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Had a bad day?
If an exam fails, it is usually due to other reasons, says our columnist
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If students do poorly on an exam, the reasons for the disaster are often found quickly: too little time, too difficult questions, poor form on the day.
But such excuses usually have nothing to do with the real causes.
Usually there are completely different reasons behind a failed exam.
Of course, every exam situation is individual.
Nevertheless, there are patterns that I often see in students.
Errors during exam preparation are the cause of stressful learning and poor grades in every semester.
The good news, however, is that these mechanisms can be turned off - once you've figured out what to do with them.
These tips will help you with that.
You don't know the basics
In the first semesters, students are overwhelmed with basic knowledge.
Almost every degree program is structured in such a way that exactly three things are taught at the beginning: basics, basics and basics.
But these subject-specific tools are often forgotten as soon as specializations and specialist seminars can be chosen.
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Unfortunately, it is precisely these basics that are the foundation of a successful exam - even in later semesters.
If you as a law student cannot master the expert opinion, as an engineering student you cannot convert units, or as a budding sociologist you are still afraid of statistics, you should urgently take action.
You have to master the basics if you want to pass your exams more confidently and better.
So dig out your old documents again and refresh your knowledge regularly.
The effort will be worth it.
You use a hammer for every problem
I know a lot of students who prepare every exam with the same strategy: first they summarize the lecture, then they create index cards, then they memorize the cards. Always the same. For every exam. There is a well-known saying: "If you only have one hammer, every problem looks like a nail to you." Which means something like: If you only have the solution for a certain problem, you run the risk of using this solution for all problems - even if it doesn't fit at all.
You should avoid this when preparing for the exam.
Stop using the same learning technique over and over again without thinking.
Instead, ask yourself: does it make sense?
Can I possibly learn the material in a different way?
In this case, is a mind map better than index cards?
Put the hammer aside and see which tools are still in your toolbox.
You don't know what you don't know
In my counseling sessions, I keep seeing students who are completely surprised after an exam about what was asked.
Either because they set different priorities during preparation or because the relevant exam topics were not on the screen.
These blind spots usually occur when the subject matter has not been properly penetrated and processed.
Because before you can learn and understand something, you first have to know what exactly it is.
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Studying more successfully: Finally, an end to last-minute learningA guest article by Tim Reichel
Make it clear to yourself at an early stage which steps you have to go through during your exam preparation: What main and sub-topics are there?
How are the individual areas linked?
How is the lecture structured?
What other materials are there?
Only when you know what you (yet) do not know can you change something about this state.
It is best to create a learning plan so that you do not overlook any important content.
You're not taking an acid test
You have repeated all of the lecture material and followed every exercise.
Every chapter from the script is right and you have even read some additional background information.
All well and good.
However, there is one thing to keep in mind: your exam will be different.
And mostly it gets even harder.
That's why you should undergo an acid test at the end of your preparation phase.
Put the knowledge you have learned to the test, solve old exam tasks or answer tricky questions about the subject matter.
And for a while and without looking at your documents.
Your endurance test must take place under exam-like conditions.
This is the only way to prepare yourself mentally for the challenge and determine whether you are up to the pressure.
You can also see how good your content preparation really is - and where you still have room for improvement.
Conclusion
If you no longer want to stay below your options for your university exams, you should take a critical look at the preparation time. The real causes of poor results are often hidden at this stage. The four sources of error from above give you initial clues as to what you should pay attention to and what things you can do differently in the future. Even small adjustments can lead to significant improvements. Even if the daily form fluctuates a little.