If you are a student, then I am sure you have some exam or the other that you are aiming to excel at, be it Boards, school exams, or competitive exams like JEE, NEET, NTSE etc. Now, while all these exams are very different from each other, right from their syllabus to the paper pattern, there is one thing that is common to all these exams. And that one thing is – that all these exams are very competitive. And how can we say that? Because of two main things –
- All these exams are taken by lakhs of students
- The students prepare for months or even years for these exams
Now understandably, all this must sound very scary. But we are here to tell you that one of the biggest parts of studying effectively, is knowing what to do when.
A lot of students write to us, asking for a study plan, and this is exactly what a study plan does, it tells you what to do when. A great study plan doesn’t only accommodate the study of all topics followed by their revision. It also leaves a lot of time for practice.
Regular and systematic practice is one of the main things that separates toppers from other students. Note here that deliberate, planned practice is not the same as rote repetition. Rote repetition — simply repeating a task — will not by itself improve your performance. Deliberate practice involves attention, rehearsal and repetition and leads to new knowledge or skills. Although other factors such as pre-acquired knowledge and motivation also affect performance, practice is also equally necessary for acquiring expertise.
While practice is important in every field, in the field of academics , practice has a very important role to play.
- Practice greatly increases the likelihood that students will permanently remember new information
- Practice also increases students’ ability to apply what they have studied
- Regular practice enables students to solve more and more complex problems. It helps students acquire expertise in subject matter
Make sure that for every concept you study, you keep enough time for practice and testing.
Remember that there is no limit to growth. There is no level where you’re “too good to practice.” There’s always another level!
It has also been scientifically proven that reviews and tests are forms of practice that can improve learning. Tests (or quizzes) that are given immediately after a learning exercise give children opportunities to practice.
As humans, we have two types of memory: short-term memory and long-term memory. With short-term memory, information is stored in the brain, and it is easy to retrieve, but what is placed there often does not ‘stick’ for very long. In other words, we run the risk of losing the information. With long-term memory, though, the information is stored in another area of the brain, and even though it may take a bit longer for us to call up sometimes, it is there for good. We don’t lose it.
We all understand that its not possible for someone to recall everything that they have studied. Practicing is the only way to do it. We understand that learning something new is not easy – it means being clumsy at it initially and making mistakes. But success is all about not giving up, and trying again!