How NOT to Pass Your Exams!
Last updated on January 20th, 2020 at 6:11 am
Do you know how to learn? Of course, you do!! But do you know how to learn the sort of stuff you get in the classroom? Most people have never been taught and most people still haven’t happened upon a strategy that works. Here, we highlight some revision strategies that aren’t so helpful as you strive for exam success.
Written by Lysette Offley
So, you wouldn’t be alone if you’ve been reading and rereading your textbook until you send your brain to sleep. Maybe instead you’ve been highlighting your textbook so enthusiastically that there’s barely any white page left, and you can no longer see the wood for the trees.
Perhaps you’re someone who likes to type notes up beautifully into a word document, using a computer?
Hmm… Research demonstrates that this strategy puts your brain on autopilot. Comfortably numb, Pink Floyd would call it… Is there anybody in there?
Short answer – Nope!
Is this you?
Do you copy out every word of your textbook, more and more anxious about the time it’s taking?
Have you ever attempted to follow someone else’s advice, and found that it doesn’t seem to work for you.
At all?
Maybe you’ve looked for answers at the library or in a bookshop but have despaired when all the advice seems to be nothing more than well, literally, party tricks. “How to remember names at a cocktail party” for example, instead of how to absorb the sort of material you’re dealing with in your financial exams.
Here’s another thing people try
Have you too, trawled the Internet, trying to make sense of all the information available, still unable to make it fit what you need, wasting a lot of time and making you feel utterly overwhelmed?
Maybe you’ve attempted to learn everything in one go, giving up your weekends or holiday time to do so? Do you frantically work late into the night before an exam, hoping to sit it the following day, before everything’s evaporated?
How did that go for you? Not well, I expect.
You know, most people find that they’re spending far too much time revising, and still forgetting as fast as they’re learning.
Which #revision strategy is yours? If you’re using any of these common strategies, then it's time to find a better way. Share on X
Which strategy is yours?
If you’re using any of these common strategies, then you already know that they don’t work. The problem is, if you don’t have an alternative, you don’t have much choice!
And what you say to yourself when you’re struggling, and other people seem to sail through their exams? I bet you’re not very kind!
When it seems that nothing you do makes any difference, many people start believing they just don’t cut the mustard and that they’re destined for mediocrity. Some resign themselves to endless rounds of resits and frustration.
Either way, I bet at times, you’ve felt as though you’re at the end of your tether and have decided you’ve simply got to find a better strategy – one that actually works. For you.
Did you know that with the right learning strategy you can halve the amount of time you spend revising for each exam? You can pass any exam the first time, with the best grades you’ve ever achieved.
How?
Read the Genius Material articles on this website. It’s all there!
