Students need to revisit past exams and quizzes in their courses to help gain a better understanding of what information they understand. Reviewing missed questions gives students the chance to revisit mistakes and question why they do not understand certain material. Test revisions also come in handy when preparing for future exams, it allows students to grow from their last exam!
To prepare for Exam 1, I created my notes based on the information provided by the textbook and I answered all the questions provided in the study guide. I highlighted portions of the study guide that featured concepts I did not understand. While I did not focus too much on detail, I tried to ensure that I had a general sense of the majority of the material. Key concepts from the textbook were both highlighted and recorded in my notes. Throughout the week I revisited my study guide, reviewed it, and asked myself practice questions. Each day of the week before the exam was dedicated to a different section of the review that I had to focus on. In preparation for the exam, I asked some family members to ask me questions about certain concepts of the study guide to test my knowledge. My results from exam one were not disappointing. Given that it was the first exam for the class, and there were many unknowns, I was pretty proud of my grade, however, I do see lots of room for improvement.
By reviewing missed questions on the exam, I was able to revisit fresh knowledge and update my studying habits. As I reconsidered missed questions on my exam, I was able to identify common trends, these trends helped me understand what types of questions and information I don’t fully understand. One trend that I noticed was that many questions I got wrong had to do with past studies and information regarding researchers. This just so happened to be a portion of my studying that I did not focus heavily on. Now that I know my failings include remembering past psychological studies, their significance, and researchers, I can now tailor my studying to accommodate this.
After reviewing the missed questions on my exam, I augmented my old notes and revisited my review sheet. The first thing I did was go back to my notes and highlight important names, dates, and studies I may have missed. I noticed my notes regarding past studies and researchers were vague, my notes only included a one-sentence blurb and a date. To fix this I decided to go back and elaborate more, so when I look back at my notes I have more in-depth information about studies and past researchers.
Now that I know I have a hard time remembering names, studies, and dates, I can make an emphasis on studying these in preparation for exam 2. In preparation for exam 2, I plan on putting more of an emphasis on studies and past researchers. I have to make sure that I have more than just a general understanding of key concepts. Instead, it is important to understand exactly what that person did, the point of the study, and its significance! In preparation for exam 2, I plan on giving myself more time to study so I can ensure I know more than enough information. In the future, I need to understand that having a “general” amount of knowledge about a topic is not always sufficient enough for me to get an outstanding grade on an exam.
I choose this image of Homer Simpson sleeping while reading a book to symbolize me staying up late to study. One terrible habit I have is trying to study at night, which normally results in me falling asleep. For exam 2 I plan on trying to study in the daytime, to ensure that I am alert and learning information!