Whilst I am a firm believer in using past papers as a study aid/self test method, it does concern me how many people I see asking other members to provide current exam questions. It is clear that bodies such as ITEC and VTCT use the same question papers for exams taken over a number of weeks so it is quite possible to get hold of the questions ahead of your exam. BUT....is that the right way to go about it? Take A&P for example. Don't we need to know all of it if our clients are going to be safe in our hands? I'd hate to think that some people are practising after only learning in depth what they needed to pass the exams! Also, are we doing ourselves any favours that way? Learning our subjects is not just about passing exams, it's about truly understanding our therapies so that we can give the best to our clients. I don't mean my comments to critisise anyone who is studying and trying to pass exams, I've done them and I know how daunting it is, however, I feel it would be far more daunting to find myself qualified but without a real and indepth understanding of my chosen fields. So is it just me?? :confused:
I agree with you.
Jupiter
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have answered some threads in the past about this. I know exams can be nerveracking, but they are set for a reason, and that is to make sure the therapist knows what they are dealing with before treating clients. If they can't answer these questions then it is not safe for them to treat clients.
i know this sounds a bit harsh, but we all had to study and pass these exams on our own and when you do this, the knowledge sticks with you.
i do agree with you to an extent...but if past papers were provided in the first place I doubt as many people would be in search of current exam questions....
but also, for some subjects there are 3 things to pass for the qualification, the practical, the theory and the case studies...so even if one were to do very well in the theory they may not do great overall...
i think continous assessement may be a better direction to go in...as Jupiter says "Learning our subjects is not just about passing exams" which is true... i think it's about building a solid knowledge of the subject and showing how the student is getting better and stronger over the learning periods
i think continuous assessment may be a better direction to go in...as Jupiter says "Learning our subjects is not just about passing exams" which is true... i think it's about building a solid knowledge of the subject and showing how the student is getting better and stronger over the learning periods
We have used continuous assessment for many years whilst we do not use past papers we set the homework to reflect key points, which are used in the assessment.
I also like the comment from jupiter about "learning our subjects".
As we all know just passing an exam does not make a professional therapist. IMHO what it does is to start the therapist on their final learning curve.