It is about this time when year 12 students (in Australia) receive their final year school results. It can be a mixture of joy or disappointment. But often there is a feeling of, ‘if only I had studied harder or longer I might have gained a few extra marks.’

There is also a feeling (from talking to students) of ‘if only i had scored a few extra marks in ……….exam’. They would often say  something like ‘I know that i could have finished that last essay but i ran out of time or if only i would have started the essays without searching for the perfect opening paragraph.’

The first of these laments are to do with content issues. Any school or university student simply has to be across the course (I taught at a university, part-time for ten years–you can tell straight away if the student know their stuff). This is where becoming better at subject revision and doing past papers can help.

But what about improving your performance in exams? Content is not the issue here but trying to get this content out, easily and simply.

This situation begs the question–does our education system and our teachers have the right skills and tools to help students to think quicker and better in a time-pressure situation like an exam. The answer I believe is no. This is where Speed Thinking can help.

I recently ran a pilot program with a private school in Sydney with their final year students and the teachers. It was a voluntary program and approx. 40% of the students (as well as over 30 teachers) attended and were exposed to a single 40 minute Speed Thinking session this was to coincide with a school period). The sample size is small as is the numbers but the results are highly suggestive that a more formal, developed Speed Thinking program could help any student to improve their essay results in an exam, feel more confident and energized in what is a stress-full year.

Based on a survey of this survey, students they could immediately see the benefits of Speed Thinking and could apply it straight-away. Teachers also found this new approach fast, innovative and helpful. They found it easy to learn and communicate and this new skill can complement and enhance their existing tool-kit.

As one year 12 student commented, ‘you’ve only got one chance at the HSC so why not give it everything you’ve got?’

For a full copy of the Speed Thinking pilot results program send me an email: info [at] thespeedthinkingzone [dot] com

I am looking for any student, teacher or principal that would like to introduce Speed Thinking to their school.  Speed Thinking was developed by me with and for business people but I believe this application is far more important.

Dr Ken Hudson