The Different Types of Tests, and How to Study For Them
Just as important as how long you study is how you study.
We’ve all had that experience once or twice; that moment when, despite studying for 5 hours straight last night, you still got a low grade on that physics test. Often it’s demoralizing, and it’s easy to feel hopeless; after all, what more can you even do?
Well, something I learned from all my years in high school is that just as important as how long you study is HOW you study.
In this guide, I will show you study tips that will help you improve your grades while also giving you free time.
The generic, yet most important, studying tip
Now, this tip I’m sure you’ve already heard from everyone, from parents to snappy teachers; don’t try to cram it all the night before. Yep; I know, it’s a very generic piece of advice, but the reason it’s given so much is, well, because it’s true.
Now, I’ll be honest here; throughout my high school career, I often did not follow this advice. Yes, that makes me a sort of hypocrite. But when I did study for a big test a week in advance, instead of the night before, I was always surprised by how big a difference it made.
The reason it works so well is because you are splitting up the content you need to memorize, and giving your brain more time to process the information. Say you study the night before for 5 hours to prepare for a test on 5 chapters of your math book. Though you have 5 hours, now you have to memorize all of the content of the 5 chapters at once; it’s going to overwhelm you.
In comparison, if you studied for 5 days, one hour a day, it would both be psychologically less stressful, and each day you would get time to focus on a single chapter. Additionally, if you don’t understand things, you can ask the teacher for help; you won’t have that chance if you study the night before.
Now, I know that life happens; it’s not always possible to study for tests long in advance. That’s what the rest of the tips are for. But whenever you do have the chance, resist the urge to procrastinate and start studying the week before.
Rely on daily reviews more than reviews before a test
This one may fit in a little to the first tip, but I thought it’s somewhat different, so I put it in another section.
If you have a difficult class, a very helpful technique that I have learned is to go home and review the material each day in that class until you fully understand it. If the material that day was easy, your review can be short; if it was more difficult, you might need to review a little longer.
Either way, this way you will understand the content even before you begin studying for the test. Now, this requires a lot of discipline. On the days that you have no homework and the test is months away, the urge is always to forget about school and watch Youtube instead.
But trust me; it helps. Since you are just reviewing what you learned that day, oftentimes you will only need to spend 15 minutes to understand it.
The point is, you will need to spend a little bit of time outside of class to process and fully understand the material. It might not always be fun, but your future self will thank you when it comes time for studying for the test.
Alright, let’s say you heed this advice, and even before you start studying for the test, you understand most of the content. Well, now how exactly should you start studying?
The different types of tests, and the different ways to study for them
Throughout my high school experience, I have found that tests tend to fall into several broad categories.
First are the memorization based tests.
These tests are the kind of tests where your teacher gives you a list of words or concepts to memorize, and on test day you are tested about those concepts. These tests are common in Language Arts, where they usually follow the form of vocabulary or spelling tests. They are also common in Biology, Psychology, Foreign Language, and History.
The best way to study for these are to split what you need to memorize into sections, and focus on memorizing one section a day, giving yourself time to gradually memorize the content rather than do it all at once.
Flashcards are helpful for these kinds of tests, although I personally didn’t use them much. Utilizing the first tip of studying in advance is especially critical for these kinds of tests; it can be overwhelming to try and memorize an entire chapter’s worth of words the night before.
Second are what I call understanding tests.
These are the kinds of tests where you read a few pages of a book, and are then tested on said section. These tests show up a lot in English and History classes.
The best way to study for these is to, well, read carefully. The questions in these kinds of tests tend to be on specific details that are easy to miss if you are skimming. Thus, note taking, highlighting, and post-it notes are especially effective in learning the information.
Additionally, it helps if you imagine that you yourself are the teacher, look for obscure parts of the text you could pull questions from, and in result memorize much of the detail you could be tested on.
Finally are what I call application tests.
Unlike the other tests, in these tests you have to use what you learn and actually solve problems, rather than just recall information. This is usually prevalent in math, or math based classes like physics.
There is only one real way to study for these types of tests; find practice problems, and actually DO them. As my dad says, “You can never read math”. What he means by that is that reading about a math concept in a textbook is one thing; actually doing a problem where that concept is used is a completely different thing.
“You can never read math” — Vinod Sharma
To best understand the material, you need to actually sit down and do practice problems. Avoid the urge to look at the solutions manual and start reading the solution instead of doing it yourself; the only way you will truly understand is if you do it yourself.
Final thoughts
In essence, what I have stated is that you should review the material you learn in class every day, so that you understand it. Then, when a test is upcoming, start studying and reviewing in advance, rather than the night before. Finally, understand the type of test you will be given, and use the type of studying best suited for that kind of test.
If you do these tips, your scores will improve, and you will need to spend less time overall studying.
Originally published at http://collegecareerscholarship.com on May 29, 2020.
