How to Prepare for an Exam

Preparing for Exams
The most common mistake students make in preparing for exams is to study 'passively' rather than 'actively'. Let me explain the difference. Passive studying is when you simply reread the material and/or the notes. This will not help you very much. To figure out how to do well on an exam let's think about what an exam is. An exam is a demonstration of your comprehension of a topic. So, to do well on an exam you have to be able to do two things: (a) recall the information being asked of you and (b) show that you understand it. Here's the thing, if you focus on (b), (a) will follow without any effort. Going from (a) to (b) takes more work. That is, when you are studying, try to understand WHY Descartes is making a particular argument (what's he trying to prove in relation to his project) and how each step in the argument connects to previous premises and supports that conclusion. Once you've done this, you will also have recreated the argument! Pure memorization without understanding is much harder to do.

The other vital part of studying is to RECREATE EXAM CONDITIONS. On an exam you are being asked to RECALL information. Simply rereading doesn't train you to recall. To practice recalling information, you have to--well--recall information. This is the same for any skill. If I want to get better at basketball, I practice throwing the ball into the hoop. Reading about it won't help much. If I want to get better at guitar, reading about it won't help. I have to PLAY the guitar.  You get the idea... So, to recap, on a test you are being asked to RECALL and so you should practice recalling the information. In practical terms this means after reviewing a potential exam question, you should WRITE OUT in point form your answers to the question while your text and notes are closed. This is what it is to recreate exam conditions. If you can do this at home for all the questions, you will ace the test (so long as you took good notes). Also, you'll have a lot less stress because YOU"VE ALREADY WRITTEN THE TEST SEVERAL TIMES AT HOME. When I write exams I use this technique. If I get stuck while recall in an argument at home, I peek at my notes, complete the answer then I DO IT AGAIN, this time without peeking. I keep repeating as many times as I have to until I can recreate the answer without peeking at my notes (i.e., I recreate the exam conditions). When I can do it perfectly, I KNOW I will ace the test because I've already aced it before even stepping into the exam room.

I prefer to study alone but this isn't for everyone. If you do better studying in a group or with a partner, you can practice by quizzing each other on each question. This tests recall. However, you should still also test yourself at least once in your ability to write your answer in point form because this is what you will be asked to do on the exam (i.e., recreate test conditions).