4 Ways to Fail Your Exam

1 – Copy everything in your textbook.

You don’t want to miss something important, do you?

Knowing that the more you write the more you’ll forget is one way some therapists help people move on in their lives. Yes, very helpful in therapy, but not much use if you’re trying to pass exams.

2 – Type your notes.

Type in lectures, type anything and everything you can find!

All the research demonstrates that typing your notes for example, on your computer or your tablet, uses ‘shallower processing’. In other words, you’re actually using less of your brain to create them. Using less of your brain makes it a lot easier to forget them. Does that sound like a good idea to you?

3 – Read and reread your textbook over and over again.

And then read it one more time – for luck!

You’re going to need it! Ever been ‘revising’ but realised you’ve just read the last paragraph two or three times only to keep waking up to discover you haven’t taken a single word in…?

You already know, don’t you? It sends your brain to sleep.

4 – Grab a bunch of highlighters and colour-code your textbook.

All of it!

After all – it’s all important, isn’t it? But when you’ve managed to colour the whole lot in, how on earth are the really important bits going to stand out in your memory, among the psychedelia?

I mean, really! It’s a lot of effort to go to, for it not to work anyway.

So if you really want to shoot yourself in the proverbial foot, go ahead – fill your boots!

Otherwise…

Stop doing all the above!

Immediately!

All of these approaches are counter-productive. And yet, most people adopt one or another through not having a better way of going about it – they’re still doing what they know, rather than what works.

Key to Learning #1

Spending enough time with the information means getting involved with the information, actually manipulating the information actively. And that simply isn’t happening if you mindlessly copy, type, highlight or simply read your textbook.

So what do I mean by actively manipulating it then?

Well, you need to get involved with the information you are trying to learn.

You can do this in many ways. For example:

• You can read out loud, a section of your course manual, or the notes that you’ve made about it.
• You can act out the information you’re learning if it’s about stuff you can use in real-life situations.
• Imagine a real-life scenario or challenge where you need this information.
• Put yourself in the shoes of someone who needs this information. What do you need to tell them?
• Pretend to be delivering the information to the relevant party in an engaging manner.
• Compare the facts you’re learning now, with some other information you already know. What are the similarities and differences?
• Explain the key facts to your cat!

You need to get interested in what you’re learning. Focus on how important this information is to you and to people you know.

Think about the difference you will be making to yourself and to others by learning and understanding this material.

Make it as real and true and relevant as you can.

There are only 3 Keys to Learning. Get the hang of them and you’ll discover that learning and retaining information is a breeze.

And that’s the way to pass exams easily!