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Coat of many colours
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Through The Looking Glass
The average accountancy student is a ‘coat of many colours’: Which one are you?
The Rambler is a studious devotee - paragon of good intention and gusto - but who meanders through the syllabus in an unstructured and cluttered way - oblivious to study plans, learning targets and progress milestones. In the exam the 'Rambler' often transforms into the Waffler who knows most of the material but stumbles through answers in an imprecise manner.
The Clairvoyantis extraordinarily proficient at visualising the syllabus without becoming involved in the unwelcome menial and mental work of actual study. Often spotted at the back of class staring out of windows, this student has a deep if obscure devotion to "the easy life". In the exam the 'Clairvoyant' turns into the Tautologist who unable to reason or explain rational facts and figures, simply reiterates each question without embellishment - rather a waste of time because the examiner also has the exam paper!
The Mantra Chanter thinks that 'something memorised is something learned' and concentrates on memorising lists of facts, definitions, names (of famous authors), formulae and buzz words without enduring the intellectual puzzle of trying to understand what it all means. In the exam the Mantra Chanter becomes the Underliner who goes to town underlining every word or fact that has been carefully memorised and positioned in the answer - even if not in context.
The Road-runner enthusiastically rushes into a study commitment with alarming alacrity but without judging distance, pace and stamina. Sacrificing all to the pursuit of learning this student quickly 'burns out', loses study momentum, interest, train of thought and concentration. The student here suffers from 'patchy' learning - understanding earlier parts of the syllabus in more depth than later parts. In the exam the 'Road Runner' is often identified as the One Answer Merchant who produces a near brilliant answer to one question; with other questions not attempted or answered only inadequately.
The Will-Doer is always going to start studying 'one of these days' failing to appreciate the simple but true axiom that 'one of these days is none of these days'. In the few weeks just prior to the exam the student desperately resorts to the unachievable task of cramming in sufficient knowledge being obsessively and exclusively focused on uncertain exam tips. The 'Well-doer' is identified in the exam as the Politician who doesn't answer the questions posed, thinking that obscure answers will cover for inadequate knowledge.
The Hedger is the student who attempts to dodge a lot of the syllabus by 'question spotting'. Favourite questions by this student are 'Do I have to learn this topic?' 'Is this area likely to come up in the exam?' The 'Hedger' shows up in the exam as the Mark-Ignorer - the candidate who writes pages and pages about the 'lucky' question and pretends to run out of time on others, writing notes to the examiner such as "Wish I had the time - there is a lot to write'. This type of candidate seldom gets good marks and is more often among the failures.
