Practice testing is giving yourself a question or prompt, and forcing yourself to remember the answer without looking at a solution. Here\u2019s some examples:<\/p>\n
In many classes, practice testing is simple: do the problem sets, homework questions and inline questions in the textbook.<\/p>\n
If you lack a lot of pre-made questions, you can make your own. While taking notes in class or reading a textbook, leave a sidebar to rewrite important points as questions which would force you to remember the answer. Then, when you\u2019re studying, cover up the actual notes and ask yourself the questions in the margins.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re outside of a traditional learning environment, you can still benefit from practice. While language learning this past year, I used programs like Anki, grammar exercises, and listening drills. Of course, this was all in addition to speaking and using the language in real situations\u2013the best kind of practice.<\/p>\n
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Practice testing can look different in different contexts, so how do you know whether your studying activities are helping you?<\/p>\n
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if it\u2019s possible to be wrong while studying. If you can\u2019t be wrong\u2013the activity isn\u2019t practice testing and should be treated with some caution.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t spend all of my time on practice testing. Generally there has to be some explanation read, heard or seen before you can test yourself. Attending lectures or reading textbooks will take up a chunk of your time.<\/p>\n
Secondly, there are a whole assortment of other learning tactics that can supplement practice quite effectively. Combining Anki flashcards with image association is more powerful for remembering vocabulary than sheer repetition. Combining problem sets with the Feynman technique can break through obstacles in understanding faster.<\/p>\n
The key is to view practice as being the foundation, with mnemonics, visualization, self-explanation and analogy-crafting as the special sauce.<\/p>\n
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Why is practice testing so valuable?<\/p>\n
There are likely many reasons, but a big reason is the difference between recognition and recall.<\/p>\n
Recognition is the ability to notice something is familiar. Seeing the physics equation F = ma<\/em>, after reading about it previously, will probably make you nod your head, \u201cAh yes, that\u2019s one of the laws of motion.\u201d Seeing that chien<\/em>=> dog in your French textbook gives you that feeling that you knew that all along.<\/p>\n Recall is a harder ability which is being able to produce the answer with only a prompt. It means knowing that F = ma<\/em> is the right equation to solve the problem. It means, while traveling in France, being able to remember the word for dog when you want to get one off your leg.<\/p>\n When you do practice testing, your strengthening your ability to recall, not just recognize, information.<\/p>\n \u2014-<\/p>\n Another reason practice testing is so valuable is that it gives you feedback. Many of the ineffective studying methods found by the research I mentioned above, lack any mechanism for feedback.<\/p>\n This feedback matters because it keeps you aware of the effectiveness of your own learning approach. Rereading a textbook can be boring, and occasionally confusing, but it rarely has sharp feedback as to whether you understand the material. As long as you can process the text, you never know which things you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Practice testing immediately tells you what you\u2019ve forgotten or misunderstood. That information can then be fed into more specialized techniques to shore up weaknesses.<\/p>\n For example, the Feynman technique is an excellent method for understanding hard ideas. However, it also can be fairly slow, particularly if you apply it rigorously to every idea you cover. But, if you use it specifically on the ideas that you still aren\u2019t getting, despite several practice questions, you now have a specialized tool to combat confusing ideas.<\/p>\n Or imagine taking a legal class and being presented with a tremendous volume of information. Here mnemonics and metaphors can be powerful tools to remember the ideas. But the information might simply be too much to efficiently apply those methods on every idea you encounter. Instead, spend half your time self-testing and then use those techniques deliberately on anything that you forgot after the first pass.<\/p>\n I did this when learning Chinese. Using Anki, I covered thousands of flashcards and nearly 2000 characters in just a couple of months. I made a rule that whenever I forgot a card I previously learned, I would use the visual method to link it. This saved me time on doing it for every case, and focused me only on the ones where I was most likely to forget.<\/p>\n \u2014-<\/p>\n How can you make use of practice testing to learn faster?<\/p>\n Once again, I\u2019m going to give you a short homework assignment to start implementing this right away. We\u2019re going to build off of the material from yesterday and now use both of the tactics to learn better.<\/p>\n