“How would you prepare for a chess match? Would you pick up a book on advanced chess strategy and read like a fiend? Or would you imagine specific moves and patterns of moves you might make in a match? A recent study indicates that chess players who practice very specific techniques in preparation for a tournament perform equally or better than opponents who prepared by attempting to improve their general skills.
So what does this mean for you and your upcoming Biology exam? Don’t read over your notes eight times over…Instead, try to imagine the open-ended questions that might show up on the test and prepare specific answers for each. Operationalizing the information you already know into specific answers will help you access it correctly and efficiently during test time, even if the exact questions you predicted don’t show up. Stop practicing becoming a better note reader and start practicing becoming a better test taker.”
Read more at Rasmussen College
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Precisely how I did so well in school for the last few years, when I had grown tired of studying. And precisely what is totally wrong with modern public education.
We should be focused on teaching (educating), and students should be focused on seeking knowledge rather than good grades. Long gone is the desire to actually, legitimately learn anything. Now it’s “how can I store the answers on my cell phone?” in order to get the grades to attend the university to get the job… and so on.
I didn’t realize until after I had dropped out of university how much I truly loved learning. My favorite television channels are Discovery, Science and History – two of which are topics I detested most in school!
Isn’t the title a bit misleading?
I once read that we learn around 5% of what we hear, 30% of what we read, and 90% of what we do.
When I want to learn how to play tennis, I don’t learn it by reading a book about tennis, or watching a tennis match on TV. I learn it by actually practicing it. I don’t succeed at a job interview by reading a dozen self-help books, I get the best preparation by practicing a role-played job interview with somebody else.
here’s a great tip: i did really well in kolledge by making up my own questions & putting em on all my tests. the profs luved it–they said it showed initiative!
(of course, ya gotta do somewhat well on the regular questions too…)
The best piece of advice I was ever given about school by my genius sister:
“Listen in class. If you don’t understand something then ask questions until you do. If you understand why things work rather than remembering specific answers and outcomes, then you will never have to revise at all. When a question is asked you will know what the answer is.”
@Liz
The seven tips are listed on the actual link. The first “mind hack” is on the blog.
Great tips though. If only teachers taught students how to learn, rather than just teaching them the answers.
This is actually something I started doing this year, basically I start by giving myself a general quiz over whatever I will be tested on. Those items that I miss, I put them on another quiz for the future. Before I test myself again, I use flashcards and make simple mnemonics to help me memorize the information. I quiz again, and if I have any left that are wrong, I repeat the procedure again. I do this until I basically have the information down cold. I’ve gotten consistent high marks for the extra effort, but I have vastly cut my study time and that has been the biggest benefit.