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238 CHAPTER 10to study, one student remarks that he only plans to study his notes,
because he heard that the instructor stresses lecture notes over text-
book readings; a second student states that she hopes much of the test
comes from the textbook, because she did not take many notes and
has difficulty understanding the notes she took; a third student men-
tions that she plans to review the summary section of each chapter of
the book and read through her notes a few times.
Students use a variety of study strategies for exam preparation.
These strategies lead to different levels of success. In general, it is dif-
ficult to become a successful student by selectively studying course
material. Yes, at times, some students will correctly predict the ques-
tions on an exam, but at other times, they will have wished they took
a different approach. My advice is to approach exam preparation with
the notion that all relevant content will be reviewed. In this way, you
will be prepared no matter what the instructor asks on an exam.
Sometimes a student can acquire some valuable tips from friends
about exam preparation. However, students’ comments also can neg-
atively impact self-confidence if a student assumes that other students
better understand the content or know more about exam preparation.
Although it is helpful to discuss the content or even study with class-
mates, be sure to develop your own plan for success on an exam.
Each year I hear the following comment (although in different forms):
“I can’t believe this grade, I studied so hard!” or “I thought I really
knew this stuff, I can’t believe I didn’t do well on the exam!” Remem-
ber the term—the illusion of knowing—introduced in chapter 2? The
term describes the fact that some students think they know something
when they really do not. Such an illusion occurs when students do
not accurately test their knowledge to determine whether or not they
understand and can recall the necessary content. Unfortunately, they
wait for feedback from the instructor, who grades the exam, to find
out whether or not they learned the material. An important aspect of
exam preparation is to learn how to self-assess one’s understanding
of the course content. The primary method of self-assessment is pre-
dicting and answering questions. Simply stated: If a student does not
generate and answer questions during study sessions, he or she is not
adequately preparing for an exam!
Remember the discussion of the information-processing system, in
chapter 2? The goal of learning is to move material into long-term mem-
ory, where it can be stored for retrieval. This goal can best be reached
by using elaboration and organizational strategies rather than rehearsal
strategies. Therefore, students who only use reciting, recopying, or
rereading (i.e., rehearsal strategies) may have difficulty recalling infor-
mation or answering higher level questions during an exam. An impor-
tant goal of this chapter is to encourage students to use a variety of study
strategies appropriate for the different types of questions asked on exams.