- Published: September 28, 2022
- Updated: September 28, 2022
- University / College: University of Technology Sydney
- Level: Secondary School
- Language: English
- Downloads: 32
Why flunking exams is actually a good thing: A summary Why flunking exams is actually a good thing: A summary If it happened that by mistake, a person got the final exam questions in the email on the first course day, then the person would automatically ensure that they understood the whole bit of the exam before the final test day, and ensure they passed. On the other hand, if the exam was the wrong one, the person would curse throughout the paper, confused and not sure what to do.
This is the theory behind pretesting, something that has proven to improve the brain a lot.
The article suggests that testing is amongst the best way to remember what one learns in class. The theory has been proven by examples from a test done by Arthur Gates about the importance of learning and reciting. Spitzer also did a similar test that proved that Gates’ reciting was a form of a self-test that ensured good results.
A further experiment on the importance of pretests was done by Bjork who suggested that the test force some kind of thinking into the brain that would not have been easy to get without the test at first. With a test, the fluency of the mind is improved and one tends to get the right answers.
A biological explanation has been given that tries to distinguish remembering and learning. The latter is harder as there are various sets of information that need to be associated. Pretesting assists in bringing about the associations. Pretesting, however, applies where one has familiar concepts and cannot take place in a languages class.
Reference
Carey, B. (Sep. 4, 2014). Why flunking exams is actually a good thing. New York Times
