07Exam Preparation Strategies Students Commonly Use
“How can I learn all this within a short time?” — students ask in despair, opening a thick textbook on the eve of the next exam. “How can I pull myself together and not worry? What if I don’t remember anything at all?”
They know how to pass an exam with the desired A grade. Check what experts think about the strategies students use when preparing for exams.
Strategies Used by College Students: Do They Work or Not?
On the last day, you must pump yourself with information to the maximum. Short-term memory will keep it and help out on the exam.
Expert opinion: This strategy may suit those with a mathematical mindset, good memory, and logical thinking. But, in general, it isn’t a very useful setup. Still, our memory is limited, and, unfortunately, it does not obey our direct instructions.
If you clog your head with new information for 24 hours a row, you risk overloading your memory, which will play a trick on you in the exam.
The information “downloaded” at the last moment may not pop up on time. You will see questions, remember nothing, or start confusing numbers, dates, and formulas.
You shouldn’t do anything on the last day before the exam: let the brain cool down a bit.
Expert opinion: Generally, this is a good setting if we assume that a person has been engaged for a year.
And if two or three months ago, fixing some topic, they considered 20–30 examples of the same type, which means that they have already developed a solution skill, and there is no need to repeat this topic.
Although, there is no sense in the complete refusal of classes. Why deprive yourself of the opportunity to read something for a couple of hours before passing the exam?
You shouldn’t be too calm before the exam. You need to make yourself nervous: under stress, memory works better, and it is easier to concentrate.
Expert opinion: Often, such attitudes arise due to ordinary coincidences: a person became nervous the day before — and suddenly passed the exam brilliantly.
And he/she, noticing this connection, made the wrong conclusion: I did it because I was nervous.
But in fact, it would be worth noting that this time they prepared well. Whether we like it or not, the stress before the exam will appear beyond our will, so our task is to reduce it and not to warm it artificially.
How to pull yourself together if you have panic fear before the exam? Trying to reassure yourself with the words “everything will be fine” is futile. Think of relaxation methods such as auto-training and meditation — they help! Only short, healthy stress, just working excitement, is useful.
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