Let’s consider how you can increase test preparedness prior to an exam.
There is a known learning pattern called the Forgetting Curve, first recognized in 1885 by Hermann Ebbinghaus. The basic premise is that by reviewing material from a one-hour lecture for ten minutes the next day you are firing the synapses that make connections in your brain. Then, reviewing the material just a few minutes every day after that significantly increases your ability to recall that information. When you repeat this information, you send a message to your brain, “Here it is again; it must be important! I need to know this.”
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
a) What would you do differently if you only knew then what you know now about taking the chapter 4 test?
b) According to the graph, compare the time you would need to spend to remember the material for Day 7 to Day 30.
c) Can you think of factors that might influence the speed of forgetting?
d) Do you feel overwhelmed by this amount of review? Does it seem to take too much time? Explain and share your experience.