Let’s get practical (Useful if you have an upcoming exam)
We’ve been working on aspects of learning that will help you become a better learner throughout your life. However, sometimes you just need some practical strategies to help in the short term.
Here are some key considerations as you prepare for an upcoming assessment (e.g., exam). Each strategy makes use of your metacognition skills:
1
Focus on a specific goal or criterion at a time. You need to be out of your comfort zone and practice the areas that you aren’t as familiar with.
2
Target an appropriate level of challenge, not too hard that you can’t do anything, not so easy that you’re not learning and instead are wasting your valuable time.
3
Spend enough time (both in quantity and frequency).
How to best spend your time:
In terms of practical learning strategies, use deliberate practice and not passive strategies. Passive strategies like re-reading and highlighting give mediocre results (even though they might feel better), research has repeatedly shown passive methods to be inferior for learning. Deliberate practice involves using metacognitive skills to identify areas of high knowledge (areas of low priority to focus on) and low knowledge (areas of high priority to focus on).
Instruction: Click on each technique to learn more about them.
- Spaced learning is when you space out your learning time (e.g., studying) as much as possible in the time you have leading up to the assessment. Multiple smaller sessions are more effective than one longer session. In other words, try not to cram!
- Retrieval practice is when you recall information from memory. Quizzing yourself and quizzing your peers in a group is an example of retrieval practice you may be familiar with.
- Interleaved practice is when you alternate the types of things you need to practice. For example, if you have three types of things to practice (let’s call them A, B, and C), practice a few questions of each type in an alternating sequence, then repeat (i.e., ABC-ABC-ABC). Watch out! Learners usually report that interleaved practice feels less effective than blocked practice (i.e., AAA-BBB-CCC) but this is just a situation where our perception of learning does not match the actual learning outcomes. Reseach that has empirically compared interleaved practice and blocked practice supports the notion that interleaved practice is superior. In other words, despite feeling that interleaved practice is less effective, objective measures have demonstrated that it improves your learning more than blocked practice.
- Feedback is information about your performance or progress that guides improvements to your understanding or skills. When learning, it’s important to set up feedback mechanisms. For example, when testing yourself you should review your notes or use cue cards that include the right answer on the back to ensure you’re answering correctly. Moreover, make note of where you were wrong and work to improve any gaps in your knowledge.
Tip
Don’t waste time practicing things you can already do. It may feel good and comfortable, but it’s not helping you learn.
Want to learn more strategies? Check out the Hidden Curriculum Resource, Evidence-based study strategies, in the sections of “Strategies to share with students”.
As you are preparing for that assessment, continue to go through the SRL cycle of think-plan-act, continually monitoring your learning and progress and adjusting as you need.
Learning activity: Review your preparation for a recent assessment
Identify an assessment that you recently did. In your Workbook, write down everything you can remember about your preparation for that assessment. Include the strategies you used and the timing and nature of your learning (studying) sessions. Which ones were more effective, based on research? Which ones should you stop using?