EXAMSs… (Kiryll)

Hi guys!
As I was studying for these upcoming exams I realised a study technique that I should have been using that would have cut down revision by 40-50%. The figure isn’t  verified by actual research, but I really think it will work.

Cramming works to an extent. Especially if one has a week to study for an exam. But most of the stuffed information will disappear very quickly and only a smidgen will remain in the years ahead. But since most of us have four exams, a week dedicated to one subject, is a lifetime of regret for the other three.

That said, I am sort of cramming in that the closer the date to the first exam, the harder I begin to study. Which means, the further away the exam ( 2 weeks) the less if not zero study is done.

The technique that I thought would be super duper takes effort in the short-term, but reduces effort and maximises results in the long-term. If you guys have read my other post, I mentioned this trait in human psychology that makes people focus on short-term gratification rather than the long haul, even if the benefits of the long haul are far better.

What I’m going to try to do next semester is after each week, maybe on a Friday morning (I will attempt to unshackle Fridays from lectures next semester), I will write up a summary for each subject. Writing down using paragraph headings whatever I have learnt this week. I’ll staple these sheets and assign them to the respective subject pile.

What I can do then is to, using the expanding booklet, look over these summaries the next Friday, before writing up the new summaries for the second week. That way, I am consolidating what I have learnt the previous week, writing down what I have learnt this week, and also seeing how the previous week relates to the current one.

Come SWOTVAC, I will have a booklet for each subject, of all the information crucial for the exam. All that would be required of me then, will be to simply read those booklets and grapple with some practice exam questions. Using this method I won’t hopefully learn new information about the course right before the exams, because through constant revising and reading, everything cardinal has solidified in my head a long time ago.