How to Review Effectively for Exams
Exams are an integral part of a student’s life. It assesses the student’s understanding of the topics they have learned throughout their academic journey and it can also be their gateway to the path of success. However, it’s also universal that students may dread taking exams. So, students prepare the best they can before they take their exams. With the exam season fast approaching, the pressure of reviewing may start getting into some of our students. With that being said, we emphasize the power of reviewing and how it can greatly help students prepare for their exams.
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Why is reviewing important?
Not only is reviewing important for academic success, but it also has a significant impact on how you will live as an adult. It is just foolish and immature to restrict the usage of good reviewing or revising to the limits of the classroom’s four walls. After all, you can review a great quantity of information and knowledge that is useful in the real world but not relevant to the classroom or lecture hall, such as communication skills, taxes, and health insurance, to mention a few.
Effectively revisiting or revising topic content and knowledge in a classroom setting may result in an improvement in general academic performance, which will also be reflected in the grades you receive. Effective reviewers may feel more confident because they have a deeper comprehension of the subject, which reduces uncertainty. The sense of accomplishment one feels from getting good marks may frequently become habit-forming, so effective reviewing can also lead to wanting to review even more effectively.
As was previously mentioned, effective reviewing or rewriting of content is also applied outside of the academic platform. Before a crucial meeting, thoroughly reviewing the material you’ll present to your superiors can often make the difference between a weak report and one that is convincing and satisfactory. Your chances of impressing your superiors and coworkers are better the more you understand and recall your report.
What are the best ways to review effectively?
There are many different review methods available, and they are all distinctive in their own way. You have the option of reviewing through tests, memory drills, or by creating lesson outlines. Each of which has particular advantages and disadvantages. However, some techniques are fundamentally much more effective than others.
Your reviews and revisions will likely turn out differently depending on how much time and effort you put into them. This means that other factors besides your learning strategies could also lead to the desired outcome. However, this does not imply that a review strategy that is improper and ineffective will produce the same positive results as one that is effective and efficient will.
Here is a list of strategies you can take to aid in an effective review:
1. Revisit newly discovered knowledge
The first thing you should keep in mind when trying to review well is to go over the new material as frequently as you can. The secret to greater comprehension and memory retention of newly taught material is repetition. If you try to recall and go over significant knowledge as frequently as you can, you can successfully store it in your long-term memory.
As an alternative to relying solely on your memory, you can choose to write down any new knowledge you have acquired in your notebook or other study materials. This will show you which parts of the subject you remember and which sections you find difficult to recall or comprehend.
2. Go over important details out loud
Try to recite something you’ve just learned aloud—that’s one of the finest ways to remember it. Similar to the first technique, this one asks you to attempt and discuss it aloud as if you were the one doing the conversation rather than writing it down in the summary form. This will assess your knowledge of the subject and your ability to effectively communicate its key ideas.
3. Create a review schedule
Repetition is the key to better remembering a subject or piece of information, as was already mentioned. To repeatedly study the same topic every day for a few weeks, though, would be ineffective. When you consistently remember something, your brain keeps it for a longer amount of time. To help in greater memory retention, establish a schedule for when you are going to forget the information and make every effort to remember it.
As a result, you have more time in your schedule to learn new material and you won’t feel as bored with going over the same material every day. This technique also takes advantage of the brain’s ability to remember things long after hearing them a few times, which makes your review strategy more effective and improves memory retention.
4. Test yourself
You can then move on to testing yourself on the subject after taking notes, speaking the material out, and going over it repeatedly. This will enable you to better understand the sections of the subject that are challenging for you. Timing your responses on the review test also prepares you for the strain of a timed exam when you take the actual exam on the subject.
If you don’t have previous test papers for an exam you are preparing for, you can go over to FamilyTutor’s page for free test papers. You can easily download test papers online for free for Primary, Secondary, Junior College, and IBDP level.
5. Teach someone what you’ve learned
One of the finest ways to assess how much you understand and can communicate about a subject is to teach it to someone else. It can also motivate you to learn new things to impart to your “student” if they are eager to learn. Additionally, your student might bring up concerns about the subject that you might have missed, which can deepen your understanding of it. Additionally, you will impart knowledge to your “student” directly from your memory, which will train your memory.
6. Rewrite previously done notes
When an exam is quickly approaching, taking precautions is never a bad idea, and one should never lose confidence in their skills. You can use whatever free time you have in your schedule to go over earlier notes and try to redo them to see whether you still recall the subject. It may be challenging, especially if you’ve become accustomed to your notes, but it pays off because you can view the subject from a fresh perspective, which may reveal the subject’s fundamentals.
7. Take a break now and then
Following a lengthy and taxing review, you should put rest first. Every so often, taking a short break might help you reenergize and provide you with new energy to continue your study session. By scheduling breaks at regular intervals, you may give yourself something to look forward to while also preventing burnout from excessive studying. Getting sufficient rest also optimizes the brain’s general cognitive abilities and will aid in your memory of even more material for the next review sessions.
8. Apply what you’ve learned in real life
Despite being optional, this step is nevertheless equally important as the others. Incorporating what you have learned into your daily life is the final step to effective review. Quite a difficult task to complete, but once done correctly, it can be very rewarding.
Carelle
Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.
