As the end of the school year approaches, we all have final exams and projects. And with specifically final exams, it can be incredibly stressful trying to memorize all of the information that will be on the test. I recently took an exam for my major. As an education major, there are 6 tests you must pass to be certified. These are the 4 subject area exams (math, english, social studies, and science), one general knowledge exam broken down into english, math, reading, and writing; and the professional education exam which is more of the teacher and lesson plan side of things. I recently took my professional education exam for the fifth time now, and this time I passed. I had gotten so close in the past, with scores of 196 and 198, as 200 is considered passing. Looking back, I had changed up my study methods and took them more seriously. So I am here today to share them with you!
Review daily (or whenever you study next)
And I knew I was so close, and I knew what was at stake, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of studying once a day and moving on, I studied twice. I know you are probably thinking “that might not seem like a huge difference”, but it was. Because of my busy schedule, I was only able to study in the afternoon and evenings. I would study from one of my online practice tests once at 3-5 in the afternoon, take a break to make and eat dinner, and then study again at 7:30-9:30 or sometimes it would be 8-10 in the morning. The practice tests took about 2 hours to do each time so I had to cut out a perfect amount of time to do the test and check answers quickly. This seemed to help due to recognizing the ones I didn’t get right repeatedly, and being able to mark them to go over with my tutor. Afterwards, I still had time to shower, get ready for bed, and watch a little TV before I went to sleep. I know it seems like a big responsibility, but I suggest if you have a big exam like this one, it will help.
Study with someone
Like mentioned previously, I studied with a tutor to help me make sure I understood the material. She had been a teacher in the past, and also had passed the Florida state exam, as well as the Massachusetts exam, and the New York exam. I would come to her with the questions I had missed and we would discuss them. She would also tell me personal stories, if applicable to the problems, so I could truly get a grasp on the topic with a real world example. My point is it doesn’t matter if the person has had experience in the area of which you are studying, but just talking to someone, whether it be a tutor, friend, or another adult, can help you perhaps understand the material better.
Stimulate with different types of questions
For the professional education test, I had one online study booklet from over the summer that I had worked in. My mom also bought another physical copy of the latest addition as well. On top of these two, I studied the practice questions from the test website itself. I think it was a good idea to go over a mix of material- some that I already memorized, a refreshing new set of questions, as well as some that were more recent. Every night I would do one of these, label it with where it was from and date, what time I started and ended, and how many I got wrong of course. If you stimulate your brain with a mix of questions instead of just studying the same set each time, it can help you understand concepts better, and really make you read and understand the question instead of memorizing an answer over and over again.
Different ways of studying- not just flashcards
While flashcards work and are important to have, sometimes it is best if you have a variety of different ways and material to study. If I was getting a specific question wrong over and over again, I would go back to my tutor and we would discuss it. If I still didn’t understand, I would watch a video on the subject after our session, on my own time. This helped me immensely because during the test I thought about what I learned from the video. I have been doing this method since high school math, where I would need someone to explain it to me and write things out for me. Other than videos, just googling the concepts helped. If I couldn’t remember what specific psychologist created a theory, I would do a quick search and read about them until I understood. If I still didn’t understand, that’s when I would ask others or watch videos.
Test yourself
If you are using a practice booklet or even just Quizlet, make sure to be constantly testing yourself on the concepts. If you are on Quizlet, you can do the flashcards but don’t flip to the answer. If you don’t know, now you have to pay for Quizlet Plus if you want access to the test feature. If you don’t, they let you have one free test, so this is why the flashcard option is better. If you don’t use Quizlet, you can use a test generator website, and just not fill it out. Then, after, check your answers with your study material. Make sure to do this frequently so that you don’t forget your material.
If you are studying for an end of year test or even just a small quiz, and you want to get a good grade, don’t just sit there and try to memorize all of your material, try different ways to not only keep the information in your brain but understand the material as well. I hope these tips can help you for the future. Good luck!