Learning for STEM Exams

Identify learning priorities with practice exams

Why this works: You only have so much time to prepare, so itʼs essential to address the most important information early on. A practice exam can be a great assessment tool to help you uncover your priorities.
How to do it: Five to seven days before the test, create a sheet with two columns titled “Confident” and “Not Confident.” Do a practice test without reviewing your notes, noting in the Confident/Not Confident table what your strengths and weaknesses are. Use that information to plan what you most need to study.

Why this works: The best way to easily and quickly pair the correct procedure with a problem is to have to think of the procedure with every problem you do, rather than doing ten in a row with the same basic procedure.
How to do it: Mix up the problems from different problem sets in random order. Pro Tip: Do this first with problems from your “Not Confident” column!

Why this works: Youʼll have an easier time with those never-before-seen problems on the test if you know the concepts and procedures so well you can teach them.
How to do it: Write down a couple of questions youʼd like to be asked about key concepts. Ask a classmate, friend, or family member to ask you those questions. Explain as if you were the instructor. Jot down what you struggle with, so you remember to learn it later.

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Learning for STEM Exams

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