5.3 Study Strategies and Test Preparation

When many students are tasked with preparing for an upcoming exam, they default to simply rereading notes or textbook material or perhaps practicing flashcards that were generated through Quizlet. The reality is that these methods are passive approaches to studying and rarely adequately prepare students for the types of questions they may encounter on exams or allow students to transfer knowledge from short-term to long-term memory.  As discussed in section 5.1, it’s important to engage in the metacognitive process when approaching studying for an exam.

Assess the Task

Begin by clarifying the scope and expectations of the test. Identify the topics that will be covered, the format of the questions (multiple-choice, short answer, essay, problem-solving), and any special instructions provided by the instructor. Understanding the type and depth of knowledge required helps you determine how to focus your study time. For example, preparing for an essay exam might require you to practice developing arguments and integrating examples, while a multiple-choice science test may require mastering definitions and processes.

Some professors will tell you how many questions there will be, the exam format, and how much time you will have, while others will not. If there is no information given about the exam, it is okay to ask questions! If there is no information given, check in before or  after class, in your professor’s office hours or via email

If you know the format of the exam, and how much time you will have, you can start to mentally prepare. There are two more important aspects that you may or may not know: a) what will be covered or asked on the exam, and; b) how the exam will be scored. Obviously, the more you know about what will be covered, the easier it is for you to be able to prepare for the exam. Most exam scoring is standardized, but not always.

Evaluate Strengths and Weaknesses

Once you know more information about the exam, reflect on your current understanding. Use past assignments, quizzes, practice problems, or self-testing to pinpoint what you know well and where you struggle. Being honest about your weak areas ensures you allocate time where it’s most needed rather than repeatedly reviewing content you already understand. It’s easy to default to studying material that you feel confident in because working through more challenging material can feel uncomfortable. However, it’s important to devote most of your time to more difficult material as it’s likely to be on the exam.

Plan the Approach

Decide how, when, and where you will study. Break the material into manageable sections, set specific goals for each session, and choose study methods that match the type of content and your learning preferences. This might include creating summary sheets, making flashcards, teaching the material to someone else, or working through practice questions.

In order to study successfully, it is important to know where you study best. Some students study well at home. Other students study well at a library or coffee shop. Your best environment is based on you and your preferences.

Many students are most efficient in studying in the morning when they are fresh, have had a good night’s sleep, and a nutritious breakfast. When your brain is more alert, it is easier to recall and retain information. Studying late in the day may be the only option for you, but often, students are tired at the end of the day, and this can have a major effect on how effective you are able to study. However, some research has shown that studying late in the day can be effective because “sleeping after studying helps to improve recall and consolidate information.”¹ Figuring out where and when you study best is personal and may take some trial and error.

Planning also means scheduling review sessions over multiple days, rather than cramming, to improve retention. Arguably, preparing for exams starts on the first day of the semester.  You should be engaged in active review and practice of material throughout each week and not just in the days leading up to the exam. Preparing to pass tests is something that begins when learning begins and continues through to the final exam.

Many students, however, don’t start thinking about test taking, whether weekly exams, mid-terms, or finals, until the day before, when they engage in an all-nighter, or cramming. From the previous unit on memory, you might recall that the brain can only process an average of 5-7 new pieces of information at a time. Additionally, unless memory devices are used to aid memory and to cement information into long-term memory (or at least until the test is over tomorrow!), chances are slim that students who cram will effectively learn and remember the information.

Apply Strategies

Put your plan into action by using active study strategies that require engagement with the material. Summarize readings in your own words, create diagrams or mind maps to connect concepts, quiz yourself without notes, and work through problems without looking at solutions. Switching between different active study techniques helps you deepen understanding, reinforce memory, and prepare for the variety of ways information might be tested.

Bloom’s Taxonomy, as discussed in Chapter 3, can provide a great framework and examples of active learning strategies that progressively become more challenging and helpful when considering long-term learning. At the remembering and understanding levels, strategies might include creating flashcards, summarizing lecture notes in your own words, and explaining concepts aloud as if teaching someone else. These approaches strengthen foundational knowledge and ensure you can clearly define and describe key ideas. Moving to the applying and analyzing levels, focus on working through practice problems, applying concepts to new situations, and breaking down complex topics into parts to see how they fit together. Finally, the evaluating and creating levels involve making judgments and producing original work based on your knowledge. This might mean critiquing an argument, designing an experiment, or writing a mock essay response that integrates multiple sources.

Study groups can allow for shared resources, new perspectives, answers for questions, faster learning, increased confidence, and increased motivation. Form a study group and present material, share your knowledge with a family member who has no background information on a topic.  This strategy of teaching material to others is called the Feynman Technique, named after physicist, Richard Feynman.  Ultimately, one of the best ways to ensure you truly understand material is by teaching it to others and it has been demonstrated to have a retention rate of up to 90%.  When you can clearly and confidently present material, you demonstrate deep knowledge.

Reflect

After your study sessions—and especially after the test—evaluate how well your preparation worked. Did your study methods help you recall and apply the material effectively? Were there topics you still struggled with despite reviewing? Did you manage your time well? Reflection allows you to identify what worked, what didn’t, and what you will change next time.

Citations

1. The Best Time Of The Day To Study: Day or Night? (2017, November 30). Retrieved from https://oxfordlearning.com/best-time-day-to-study/