Compared to foreign
countries, it’s natural for our way of living to differ significantly. Our
clothing, food, beliefs, languages, and values -- they all have some or many
differences. Another aspect that a lot of us don’t notice is the strategies and
methods that we employ for studying and exam preparation.
Whether you’re a
matric/intermediate or O/A’ Levels student, chances are that your methods for
studying are more or less the same as everyone else in Pakistan. And, after
watching all these foreign movies and TV shows, we begin to wonder:
What is it exactly that
makes education in other countries so different from our own?
Because of
globalization, the definition and concept of education are quite the same all
over the world. STEM subjects, arts, literature, and all the other educational
fields are studied in every country. This means that the difference lies in how
we study instead of what we study.
Here are some of the
most common study strategies used abroad that can also be used by
matric/intermediate students in Pakistan:
1. Elaborative
interrogation
Elaborative interrogation, according to The
Learning Scientists, is the method of asking “how” and “why” questions (to yourself or
a teacher). Finding out the answers to these questions clarifies the most
crucial parts of a given topic. This study strategy has grown more popular
after modern educational research, especially in Western countries.
2. Interleaving
practice
Although this method is used to a certain extent in Pakistan too,
interleaving practice is mixing, or arranging, topics/subjects to study
in a manner that lets learners change their pace of studying. For example, a
student will switch to Urdu from mathematics after a few hours of studying the
subject. From what research shows, this strategy helps learners retain
knowledge better. In fact, research tells us that interleaving practice is helpful for mathematics.
3. Practice
testing
A highly common and popular method of studying, even in Pakistan,
practice testing is another term for pre-testing. It involves testing yourself
with questions during exam preparation or after finishing a chapter. A lot of
students, both locally and abroad, use past papers to study, which is
what practice testing is.
4. Self-explanation
Explaining a given topic or subject to yourself as if you are
teaching someone else is an effective method of studying. It’s quite simple,
and chances are that you have already been using it throughout your student
life in matric or intermediate.
While it’s likely that
there are many other methods that students are using abroad in their studies,
the 4 study strategies mentioned above are scientifically proven to be
effective. If you want to improve the level of your exam preparation and
year-long studies, you need to think beyond simply rote-memorizing the material
written in book keys or low-quality solved past papers.
Using your traditional
studying materials like solved past papers and book notes can be highly
productive if you use advanced methods of studying. Good luck!
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