One of the best study techniques is to take tests. We teach you how to prepare them so that taking exams is like a game. Not reading seventy times, not repeating like a parrot, not making outlines. If we really want to learn something well to get our
eTítulo, the best thing is to self-test.
Like in a driving license
When we learn the traffic code, it is much simpler and more effective to dedicate ourselves to taking tests like oligophrenics than to read the manual over and over again. The same goes for any other subject. We can read the recommended manual for the Administrative Law subject a thousand times and dry out our brains, or we can read it only a couple of times, prepare it with tests, and keep our brain circulation almost intact. Tests help us review what we know, reinforce our knowledge, and learn the most common question formats.
Gain confidence
Preparing our subjects through self-evaluation tests will give us confidence when facing the real exam because we will know exactly, thanks to being able to see where we went wrong or what is most complex for us, to what extent we are prepared and what our knowledge is.
Save time
The insecurity of not knowing to what extent we have a topic under control often makes us waste precious time. It is common for us to insist on reviewing the same topic over and over again, simply because we doubt whether we know it or not. However, if we replace reviewing over and over again with self-evaluation, we will have a very clear idea of which parts we need to review and which ones we have mastered, which will save us a lot of time and effort. It works similarly to other study techniques (such as the
Leitner method or
Anki), but it also allows us to visualize and practice on real or similar exams, so it is a kind of very useful dress rehearsal to consolidate concepts and present ourselves confidently to the exam.
Aids memory
Having to answer possible exam questions forces us to think and develop the answers in our heads, which is a completely different way of learning than when we read something many times or when we make outlines. This way of retaining information, through trial and error, is enjoyable and much more effective for memorizing than other formulas.
Trivial lover?
This is the best way to study in the days leading up to the exam if we enjoy question games. The exam season becomes unbearable due to the wear and tear that the hundreds of hours dedicated to assimilating the syllabus in a traditional way entail. Preparing ourselves through tests will be entertaining and will help us relax and eliminate some of the pressure felt during those dates.
In a group
If we find good study partners who don't distract us, we will appreciate it, and so will our grades. We tend to think that studying is a solitary act, but it doesn't have to be that way. The key is to find the
right people so that our study plan doesn't become a total waste of time, but once we find the right person or people, we will not only truly enjoy studying, but we will also learn a lot. Taking tests with classmates will allow us to approach it as a game in which we evaluate each other, in this way we will see more possible questions that may not have occurred to us and also different ways to find the correct answers and develop them. Two minds usually work better than one if they are focused on the same thing.
How to do it
If there are no previous exams provided by teachers or students from higher courses that can guide us, we have to make them ourselves. Once we have read the syllabus and selected the important information from our notes, we must think and write down what the possible questions that will appear on the exam would be. Now, we can write them down in a traditional notebook or use new technologies and do it with a computer template. There are also specialized websites like
this one that will provide us with super useful tools to create our tests and share them with classmates. After this, it's just a matter of using our imagination and playing, because studying can also be fun if we do it right.
