SURVEY REPORT

Submitter’s Name : 1. Gokuul .V.

2.
Ragavendran .M.
3. Vasantha Kumar .V.
4. Kedarnath .A.

Submitter’s Roll No. : 1. 2010110010

2. 2010110031
3. 2010110039
4. 2010110016

Branch : B.E. Material

Science and
Engineering

Semester : 2nd Semester

Faculty Name : Sindhu

Remarks :
 SURVEY REPORT

Title:
“Pattern of student academic preparation in a college”

Introduction:

What are we surveying?

This survey by us is to establish the pattern of study of college
students in a college. The report will also establish what the students
feel about the exams conducted and the improvements that should be
done to improve its’ quality. It also reveals the strategies that the
students use to get through their exams.

Background
The main reasons which made us take this survey are, our
personal preparation technique and its failures. This survey will also
help the late bloomers also learn some academic preparation techniques
from the toppers. It was also inspired by the time-table set for our own
semester examination.

Needs of the survey:

The immediate need of this survey is to bridge the
communication gap between the students and the organizers of the
exams in a college/university regarding the grieves faced by the students
during preparation of their exams. We definitely believe that this survey
of ours’ will make the curriculum designers, professors, lecturers and
other administration bodies aware about the changes needed in the
exams. This survey will also help the student community to recognize
the flaws in their preparation for an exam and will definitely boost their
academic performance by suggesting the right methods of preparation
for an exam. In the long run this survey will unite the suggestions of
teachers and students about exams and make them more effective.

Objectives of the survey:

This survey is aimed to reveal about the following:
 The survey will reflect the strategies of preparation for an exam.
 The amount of time one needs to study to be a successful student.
 The students view about exams.
 The lecturers’ role in their preparation.
 The factors of diversion.
 The changes which the student community wants in exams and
its’ grading system.
 The other resources that are used by students to prepare for the
exam.
 The student community’s sincerity in studying a subject.
 The industry’s needs from the students’ academics.

Tools used for the survey:

 The one and only tool that can be and is used for this survey is the
questionnaire.
 We also sent e-mails to some eminent college students who
replied us interestingly.

When?
This survey was conducted from 31st March, 2011 to 2nd April 2,
2011 and the report features the answers given by the students at that
time period.

Where?
This survey was conducted in Anna University’s Campus and
through e-mails over the internet also.

How?
This survey of our’s was given as a questionnaire to a number of
students in the University Campus and a time of about half an hour was
given to them for answering the questions. It was conducted at different
departments, hostels and labs. The questionnaire was filled by students
of different courses and different years. About 30 students and teachers
were e-mailed regarding this survey and they sent their comments too.
This is how the information was collected and analyzed.
Findings of the survey:

Analysis of the survey:

Questionnaire analysis:
This section of the report will give a detailed survey about the
answers given by college students of different branches to each question
in the questionnaire:

1. When do you start your preparation for an exam (assessment or

semester)?
a) one month before b) one week before c) one day before

This question was answered by the students almost in a

common way but the most uncommonness found was that
nobody wants to be well prepared at least a fortnight before
the exam. A graphical analysis of the answers got is given
below:

TIME OF PREPARATION

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%
60.00%
30.00%

20.00% 36.70%

10.00%
3.30%
0.00%
A B C

This analysis clearly shows that the it is just enough for most
of the students to start their preparation for an exam just
 before a week. There are also extremely intelligent/lazy
students in the college who can start preparing just the day
before and succeed in the exam.

2. How do you prepare?

a) follow schedule b) study when feel like studying c) 24
hours study

Through the answer given to this question we personally came to

know that in a college one doesn’t need to be too studious. One
can also come to know that following schedule is not even
required. To prove our above statements here is the bar chart
analysis:

HOW DO YOU PREPARE?

C 0.00%

B 85.70%

A 14.28%

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

Thus the conclusion derived from this question is that one needs
to use his reading time efficiently and this can be done
physiologically only when one wants and is set to study.
3. What are you?
a) An early bird b) An alert owl

To make the question more clear there are two meanings for these
words they are, Early bird refers to students who feel that early
morning is the most comfortable time to study and also it refers to
those who keep ready everything in advance. Alert owls are students
who find late night comfortable and also who work smart even at the
most worse situations to get through it. The answers reveal that there
are few students who are both and they are the most successful ones.

The bar chart is:

WHAT ARE YOU?

80.00%

70.00%

60.00%

50.00%
72.97%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%
27.03%
10.00%

0.00%
A B

So be awakened about academics, exercise your learning time

efficiently. Be comfortable with the timing of study that’s what is got
from this question.
 4. The way of learning?
a) read thoroughly b) skim the page c) read and write
practice

The best method of studying has always been read and

write practice but in this fast moving world today’s youngsters
are forced to just skim through the pages or at the maximum just
read it thoroughly but do not write and practice. This may lead to
forgetting in the exam and lot of other issues. This also lowers
one’s confidence of attending the exam. So this issue is of serious
concern and through this survey we want to highlight the
importance of writing practice. Class notes need to be taken.
Students must undergo writing practice throwing their laziness.

The bar chart is given :

WAY OF LEARNING

50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
47.06%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00% 32.35%
15.00% 20.59%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
A B C

5. In what position do you study?

a) Sit b) lie down on the bed c) walk

The best position for studying as suggested by top

educationalists and doctors is sitting position and I am happy
most of the students follow that but for those who don’t I would
like to say that do start following if because the others will
damage your eyesight.
 The cones show the statistics:

POSITION WHILE STUDYING

58.33%
60.00%

50.00%
33.33%
40.00%

30.00%

20.00%
8.33%
10.00%

0.00%
A B C

6. How much do you remember in the exam?

a) 100% b) above 70% c) below 70%

This particular question should not be asked to any Indian

because they are the persons who retain any subject more than
any other race in the world and that’s because of the design of our
educational system. This answers to this question may be happy
since about 75% of people in the college remember more than
70% of what they study. To increase it to 100% special memory
techniques could be learnt by the students.
 SUBJECT RETAINED

72.73%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00% 18.18%
20.00% 9.09%
10.00%
0.00%
A B C

7. What type of questions do you expect in the exam?

a) easy b) difficult c) medium

This particular question may seem silly since every exam

writer expects a easy question paper but it was asked to know
what the students are ready for. There came out many interesting
replies but very less dared to go for the toughest and some blamed
that day’s situation and their preparation on that day. The survey
clearly showed that most of the students are ready for a moderate
type of question paper and if medium becomes difficult then we
have found the right youngsters ready to face any challenge in
life.

The bar chart in the next page:

 TYPE OF QUESTIONS

C 54.55%

B 12.12%

A 33.33%

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

8. If you are a regular updater of your portions, how many hours do

you study in a day?
a) <2 hours b) >2 hours c) >4 hours

This question was asked to the students to determine the

frequency of their update over the academic subject taught. Many
students frankly accepted that they were not regular updaters and
we (The Survey Committee) advise them to keep their academics
updated. Then comes the hours of study in a day, most of the
students study less than 2 hours a day and in college life that’s
enough. There is not even 1 student studying more than 4 hours a
day. But the time of study is for only regular day but on exam day
the hours of study get skyrocketed.
 HOW MANY HOURS IN A DAY

45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00% 41.18% 32.35%
20.00%
26.47%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
0.00%
A B C Not Regular
Updaters

9. What percentage of impact has a teacher’s lecture got on your

study?
a) 50% b) 60% c) 75% d)
<25%
Although some of the students gave up their lecturer’s
badly, a good amount of students sustained the respect of their
lecturers and professors. But most of the world still believes that
teachers have a definitely great role to play in these college days.
Although a lot of them have lived up to the expectations of the
students some underdogs do prevail. So the students will be
happy if action is taken over those underdogs.
 PROFESSOR'S ROLE

35.00% 28.57% 31.43%

30.00% 25.71%

25.00%

20.00% 14.29%

15.00%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%
A B C D

10.Do you use the library regularly?

a) Yes b) No

This question was put forth to know the frequency of usage

of the library by the students and it proved very well that the
regularity is too low and students of the college are not out of the
single textbook mood practiced in schools. But we hope this
attitude of the students will change overtime which has shown up
in this survey itself.

See what the graph speaks:

 LIBRARY USE
70.00%

60.00%

50.00%

40.00% 67.65%

30.00%
32.35%
20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
A B

Now lets get on to some of the open ended questions that we asked in
the students and their suggestions:

11.Do you think exam is required? Support your answer.

It was really heartening on knowing that most of the
students wanted exams since they mentioned it to be an
oppurtunity to test their knowledge and understanding. They also
viewed it as a situation to show their skill and we see it as the
most basic difference between the learned and uneducated. It is
also seen as a mental factor that pushes students to study.
 EXAM REQUIREMENT

100.00%

80.00% 97.14%

60.00%

40.00%
2.85%
20.00%

0.00%
Exam Needed Exam not needed

12.What changes can be made in the exam?

 Students wanted to avoid long exams.
 Students proposed the increase in the application oriented
questions and problems rather than theories.
 They wanted the question paper to test their ability of
understanding and their application instead of their memory.
 We as the survey takers propose E-exams to improve the
quality and avoid maul practice.
 A break in between exams was also suggested.
 Projects and other activities are also wanted by the students to
improve their application and skills.
 Some suggested that brain nudging problems should be asked.
 A change in the grading system was also proposed since the
existing CGPA system is not effective in bringing out one’s
capacity.

13.What external resources do you use to prepare for the exam?

 Library books
 E-books
 Internet videos
 Discussing with friends and seniors
 Extra reference books
 Online learning programmes
 Previous year question papers
 EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Library Books
E-Books
Internet
Discussing with friends and seniors
Extra reference books
Online Leaning Programmes
Previous year question papers

8% 16%
8%
5% 8%

14%

41%

14.What are the thrills or dangers of eleventh hour preparation?

 Tension
 Unexpected illness
 No sleep
 Tend to forget answers
 Stress
 Very little understanding of concept
 Too much confusion
and finally a big flop in the exam.
 ELEVENTH HOUR PREPARATION
EFFECTS

Tension
Unexpected illness
No Sleep
Tend to forget answers
Stress
Very little understanding of concept
Too much confusion

8% 13%
13% 5%

8% 13%

40%

Recommendations:

The study of this survey though took us only a few days, we learnt a lot
of things from it.

1. No mental tension is put by the parent over a college student.

2. College students are really cool, they start studying only before a
week of the exam.
3. Their success or failure depends on the question paper.

Some recommendations we suggest to improve preparation

of the students are:

1. Listen well in the class you’re half done. I request the

professors to take care in making the class interesting for
the students.
2. Understand the concept very well and do take writing
practice.
 3. Don’t try to follow too many authors but do use reference
books.
4. Update your portions then and there or at least in the
weekends.
5. Practice your problems well.
6. Use the internet to explore the concept and try to have a
visual impact over it.
7. Discuss with your friends and seniors regarding subjects
also.
8. Be regular to the class.
9. Have enjoyment but see through that enjoyment never
rules you.
10. Read at the time you’re comfortable with.
11.Don’t ever try to make everything at the last moment you
will end in a disaster.
12.Do use the library facility regularly.
13.Don’t try skimming and scanning.
14.Don’t talk to persons who discourage you just before the
exam.
15.Be ready with your entire requirement the previous night
itself.
16. Stay calm and attend all questions clearly.

Some recommendation to professors and curriculum

designers:

1. Do take care that the curriculum is more practical and not

entirely theoretical.
2. Question papers should also be set in such a way that
they make students apply their brains.
3. Make students feel comfortable by providing some audio-
visual aids other than monotonous teaching.
4. Exams need to be conducted with enough holidays
inbetween.
Conclusion:
To be successful in a college,

“One doesn’t need to be a hard worker he needs to be a smart worker”

Success = (Smart Work). (Time Utilization). (Concept Understanding)

More practicality in the curriculum will make college students more and
more effective.

So, as the conclusion we would like to mention that this survey has
definitely met the objectives we wanted to establish for the welfare of
student preparation in the examination.

Appendix:
The samples of questionnaire’s are attached with this report as
proofs.