Some of the commonest questions we get from our students include;
- How do I study for my exams?
- How can I memorize fast and study?
- How do I find answers to exam questions?
- How do I get answers to my assignment or homework questions?
- Are past exams the best way to study?
Many of these questions are coming from students who are looking for answers to an age-old problem; the most effective way to prepare for exams and assignments. Many are not sure whether they can use past exams to study and revise effectively. So, what is the best study method for exams? What is the best form of studying?
It turns out science already has an answer to all these questions. There are scientifically proven methods that can help you study, revise and prepare for your exams.
Did you know that science has long discovered there are learning styles and study strategies that help you absorb information better? Just because you look at your books and notes during exam revision doesn’t mean it will stay in your brain. Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.
Humans are incredibly forgetful, which is why we need learning strategies to help us cement information in our brains.
If you answer No to any of the questions below, you are among the few students who are strategic with their studies.
Do you want to fail your exams?
Do you want to resit for exams you have already done?
Do you want to repeat a year simply because your exams have gone disastrously?
A No to any of the questions above implies you are strategic. And that’s very good.
If you want to improve your grades and achieve high marks at school, you need to be strategic.
That means, ditching the cramming notes, highlighter, and the constant re-reading of the same textbooks.
There are more fun and engaging ways of preparing for your exam. Repetition isn’t one of them.
You need new exam preparation and study strategies. One such exam preparation strategy scientists advocate for is called Retrieval Practice (also known as ‘the testing effect). This refers to any activity that forces you to produce an answer to a known question.
There are many ways of study that are based on the use of Retrieval Practice. Some of them include flashcards, past exam papers and practice tests, multiple choice questions, essay answers, teaching others, and even shouting!
If you have ever found yourself using any of these methods as a study tool, you were being very strategic with your studies.
Let’s make one thing clear. Retrieval practice is not repetition. Reading the same point over and over again until you memorize it isn’t it. Repetition is easy.
Retrieval practice is a learning style that requires students to get an answer to a question for revision. Science recommends it as one of the most effective revision strategies for student revision.
But how can you use Retrieval Practice to help you revise?
Revise using past papers
If you have ever found yourself revising for an exam or assignment using a past exam paper or assignment, you were effectively using Retrieval Practice. Exam preparation using past papers is a very effective and accessible way of using the retrieval practice method to revise for assignments.
Exam questions in each paper are often similar across years, so you can predict what’s to come. Past exam questions are often an indicator of future exam questions, so exam preparation based on past papers means you revise something specific to the exams you will be taking.
Since past exam questions are often reused or rephrased for future use, they are often a good practice round to understand topics and subjects specific to the exams you will be taking, instead of revising using general study materials.
One of the most common revision methods our students use is going through our exam and academic papers of the last 3 years on a given subject or topic, writing down key concepts that keep reappearing over and over again. Rather than cramming an entire book or highlighting everything at once, you simply go through past exam papers, looking for core concepts related to your subject.
Once you have identified all the key concepts that keep appearing in past exams or academic papers for the last 3 years, it is these common concepts that you want to focus on. Of course, it is not guaranteed that the key concepts you have identified in our past exam papers will be asked as exam questions in your exam, but they’re your safest bet, and as long as you use such study materials to revise, your chances of improving your grades will be very high.
This is because by revising using past exams or assignment papers – many of them available on the 123 Writing platform– you will be deploying the retrieval practice method, using study materials and revision content that is directly relevant to your studies and exams. Past exam questions and answers are simply the most effective and best source of excellence-worthy exam content to use for exam preparation and revision. In short, exam preparation using past exams with answers is one of the most effective ways to prepare for exams.
Revise using past essay answers
If you are currently revising for an essay assignment, academic paper, coursework, or exam, past answers are also a good way of preparing. This is because revision using study materials based on past essay answers can help students synthesize numerous pieces of information into coherent learning prose and analysis, which has been shown to improve memory retention of study materials compared to merely recalling isolated facts.
Research shows that the more you do with information, the more likely you are to recall it. Going through a past essay answer related to a current essay assignment or coursework will not only help you synthesize new information and ways of answering your own essay assignment, but it’s a perfect way of practicing applying your own knowledge while getting a different perspective from a past essay answer, even though the essay questions are not 100% similar.
Many of our past essays and past academic papers have already been marked and come graded with real marks from various universities, so using them to revise for your upcoming exam or assignment paper will give you a clue to assess what you need to realistically do to achieve similar marks.
Another reason why you should use our past papers in your revision is that most are free and accessible as long as you are registered. Our basic subscription package gives free access to many past exam papers with answers.
Unlike some of our competitors who ask that you upload 10 documents in order to get access to study materials, which many times are not even the correct ones you want, we write and own our study materials. The Unlock Document System used by many of our competitors is wasteful as it will waste your money unlocking one document after another in order to finally get one that is useful to you, wasting valuable money and time on documents that are many times not just wrong answers but are often even mislabeled.
We don’t use wrong answers uploaded by other users that are desperate for access. We write our own study materials here at 123Writing, rather than relying on documents uploaded by random people. We own all our study materials and have exclusive rights to them, which means the quality standards of our study materials never depend on uploads by random people.
Getting answers to any exam, assignment, or homework question
Our exam preparation service also includes answering any exam question with a custom answer, study notes explaining the answer, and a study plan, saving you time to prepare for the real thing, later.
For many students, revising for an exam often simply starts with using our past exam answers to make notes, or highlight key information. If you have a specific exam question you want answered, we can also help with answering exam questions for exam revision and test preparation. Once you get the personalised exam answer to your exam question, simply make notes, memorize key concepts and themes using our exam study pack and revision notes that accompany all personalised exam answers.
Our exam preparation study packs and revision notes are short, brief, and concise, to keep revision sessions short, fun and productive for you, rather than bogging you down in hours and hours of overly long revision using textbooks. The human brain can only remain focused for so long without getting distracted and switching off.
Our exam preparation and revision study pack includes the following;
- Ask any exam question. Get matched with an expert writer. Writer writes quality explanation & answer with exam revision study notes explaining key concepts to help you learn and understand.
- Alternatively, browse past exam questions with answers. Use them as a good practice round to understand topics and subjects specific to the exams you will be taking, instead of revising using general study materials.
How confident are you that you will pass your next exam?
Use our exam and test preparation service to pass with flying colours and improve your grades. Our exam preparation service includes 1) using our past exams to revise, or 2) using our writing service to get personalized custom answers to any exam question.
