It’s no doubt it’s the information era we are living in. The sheer amount of new information created and distributed daily is horrifyingly gigantic. However, a new study has found that despite the large amount of information we are required (school exams, college midterms) or want (hobby, craft, skill or other self-development purposes) to retain, can easily be achieved with test taking.
The study titled : Taking the Testing Effect Beyond the College Freshman: Benefits for Lifelong Learning, examined how learning beyond one’s younger years has greater success rates with tests. Yes, even at 30 you might still get terrified at the mere mentioning of the word test, but as this study suggests, taking test for people of all ages seems to be an entirely efficient way of retaining more or new information.
During the study subjects of three different age groups were examined for how much they would benefit from taking tests rather than re-studying their material. The results showed that despite age, everyone indiscriminately benefited from test-taking.
Now you know how to remember what you learn
But, how can this applied in day to day life?
The usefulness and benefits of test-taking can prove valuable in many aspects of life actually: lifelong learning means venturing to learn new skills and knowledge despite not being formally a student any longer. Test-taking thus can be used when:
—Learning new craft skills, as a way of cementing or further strengthening your newly acquired craft talent.
—Learning new languages, software or form of arts. Test-taking in this way can take the form of personal, diligent evaluation of your work and can have equally as impressive results.
The exciting thing about this new finding is that it can virtually be applied in many knowledge and skills aspects. In what kind of life aspect will you be using test-taking as a way of becoming more efficient at it?