It’s conventional wisdom that you have to revise for your exams. But when you think about it, this is a strange concept. Why should you have to keep going over things you already invested a ton of time in learning? I submit that it might have something to do with the way we're taught.
The science behind how we learn has progressed enormously since Victorian times. But unfortunately, the way we’re taught hasn't kept pace. Whether you're at school or university, the formula is the same. You sit there passively whilst an instructor, teacher or lecturer feeds you information. Sometimes you get the chance to put your hand up and answer questions, but is this really the best way to learn?
Worse still, we might be tempted to model our own learning on what we do in school. That is, sitting down in front of a book and reading it until we fall asleep, wishing all the while we were somewhere else.
This is why I don't think the key to exam success is just about working hard. I think we need to get smart about learning. We need to start thinking about it as a problem in itself. And then we need to play to our strengths.
When we were little we managed to learn all sorts of things without any formal training. Think about when you first learning to ride a bike. Or walk. Nobody taught you. Heck, if you can read this then I'm guessing you can speak. And I bet you didn't learn how to speak in an English lesson. You just picked it up because you needed it. You had to have it if you wanted to gain any sense of agency in the world.
That's the spirit you need now. You need to get active in your approach to learning. One thing you can do is use technology. Some of the best revision apps will actually engage you in an active way.
For example, you can create your own questions on any topic you want using apps like Synap. Then, when you're done creating, put yourself to the test. There's no examination invigilator standing over your desk, making sure you're not cheating. In fact, sharing apps like this can work to your advantage.
You could quite easily sit down with one of your course mates and design a multiple choice quiz and do it together. Or you could compete against each other. Remember, competition makes the learning process active. And that means that there's a point to learning what you're learning. You want to beat your friend, don't you?
Modern neuroscience tends to support the idea that this sort of learning really works. I think it's because what you're learning counts for something. And because it actually counts for something, our brains are coaxed into forming long-term memories.
You don't want to be another one of these people who cram for an exam and then forget everything they learned six months later. If you're an economics post-graduate, or a second-grade geography student it doesn't matter. Make learning active.
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