Innovative Strategies for Effective Exam Preparation

Exams are stressful, I know because I have been there too. However, there are ways in which you can easily learn quicker and better.

If you are like me, who likes to start revising and memorizing everything at the 11^th hour, then you my friend are in the right place.

I know for sure that it is tough to cram all the knowledge at once, especially when the final date of the exams is approaching. This desperate situation takes the worst out of us, and we lose important marks that could change many outcomes in the future.

What to do? The tricks are plenty and I am here to guide you all about them. In this post, we will discuss some innovative strategies using which you can effectively prepare for your exams and score your desired grades. So, let’s get started.

Ways to Effectively Prepare for Your Exams

Below, I have compiled the ways I believe worked best for me in my student life. Although some of the aspects will be subjective, there are some universal methods and techniques that remain the same for better learning. These are as follows:

1. Leverage Active Recall

Active recall is a very powerful and tested technique to retain information when you’re reading it. It is basically repeatedly quizzing yourself on the things you read, forcing the brain to actively retrieve data instead of just passing it through passively.

Active recall also means applying the gained knowledge to a real-life case study or other applications for better learning.

As you can infer from the recent study above, retrieval practice or active recalling is significantly better in learning than other methods like repeated study, concept mapping, etc.

The only downside with active recall is that it utilizes a lot of your cognitive abilities, which can tire you out quicker than other techniques. This takes us to our next point.

2. Use the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a widely used strategy to prepare better for exams and perform well in business or work-related activities. What it essentially states is that you should take frequent breaks during your study sessions to avoid fatigue and allow your brain to reset well enough for better learning.

To be specific, the Pomodoro technique is about taking short breaks in work after a set time (by default, this is set to 25 minutes.)

However, the time to take a leave may vary depending on the physical, mental, emotional, and environmental factors of the student. So, make sure to explore this time-management and better learning technique to find the right balance for yourself.

3. Teach to Learn

The ‘teach to learn’ technique isn’t necessarily a strategy that we can call “innovative”, however, it is worth mentioning for the sake of effective exam preparation.

In teaching to learn, you make a friend or a family member listen to your lecture while you try to make them understand a concept.

When you give explanations on a topic, you essentially find flaws and gaps in your knowledge. Then, you can go online and search more about the concept to strengthen the roots of the knowledge.

Additionally, you can also watch tutorials or seek help from an academic professional to fill your gaps and get you ready for the exam.

4. Gamify Study Sessions

Games, we all play it and love it. Why not make your study sessions into games as well? This is exactly the concept applied here.

Today, we have many online tools, applications, and resources that can revamp the way we study for exams and help us achieve our goals.

Like Habitica it sets points and achievements that are unlocked when you get through a phase or level of your study. The best part is that these rewards are completely customizable to students’ needs.

So, learners can set deadlines for themselves according to the number of chapters or topics remaining and feel a sense of accomplishment when they’re through with their work.

There are other apps and platforms that also utilize this concept beautifully like Duolingo and Khan Academy. They set daily log-in and learning rewards when you complete watching a video, answering tests, quizzes, etc.

5. Utilize Interactive Tools and Apps

There is no problem in making handwritten notes as it coerces and imprints an idea into your brain. But why stop there when you can do more?

Modern tools and applications facilitate multisensory learning, which unlocks parts of the brain that significantly make you a better learner (National Library of Medicine.)

For instance, utilizing an app like Quizlet can help you create visual flashcards for convenient and effective exam preparation.

Going forward, you can create a QR code for that flashcard and embed it into your digital sets of notes on a digital device. So, the next time you’re studying, you can quickly scan the code with the QR code scanner, and it will take you to your desired learning material.

Besides all this, you can also use mobile apps like Wolfram Alpha to scan a mathematical expression or equation and get a quick answer to it. This intuitive approach can help you learn independently in situations where you can’t access a human teacher, or if you like to study alone (like me!)

6. Implement Reflective Practice

The reflective practice works in complement with ‘Active Recall.’ The only difference is that in active learning, you talk or do something practical with the gained knowledge. In the reflective learning style, you catch the big picture or pattern of things before applying it.

Whilst this practice isn’t longer than 5 to 10 minutes, you can extend it if you feel like it. You can write a summary to distill key points; putting the concept or topic in your own words also helps retain the information.

Reflective learning also opens up a window to analyze the long terms or lists in your syllabus that you need to remember for the exam. After that, you can create acronyms or mnemonics for these items to memorize facts and sequences quickly and effectively.

Final Words

Applying the discussed innovative strategies for effective exam preparations seems like a lot of effort and work initially. However, it is an investment worth making to boost your grades and help you achieve your goals.

In the end, I will suggest you to not stick to the methods I mentioned and experiment around with it. Use technology wisely and avoid overworking and stressing over your test as that, too, can hamper your performance on the big day!