Preparing for Finals: Effective Study Strategy or Not?
The last week of each semester, Jesuit students gather for finals. They take lengthy exams, complete projects, and seize the last chance to solidify their grades. At Jesuit, finals are a necessary part of preparing for college, but let’s face it: they can be challenging and stressful.
When asked about their hardest finals from the previous year, two seniors and a sophomore said math, two juniors said physics, and another junior said Hebrew-Christian scripture.
With these demanding tests on the horizon, it is important to be prepared and plan ahead. Reliable study methods are crucial for this important week to come.
Finals are meant to challenge you, but it is not impossible to do well on them. Jesuit students were asked the methods they found successful when studying for finals, and Mrs. Hermann, Jesuit’s learning strategist, gave her opinion on whether she finds them useful or not.
The first strategy, taking practice tests, was used by the sophomore to prepare for their math final. Mrs. Hermann believes this would be a helpful strategy if the student can replicate the different aspects of the exam. For instance, taking practice tests in a quiet, timed environment, with only the notecard or materials the student will be allowed to use on the actual final would provide the best practice. Mrs. Hermann notes the importance of combining all units onto the practice test. She would ask students to reflect: “Are you pulling one from just one chapter, or is it accumulative? Does it represent all the different problem types from over the semester?”
Another approach, creating and practicing with flashcards, was used by the junior on their physics final. Mrs. Hermann would highly recommend using paper notecards. In fact, she finds this to be the most effective method of all. She does, however, find Quizlet flashcards to be less helpful.
“Just the actual putting your pencil to the note card is going to help create memory. I do think it's a stronger way to build memory. Also the retrieval— doing that out loud— is stronger for test taking,” Mrs. Hermann explained. Hand-writing flashcards and using them to practice active recalling is a valuable study skill. She notes that the CLARC has lots of free notecards for students that would like to use them to study.
A different method, used by a junior to prepare for the same physics final, was teaching what they knew to someone else.
“If you can teach what you've just learned to someone else, then you have mastery,” Mrs. Hermann believes.
Sharing ideas about a topic proves thorough knowledge, and explaining it out loud can help a student commit it to memory. Teaching someone else could be useful to try once a student feels confident and prepared for their exam, but wants an extra boost of confidence and clarity. It may not be as strategic if a student is just trying to initially conceptualize the ideas.
In contrast, the other junior tried rewriting their study guide, specifically in blue ink, to prepare for a scripture final. The student read online that blue ink would increase memory, but Mrs. Hermann says rewriting will be just as beneficial in any color of ink.
“I think any ink you want to do it in is great, as long as you're not distracted by … art instead of, you know, being productive with the content,” said Hermann. Overall, Mrs. Hermann approves of this method. She recommends that students can even copy their study guide onto flashcards to combine two strategies.
On the other hand, one of the seniors watched YouTube videos that explained the topics in order to prepare for their math final. Mrs. Hermann finds this can be a beneficial strategy for students who need help understanding concepts.
“It's really a version of tutoring, and I think YouTube and Khan Academy are great resources,” said Hermann. These videos are often easily accessible and can help clarify content for students as they prepare for tests.
For the final strategy, for their math final, the last senior tried re-reading all of their class slides and notes to prepare. Mrs. Hermann believes that this is not a valuable study strategy.
“That's pretty passive. It can build a false sense of mastery,” she said. Unfortunately, many students may feel that they are truly focusing when reviewing material, but unless there is a recall aspect involved, the method will not be as effective.
Along with these strategies, Mrs. Hermann suggests some strategies of her own: the use of Notebook LM and interleaving. Notebook LM is an online application where a student can upload their notes, and the information will be turned into a podcast-like format that the student can listen to.
“I love that application because it's only relying on what you feed it,” said Mrs. Hermann.
She also notes the importance of interleaving when studying. This is the process of studying material, letting the brain forget it, then coming back to relearn it. This process commits the information to the student’s long-term memory, which is necessary for recalling the information on the day of the exam.
“It's the reteaching, that productive struggle, that helps you get a concept into long-term memory,” she said.
As finals week approaches, mastering these strategies will not only help students succeed at Jesuit, but will also prepare them for the academic demands of college.
The most important strategy for taking a final exam is preparing yourself. No matter which method you use, it is important to put in the work to feel confident on the big day. As Mrs. Hermann said, “If you want to bring down your anxiety, don't look for a shortcut. You're going to have to do the work.”
