Testing Strategies and Schenanigans

What comes to mind when you think about tests? Is it the weekly COVID-19 spit tests, with the all-too-familiar tubes, funnels, and straws? Is it boring, rote memorization, cramming information just to forget about it right after? Or is it the dreaded biology essay you've put off until the night it's due?

Either way, I'm here to discuss my philosophies on tests and test-taking strategies. 

Tests are great at measuring one thing (and one thing only): very basic understanding. If you're good at remembering things, you'll probably be able to repeat things on tests. However, this isn't too good when it comes to cumulative assessments, as you may be stumbling to remember the specifics of a lesson from five months ago. For example, you may know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, but what does that really mean?

I find it helpful to form connections between terms and concepts. As someone who has the memory of a hamster, it's hard for me to do well on tests based solely on terms and definitions. How do I study for tests?

The answer is lots of practice. I've found it much more helpful to know why something happens, or how it occurs.  It's almost like learning backward, starting with the big concepts, then working into the specifics. Because you're dealing with the big ideas first, each subtopic reinforces the bigger ideas. Once you're in the nitty-gritty of things, the concepts connecting them act as a firm foundation for everything else. Now, on a test, if you're asked something specific but aren't sure of the answer, work backward again. Start with the big labels and categories. Imagine your knowledge of a subject is a tree, and you're going back to the root, tracing a path to a specific leaf. Instead of trying to remember every individual leaf, take a step back and look at the whole tree, noting the connections between general topics and specifics.

For example, let's go back to the mitochondria example. What does it do? Stop. Remember the strategy we just went over. Go to the bigger picture. The mitochondria is part of a eukaryotic cell. Eukaryotes have special membrane-bound organelles that perform specific functions. The mitochondria is one of those membrane-bound organelles, and it makes energy, in the form of ATP. It's where aerobic cellular respiration takes place. 

Now this might be a lot to remember, but it helps my brain logically organize information in a way that's (in my opinion) easier to process. If you think this method is interesting, try it out! Let me know if it helps, and thanks for reading!

- Bruce