What I know of getting good grades

The key to unlocking good grades is found through assessment.Educators everywhere are absolutely sold on the value of reporting on the progress of their learners for a few reasons (usually political or fiscal). They value the information gained through assessment as it validates the subject of study and offers a task upon which the learning may be used practically. With so much of curriculum content based on assessment, it's interesting that many educators do not explicitly skill their learners in how to approach the assessment - especially when the means of assessment is arbitrary. 
 This is arguable. It should be. I left huge holes in the argument. But it is an opinion that I hold and understand intimately.
But why should you believe what I have to say on the topic? How many doctorates do I have and how long have I been teaching? Don't believe me. In fact, use the following information to prove me wrong. Please. But before you completely discredit everything I have to say, be aware of the following. I know a little about getting bad grades, but I also know a little about getting good grades from the view point of a high school student, a university student, a university lecturer and a high school teacher. What I will outline below I used to share with third-year Uni students, whereupon they would admit that the information would have been of greater benefit in their first year. I then shared this information with First-Year students, only to hear their desires to have learned this in High School. Subsequently I became a High school teacher (also for revenge - long story) and have been espousing the good word ever since. Maybe one day I may see the need to teach it in Primary schools, but until then, Secondary School is where I labour.

Gav's Guide to Essays & Exams
Essays and exams do not exist outside of education or academia (with the exception of driving tests and a few other competency based examinations). Educators mistakenly assume that their students/pupils/learners know how to respond to such assessment instruments, when such is arbitrary and unnatural. In response to this, I offer the following as a guide in negotiating the surreal and limited instruments used to measure acquired learning.


The great thing about assessment is that, apart from multiple choice computer-marked exam questions, they are set and marked by humans. This means that if you know a bit about humans (and I'm assuming that you are one and therefore know a little about humans), you'll know a bit about writing Essays and sitting Exams. In fact, knowing your lecturer or teacher better can help you understand their approach in setting and marking assessment. There is plenty of room for applying practical psychology in maintaining good grades through assessment. Know the person setting and marking the essay or exam and simply give them what you know they want. Not that complicated. Here's how.


Essays
Educators are so kind. They want students to understand what they are teaching, but they set really high expectations. In setting an essay they do, however, give you everything one needs to achieve - and it's all on the task sheet!

Three Golden Bullets
The three most important things to enable you to write the best essay are usually in bold type: Due Date, Word Count, and Topic. These three limitations act like a scaffold upon which one may scale to a higher height, like a kite seemingly held down by the string that actually enables it to fly. 'Oh great! Crappy metaphors and I haven't even learned anything yet!' Just bear with me.
Each one of these golden bullets, if utilised wisely will yield an increase in the resulting grade. Let's cover them in order.


Due Date: The first thing to do when you get an essay task is to change the due date to about two weeks earlier (dependent of the time you have to complete the essay of course). Most people put off starting their essays until panic, stress or a watchful parent/partner urges them into action. We procrastinate starting tasks because we don't like the task, and most people don't like writing essays. While trying to relax, engaging in sport, watching TV or playing computer games, we feel guilty and our mind returns to the thought 'That's right, I got to write that dumb essay!' We continue to procrastinate and at the last moment rush a crap job and hand in a dodgy attempt, knowing that we deserve the crap marks it will yield. By changing the due date to two weeks earlier, not just on the task sheet but in our heads, this panic can happen sooner and we still have time to give a decent effort. But there are a few other benefits of, what I call, 'Precrastinating'.

• Once finished two weeks early, you will find you can relax more. (In a panic...) 'Oh no! I have that essay due real soon... Oh wait, I've already done it. Now what's funny/interesting/embarrassing/all-of-the-above on youtube...'
• Getting it finished early may offer the opportunity to show your lecturer/teacher. Then you're in for a treat. It says to your teacher 'I am really keen and interested in the subject that you slave over and most likely love'. No teacher will ignore that. It goes straight to their teacher-heart (possibly the reason why they teach) and you don't even have to really feel that way. They will probably not know that you are doing it for all your classes and if they do find out - you just look like a super student! It's all psychology.
• Getting your teacher to peruse your finished essay - either they will say that it looks all good (pre-approval, and they will remember that they said it was good when marking OR upon which you may later argue if they somehow give you a bad grade) or they will show you how it can be improved. You've still got two weeks to make those improvements and then you can go for the pre-approval.