10.14.02
Reviewing for Exams
Reviewing for Exams
| VI. Techniques for reviewing for tests form an essential
part of being a student. |
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| A. Under most conditions,
it is more efficient to study alone. There are, however, three exceptions: |
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| 1. If two or more persons have already mastered the material very well, quizzing each other may be more effective than self-quizzing alone. Some studies have shown the students learn from each other as much as they learn from the teacher. | ||
| 2. If the course material is too difficult, then collaboration with another student or setting up a study-group can be profitable; however, study groups work best when they meet on a regular basis well before the exam is scheduled. | ||
| 3. Sometimes in order to
reduce anxiety and conflict, it is more profitable to study with others
than to study alone. Avoid mixing
socializing and study--it seldom works for difficult classes. |
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| B. Intensive studying the
night before an exam has serious disadvantages. |
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| 1. Anxiety impairs
thinking, reasoning, and learning. |
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| 2. Anxiety is incompatible
with enjoyment. By studying intently the night before an exam, you are
learning not to enjoy not only the subject being studied but also
learning not to enjoy the study and leaning process. |
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| 3. If you have already
formed the habit of cramming the night before a test, then your task is made
much more
difficult, since just the sight of a textbook at any time, not just
before an exam, may cause anxiety. Even the
thought of studying can cause apprehension because past study has been associated with
tension, dread, and negative feedback. |
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| 4. The "institutional
syndrome" can be seen to be established when our natural creativity, discovery, and
curiosity is hindered by past negative reinforcement. |
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| C. Cramming is
psychologically unsound for other reasons as well. Having spent an enormous amount of
effort and loss of sleep the night before an exam, a student is usually rewarded with a less than acceptable grade.
The negative conditioning leads to the loss of desire to study until
some sort of an emergency
situation crops up--i.e., usually, the next test, and so the effect
tends to perpetuate itself. |
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