those characteristics for your review:

Autonomous and Self-Directed -- You need, and are expected, to be more actively involved in your learning by understanding your points of view and ideas about various topics and working on projects that reflect your interests. For instance, in the Examination Preparation Seminar, the instructor becomes your facilitator as opposed to a professor

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or teacher. The facilitator will direct you towards learning about the anti-money laundering (AML) field based on your own knowledge, and will help you prepare for the CAMS examination and reach your goals.

Life Experiences and Knowledge -- The amount of knowledge and experience (personal and professional) you have accumulated through life will help you to learn new things. Whether you attend an Examination Preparation Seminar or not, you are asked to connect the topic being presented with your own experiences, knowledge and new learning, and then to assimilate them.

Goal-Oriented -- Adult learners have a clearer idea about where they stand and where they would like to go. This is defined as having goals. As a result, recognizing and pursuing those goals should be a priority. Practice setting and classifying clear, attainable and measurable goals for completing your studies in sufficient time to confidently take your CAMS examination.

Relevancy-Oriented -- You know how important it is to have a reason to learn things and to understand their value. While the task of presenting relevant content belongs to ACAMS, your task during your independent studies or during an Examination Preparation Seminar is to understand and value new concepts in the context of your own experiences and knowledge. An open-minded approach to learning helps you unlock this skill.

Practical -- If you are like most adult learners, you probably want to make use of the newly acquired knowledge now. Learning for the sake of learning might not be appealing to you, particularly if it pertains to your job. Keep in mind, however, that rewards may only eventually come from what may now seem as difficult or time-consuming learning.

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Establishing A Good Framework for Studying

To prepare for the CAMS examination, you must set time aside to review the Examination Preparation Guide, attend the Examination Preparation Seminar and practice exam-style questions. You may need to improve your study skills and exam-taking technique, and this requires discipline, dedication and practice. Setting up and sticking to a study schedule can be a daunting task, particularly when you have been in the office all day or on business trips or when you have family or social commitments. Hence, it is important that you identify those factors that might prevent you from developing effective and efficient study tactics. This section highlights effective study techniques. Soon you will discover that you have identified and mastered your study skills and have settled into a work/study routine that fits your life and learning style.

Prioritize -- Most students do not know where to begin and quickly become overwhelmed and frustrated with studying. To avoid falling into this trap, prepare a learning schedule with a list of tasks that are both manageable and realistic, from the easiest to the most complex. Plan and begin studying well in advance, increasing study time gradually. If you are tired, do not attempt to study complex topics, but ensure you are sufficiently rested to tackle such topics with awareness and determination.

Manage Your Time -- Set attainable study goals and organize your study materials, assigning specific times for each section with due dates. If you need more time to understand certain areas that were difficult to grasp, highlight or summarize those areas and allocate additional time with a new due date. The most important strategy in managing your study time is to maintain your focus.

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Stick to the Plan -- If you find the material boring or feel you are not grasping the concept after reading it several times, stop reading, take a short break and start taking notes. Shifting your attention to a new learning activity (e.g., note-taking) will help you stay on task and on schedule. If superfluous thoughts (e.g., work, bills or sports) are causing distraction and mental fatigue, stop studying, take a short break, think about your goals, reassess your priorities and, if necessary, sketch out a new study schedule to address your worries. Then go back to studying!

From Mechanical to Practical -- Many students take a mechanical approach to studying. That is, they read and memorize. This learning strategy (rote learning) may improve short?term memory, but it is ineffective in the acquisition and integration of new knowledge. A more effective method is to make learning a practical exercise. Integrate the new information into concepts that are familiar to you, using reallife examples or situations where this new knowledge could be used. Here is a technique that will help you develop such skills:

Chunking: Summarize the information using simple, familiar language, so that the concept is relevant to you. Take each "chunk" of information and attempt to link it to another "chunk" using words to connect the two concepts. If you cannot find a connection with one concept, try connecting it to another concept. Chances are you will find a connection, which will make the material relevant, thus, helping you learn the concept.

Test Yourself -- This is one of the most important exercises to prepare for the CAMS examination. While we recommend that you use the sample test questions in this guide, you should also test your knowledge by creating your own review questions as you study each of the sections of the guide. Keep in mind what has been stressed in the Examination Preparation Seminar, the Examination Preparation Guide and the recommended reading, and examine the relationships between concepts and sections. Often, simply by changing section headings you can generate effective questions. For

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