What are some tips for using quizzes for learning purposes?

Colonel Allen M. Morris

You asked, “What are some tips for using quizzes for learning purposes?”

In theory, that is exactly what a Quiz should be. It’s like looking in the mirror before you step out of the house. You know, ‘How’s my appearance?” Quizzes are a check to see if you are making progress toward the major goal. You would greatly benefit if you looked at missed questions as opportunities to learn.

Quizzes, tests, class discussions, and assignments are all feedback loops to help you measure your progress. They also serve a short-term service of reporting how you are doing to others. You know, your grades.

Grades are important and then they are useless. Grades are like the numbers on the board during a game. There is a level of importance given to them right now, but when you get to the next game, you had best bring knowledge and skills with you.

It is common for a student to lament, “Why am I failing calculus when I make an A in preCal?” No, you did not earn an A in preCal. You whined, begged, and asked for extra credit and more time. You brought your mother with you to browbeat the preCal instructor who caved and gave you an A just so that you would go away. That A you were given is useless to you in calculus.

When you take an exam and you make a perfect score on the exam, you do not discover the limit of your knowledge. You do not learn where you are weak and need to learn more. It means that you are not fully challenging yourself.

A perfect GPA earned from the minimum number of easy courses does not speak well for the student. On the other hand, good grades earned from a full load of challenging courses speaks volumes of positive things about the student.

Your GPA is just one Data Point. When anyone gives you just one Date Point, ask for other Data Points against which you can compare the one. One Data Point is a useless piece of information.

To more directly answer your question, when you miss something on an exam, research it, learn more about it, and write up a short essay on each topic that you missed. Give you collection of essays to your instructor and ask, “Do I understand it now?” Don’t demand a meeting with you instructor then, but schedule an appointment to review your newfound knowledge later. DO NOT ask for extra credit. Remain focused on mastering the information. The “Extra Credit” will show up later.

I have worked with different groups of students to research and write a book that addresses study habits. Below is a synopsis of our research.

Number 25 is the most important.

Here is an incomplete list of study tips and techniques. Pick the ones that work for you, and let us know how we can improve the list.

1. Get up early and study while your brain is fresh and uncluttered. This is what successful people do when they want to learn new material. You, however, know your brain better. You know when you can Focus and retain information better, so play to your strengths. Just know that a survey of successful people strongly supports the idea that they can Focus and that they study earlier in the day.

You can think of it this way. You must be ready to receive new information or it will not stick. When your cup is full, you can’t put in more. It spills and makes a mess. It is the same with your brain. It is freshest in the morning. Become an empty cup.

2. Do your physical and creative tasks later in the day. This is what creative people do.

3. Go to class prepared, having read the assigned material and if you are not prepared, go to class anyway. It takes the same amount of time to read the assignment before the lecture as it does after the lecture, and it helps get you ready for the lecture. You can frame your questions based on the reading. You can’t ask a book a question, but you can ask your professor. Success favors those who show up prepared.

4. When you have to read a book that is also available as an audiobook, listen to the book at 1.25 the speed and read the book at the same time. Pause the audiobook from time to time and think about what you have just read.

5. A great way to edit what you have written, which is difficult to do, is to put what you have written into some software that will read it back to you. Your mistakes will pop up like Whack-a-Mole. Your mistakes are difficult to catch when you read your own writing

6. Watch a few YouTube videos or TED talks about the topic before going to class.

7. Take notes in your own words. Taking down what the professor states verbatim does not help retain the information. A great deal of evidence supports the idea that handwriting your notes in your own words helps you learn the material as compared to typing your notes. The most important thing, however, is to put the information into your own words.

Additionally, with today’s technology, it is very easy to record your own notes in your own words and then listen to your notes in your own voice.

8. Form or join study groups and go to them prepared to discuss the material. Stay focused on the topic while in the study group. Socialize later.

9. Study in chunks. You know, 20–30 minutes on and then do no-brainer physical stuff for a few minutes that will make your life better, for example, take out the trash, walk the dog, clean something, wash your clothes, exercise. Repeat this pattern. You know your brain best. When you feel it start to slip, take a short break, but when you are in the Zone, don’t take a break just because it is break time.

10. Avoid distractions and if you can’t avoid them, learn to ignore them. This includes people who are not supporting your goals and objectives.

11. Budget your time. You have more than 100 waking hours each week. Make the best use of your time. A wasted moment can never be recaptured. The only thing that you can do with Time is to use it wisely, poorly, or somewhere between the two.

12. Don’t take twice as long to do an assignment as is necessary. Doing such will not make it twice as good. No, now you will not have that wasted time to work on other important tasks.

13. Look at every task and ask yourself, “Is it important?” and if the answer is, “No,” then don’t invest your precious time doing it. If you hesitate to answer the question, then the answer is also, “No!”

14. Do the unpleasant tasks first, saving the more pleasant ones for later. You know, save the dessert for last.

15. Clearly understand why you are in school. That is, what personal goal are you trying to achieve with your education? Let your own goal be your motivation to Keep-a-Learning. If your goal is not motivating you to act, then you need a new goal.

16. Wrap your brain around the fact that the professors are attempting to put new software in your brain every day. You do not have to figure it out; you just have to learn it. You have proven to yourself that you are capable of learning new material because you have already learned a great deal. You know, Keep-a-Learning!

17. Go to bed early and arise early and at the same time every day.

18. Eat small healthy amounts and exercise regularly.

19. If you like to party, study before you go to the parties, arrive late, have just as much fun, and then you will be ahead of the game. Additionally, if you really like to party, just think of the quality and places that you will be able to party after you have a good income.

20. Don’t focus on the grade; focus on the material and the deadlines that you need to hit in the course. You know, make a list of the papers and assignments that are due. If you do these two things, the grades will take care of themselves. The syllabus is an important checklist.

21. Go to class prepared and if you are not prepared, go to class anyway. Yes, this is in here twice because it is that important.

22. Get in the habit of being early. Your life will be much less stressful, and then when it does happen that you are late, people will say, “But s/he’s always early. Something must have happened.”

23. Surround yourself with Cheerleaders. You know, the people who lift and encourage you. Avoid the Againsters in life.

24. Discuss all of this and more with your study group and your Board of Directors…

25. Form your own Board of Directors and meet with your board a few times each year. These are the people who care about you, your future, and your success there. Prepare presentations for your board. You know, your successes, your new goals that are on the path to your main goal and define any difficulties that you are having. Seek wise counsel from your board of directors, listen, and send Thank You notes to your directors. Leave every board meeting with two things: action items and the date for the next board meeting. Your board will help you chart your course, make course corrections, and weather inevitable storms. People who listen to their boards endure fewer storms. They often find that there is a little extra wind in their sails from their board just when they need it most.

26. Become curious about the material. That way, you are satisfying your curiosity, and not just memorizing a bunch of junk to forget tomorrow. Go for a deeper understanding of the information. Material that you find interesting is difficult to forget. Not every piece of information is equally important, but you don’t know which pieces of information are the most important, so learn as much as you can from your professors. If it feels like you are studying, then you are doing it wrong. If it feels forced, then you are not making the connection. When you understand how the information will be used to support your hopes, goals, and dreams, then you Get It and it will not feel like you are studying; it will feel like you are filling your toolbag with valuable instruments.

27. The person covering the course is not your only resource. The person who wrote the book normally knows much more than the person who is attempting to help others learn the material, so read the book. Many times, the authors are available for questions via email. Also, get to know your teachers or professors, they really are there to help you be better than you are.

28. Really try to learn what the professor says is important. You are there to learn from the Master. A great way to impress your professors is to be eager to learn from them rather than spouting off about how much you know. In other words, you can really impress people with your ears better than with your tongue.

29. When you have to attend a lecture that you find boring, work hard to see how this newfound information will support your goals beyond school. It is there and you will find it when you look for it.

30. Know that getting started is the difficult part, so trick yourself into getting started. That is, as soon as the assignment has been made, start by first making a budget for the task. In writing, define what the finished task will look like (the goal). Put your due date at the top, too; not the professor’s due date but your due date that is before the professor’s. Then, make a list of the subtasks to be completed. Beside each subtask, put a time estimate. Then, Poofta! you have started. You have done a difficult step. Reward yourself with a short physical productive break that will make your life better, e.g., take out the trash, clean something, take a shower, walk the dog or exercise. Then return to your budget, set a timer, race the clock, and complete the subtask. Then, reward yourself with another productive break. Complete this process until you have finished the major task on time and on budget. The more that you do this, the better your life will be, and

31. Know that success is not a destination; Success is a lifestyle. If you want to be successful later, you must be successful now. Success begets success. Don’t just go to school to graduate or make good grades. Go to school to Thrive on the other side of graduation and for the rest of your life.

32. Look at missed questions as opportunities to learn. Research what you missed, write a short essay about what you now know, give your short essay(s) to your professor, and ask, “Do I understand it now?” Do not ask for extra credit. It will show up later.

33. Schedule time to study just like you schedule time to be in class.

34. Try to solve or learn things first. Then seek help. Others will be more willing to help you when they know that you have tried first. It will also help you learn the new material faster from the other person. It maximizes the other person’s time. Don’t waste the other person’s time, and finally,

This next piece of information is not really a study tip but a school-related tip. Your teachers are gatekeepers, and this is invisible to you. You will not be privy to the requests that your professors get from employers wanting to interview you. You do not want to be the second person that comes to mind when such a request is made. Get to know your teachers and professors. They really are there to help.

If you would like to see the longer version of this work, send a note to me through the Quora Messenger App and we will take it from there.

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