A common misconception is that midterms were invented to police students. Professors and TAs don’t write in all those corrections to shame you or to make you feel bad, however; they’re trying to help you. These marked midterms are invaluable learning aids. They’ll help you ace future tests and exams, if you let them.
Here’s a short check-list to go through with your marked midterms, tests, and quizzes, to make sure that you get the most out of the experience, and that you learn everything that you can for the next set of tests.
Make sure that you take every opportunity to learn, and make every opportunity in university meaningful. Another great strategy is to consult experts. Before you write your final exams, check out Prep101.
Here’s a short check-list to go through with your marked midterms, tests, and quizzes, to make sure that you get the most out of the experience, and that you learn everything that you can for the next set of tests.
- Give yourself a day or two if you need it. If you have trouble coping with the red ink on your test paper, then take it home with you and give yourself a short break. Don’t give leave it too long, however, because you want to learn from the corrections as the questions are still fresh in your memory.
- Re-read all questions first. Look through the exam in its entirety. Skim through it as if you’re going to write it again. This will get you in problem solving mode, and will help learn from your mistakes.
- Read through your attempts and look through the corrections. Go through each question and solution line by line and make sure that you understand what went wrong, and what the professors or TAs are trying to teach you.
- Try the questions again, without looking at the solutions. Make sure you really understand the corrections by trying the questions again on your own. Can you recreate the solutions? Make sure that you internalize what the professors and TAs are trying to teach.
- Get clarification if you still have questions. Sometimes, the corrections aren’t enough, and the solutions still aren’t clear. You’ll need to understand the concepts deeply, because the rest of the term builds on this knowledge, and the questions might pop up on the final exam next. Talk to classmates, ask the professors or TAs until you understand them.
- Think critically about your strategy in the course. Now that you’ve looked through the marked exam, do you think that you prepared wisely? Do you think you should change your strategy? Decide if you need to work through more questions, visit the profs in office hours more often, go to more study groups, etc.
- Think strategically about the midterm. Evaluate the test itself to really see how your professor put it together. Did it consist mainly of information from the lectures? Were there questions from readings? Did the review lectures give meaningful hints? What should you have asked before writing the test? This information will help you to prepare for the final exam.
Make sure that you take every opportunity to learn, and make every opportunity in university meaningful. Another great strategy is to consult experts. Before you write your final exams, check out Prep101.
