Yes, You Should Take a Test

One of the big mantras around Academic Approach is "Take a practice test." We really believe that these tests are as important as the teaching we provide. Taking a test is the best way to prepare yourself for...well, the test.

Now there is scientific data to back it up. A new article in the Journal Science, as reported in the New York Times, claims that people who take a test about what they have just read retain up to 50 percent more of that information a week later than people who just study notes. 

So instead of just trying to memorize what you have written down, maybe it would be better to create a test for yourself. If there are questions at the end of a chapter in your textbook, you would be better off answering those questions than making flash cards for an hour so you could passively stare at them. 

Get Rid of that Text Anxiety

Finally. A University of Chicago study focused on ways students can relieve themselves of test anxiety, a top score-killer for hard working students who did their work.

In short, students who took 10 minutes before the test to write about what aspects of taking the test worry them most (failing, how it affects other things, forgetting key concepts) wound up performing better on the test than those students with text anxiety who didn't journal such thoughts prior to taking the test.