PORPE & PLAE
PORPE is an active strategy designed to help students prepare for essay or short answer questions. PLAE is another learning strategy useful in preparation of exams.
PORPE: Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice, & Evaluate
The steps in this learning strategy are Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice and Evaluate.
Predict:
Several days before the test you predict some broad questions that your professor might ask you. As a rule, the fewer questions there are on an essay test, the broader the questions will be. For example, if an essay test has only two questions, they will be much broader than the essay questions on a five question test. Many times when students begin to use this strategy, they predict questions that are too broad or too narrow. You need to evaluate your questions. Also, don't expect to predict the specific questions that your instructor will use. However, you hope that there will be considerable overlap between your predictions and the actual questions. This is a skill that requires practice.
Organize:
Three or four days before the test you need to organize the information needed to answer your predicted questions. You can organize your information by outlining or by other means such as mapping. You want to organize major concepts and supporting details to answer your questions. You will want to organize as much information as possible because you will use this information to compose your practice answers.
Rehearse:
Three or four days before the test, you want to rehearse each question several times. This rehearsal will help you commit your organization to memory. Rehearse out loud because the more senses that are involved in forming the memory, the more reliable the memory will be.
Practice:
Two days before the test practice writing out your answers to your questions. Now the time that you have spent organizing and rehearsing begins to pay dividends. Remember to practice your answers under the same time constraints that you will experience in the classroom. Remember always leave time to proofread your answers. For the practice exercises write formal answers to your questions. Use complete sentences, use appropriate examples, and be sure that you have an introduction and a conclusion.
Evaluate:
Evaluation of your own work is a difficult task. Use your outline or other organizational tool to make sure that you followed your plan. Ask yourself the following questions:
Is my introduction clear and focused?
Are my statements of general concepts complete and precise?
Are my examples and supporting information accurate and complete?
Do I have a conclusion that relates back to my introduction and overall thesis?
Answering these questions honestly may allow you to make some revisions to your plans that can further improve your effort.
PLAE: Preplan, List, Activate, & Evaluate
When students use PLAE, they go through the self-regulatory processes of Preplanning, or defining tasks and goals, Listing or selecting the strategies they will employ and constructing task specific study plans, Activating or implementing the plan and using appropriate fix-up strategies, and Evaluating the plan's effectiveness once they receive feedback.There are five cognitive operations necessary for students to implement this plan. Students must learn how to:
- Establish goals, allocate resources, and make a plan of action that will incorporate strategies and distribute practice over time.
- Use a repertoire of strategies for the many tasks and texts they will encounter since there is no one superior or generic method of study.
- Select the most appropriate strategies based upon the characteristics of the text, the task, and their own learning preferences.
- Activate and monitor a plan of action and make appropriate chances when necessary.
- Evaluate their plan's success or failure in terms of goals and the task in order to plan for future situations.
Assignment:
One of your tutees suffers from test anxiety. What advice do you give her/him? Why should students look over a returned test?