Self-testing techniques for exam preparation

Remember that panicked feeling when you’re staring at an exam paper and your mind goes completely blank? I sure do. It was my sophomore year biology final, and despite spending weeks highlighting textbooks and rewriting notes in pretty colors, I found myself frozen when faced with a question about cellular respiration. I’d “recognized” the information during my review sessions, but I couldn’t actually retrieve it when it mattered.

That experience taught me what cognitive scientists have known for decades: there’s a huge difference between recognizing information and actually being able to recall it. It’s the difference between seeing a familiar face at a party and remembering their name when you need to introduce them to someone. This realization completely transformed how I approach learning—both as a student and now as an educator.

Why Rereading Isn't Learning

We’ve all been there—cracking open a textbook, highlighting passages in neon yellow, reading our notes until the words feel familiar. It feels productive, doesn’t it? The pages become colorful, the notes get neater, and we develop a comforting sense of familiarity with the material. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: that familiarity is often mistaken for mastery.

The research is startlingly clear—students who simply reread material consistently overestimate how much they’ve learned. In one eye-opening study, students predicted they’d score around 80% on an exam after repeated reading, but their actual scores averaged around 40%. That gap between feeling prepared and actually being prepared is where self-testing comes in.

The hardest part of learning isn’t getting information in—it’s getting it back out when you need it.

Think about learning to play a song on guitar. You could watch someone else play it a hundred times, but until you actually place your fingers on the frets and struggle through the chord changes, you haven’t really learned it. Academic learning works the same way.

The Science Behind Effective Self-Testing

So what makes self-testing so powerful? It comes down to two key concepts: active recall and spaced repetition.

Active recall is the mental heavy lifting of learning. It’s the process of actively retrieving information from your memory without looking at your notes or materials. Every time you successfully recall something, you strengthen the neural pathways that make it easier to retrieve that information next time. It’s like building a well-worn path through a forest—the more you walk it, the clearer and more accessible it becomes.

Spaced repetition is the strategic cousin of active recall. Instead of cramming all your practice into one marathon session, you spread it out over time. The growing intervals between practice sessions are what signal to your brain: “This is important—we should keep it readily available.”

I saw this play out beautifully with a student named Maria in my history class. She struggled with remembering historical timelines until she started using simple self-testing techniques. She’d study the material once, then test herself the next day, then two days later, then four days later. By the time the exam arrived, she could effortlessly recall dates and events that had previously seemed impossible to memorize.

Making Self-Testing Work in Real Life

The beautiful thing about self-testing is that it doesn’t require fancy tools or complicated systems. Some of the most effective methods are remarkably simple:

• After reading a chapter, close the book and write down everything you remember
• Use flashcards—physical or digital—to practice retrieving key concepts
• Explain the material to someone else (or even to your pet or a stuffed animal)
• Work through practice problems without looking at the solutions first

The key is creating that desirable difficulty—that productive struggle that actually strengthens your learning. Tools like QuizSmart can be particularly helpful here, as they automatically incorporate spaced repetition algorithms and active recall practice into your study sessions.

I remember working with David, a physics student who could solve problems perfectly when he had the formulas in front of him but struggled during exams. We implemented a simple change: he started spending the last 15 minutes of each study session working problems without any references. The first few attempts were frustrating, but within two weeks, he wasn’t just remembering formulas—he truly understood when and how to apply them.

Beyond the Exam: Building Lifelong Learning Skills

The most transformative benefit of self-testing isn’t just better exam scores—it’s developing learning skills that serve you long after the test is over. When you practice retrieving information, you’re not just preparing for an exam; you’re building durable knowledge that sticks with you.

My former student Sarah recently told me how her self-testing habits from college have translated into her career as a nurse. “I still use active recall techniques when learning new medical procedures or medication protocols,” she shared. “That practice of retrieving information on demand has become second nature.”

This approach transforms learning from something we endure for grades into something we cultivate for life. The confidence that comes from knowing you can reliably access what you’ve learned is genuinely empowering—whether you’re facing a final exam or a professional challenge.

Your Turn to Experiment

So here’s my challenge to you: the next time you sit down to study, resist the urge to start by rereading your notes. Instead, try beginning with a blank page and writing down everything you remember about the topic. Notice where the gaps are—those are your learning opportunities.

Then, as you review the material, keep testing yourself. Use whatever tools work for you—whether that’s traditional flashcards, explaining concepts aloud, or digital platforms that incorporate these evidence-based learning principles.

The journey toward more effective learning begins with a simple shift: from passively consuming information to actively engaging with it. Your future self—whether sitting in an exam room or navigating professional challenges—will thank you for building learning habits that actually work.

What will you try first?