By now you’ve received your grade, taken in some data, and
you’re ready to really take a look at your strategies for studying so you can
improve on your future scores. Studying for tests is a really big topic that
would warrant a lot more discussion than I can give you here, but I want to
cover at least the basics and some of the best strategies and ideas.
The first thing you can do is ask your instructor what to
expect on the exam (ask an open-ended question like this rather than a pointed
“will it be multiple guess” so that you get a better answer). Often, if
students know what to expect they are much less anxious and perform better on
tests and quizzes. Most instructors create their own exams and, because we’re
also not stupid, create new exams for each semester – so there’s always a
chance that the instructor may not know what’s on the exam yet. If the
instructor hands out a study guide, make sure you know everything on it!
If you’ve been reviewing your course materials throughout
the week each week, reviewing your notes after class, and keeping up with your
textbook readings, studying for an exam won’t be any huge deal. You’ll continue
reviewing as usual with some extras. Some of my favorite ideas for studying:
·
Pretend (because we all have an inner child)
that you’re the teacher and create your own exam. What questions would you ask?
What topics do you think are most important? If you study with classmates, you
can exchange and test each other – this is excellent practice! I’ve often had
students bring their own practice tests in and then ask me how I would score
the essay questions!
·
Review the review questions throughout and at
the end of each chapter. Don’t just go over them in your head, either state the
answer out loud or write it down. Often students think they know the answer so
they skip on through their review. Speaking the answers out loud or writing
them down forces you to see what you really know and what you don’t know.
·
If you’re an audio/visual learner, YouTube
should be your best friend! There is so much good educational content on
YouTube (and elsewhere on the internet).
Remember that no matter what stage of data-gathering or
studying you are in, you can always ask your instructor for help! We live for
students who are eager to learn and understand!
In my next blog post, we’ll talk about how a poor grade
looks from the instructor’s point of view and why you should care. Until then,
continue doing your best work and being your best student!
Comments
Post a Comment