Many
times students spend a lot of time revising the notes but at times the
results from the exams do not reveal the efforts. Consider a topic on
why countries engage in international trade, a student will revise this
topic for five times or so prior to the exams but strangely the results
will not reflect the efforts of the students.
So
what goes wrong? the problem is in the way students read and revise
their notes or textbooks. When revising in preparation for an exam, say
on international trade, one cannot read is if its a news paper. Human
beings have a short, medium and long term memories. These affect the way
we recall and respond to questions in an exam. A short term memory last
between a second to say two to three days. After that a person may not
recall anything about the event or the occurrence. For example the
memory of the mosquito hoovering on your head may last for two seconds. A
medium term memory may last for a week and up to a few months but it
may not be easily recalled after that period. For example the name of
the person you met once and for a very short encounter, may be recalled
at least in a few months but after a year, it will be difficult unless
that person had a subsequent impact or role in your life.. The long term
memory lasts for years and at times forever in ones mind. For example
the day of graduation or a weeding. the first day a new school or first
sexual encounter will be recalled as if it happen yesterday, even after
30 years.
So
what is the magic? the trick is in the way we process what we read. We
do not process the information to final a conclusion so as to understand
it fully and be able to remember it vividly whenever we are required to
do so. Information has to be rehearsed o the point the where it be
easily stored and retrieved from the long term memory. The process of
rehearsing help one to put information into context and to be able to
understand it from a real life perspective. This involves building of
scenarios different from the way information has been packaged but
pointing to the same conclusion. For example, when the topic is
"International Trade" the reader is expected to first under the meaning
of topic even before proceeding to the body. The reader should be
begin by asking and answering questions such as what is international?, what
is trade? what is international trade? Is their another form trade that
is not international, what is the difference between the other form of
trade and international trade?. This approach should be done over and ever for each subtopic.
Answering
these questions before reading the body makes one gauge the existing
level of knowledge on the matter. The reader should then read the body
in the same manner of reasoning while ensuring that each word or
sentence is understood in its true meaning and context. Real life
scenarios must be drawn to ensure that the issues are understood in
practical circumstances. It is known that international trade is the
trade between two or more nations. If taken literally it could mean that
trade occurs only when two countries are trading which of of course
will be wrong because the country as a country does not trade but its
Government or people do. However as long as there is trade across
borders then international trade has occurred. Trade manifests in form
of goods and people crossing the border and exchange of goods for a
price. So the reader must visual these to comprehend the concept.
The
reader should ensure to track and look out for answers to the questions
drawn and compare with the original answers that were made before
reading. Any incorrect answers made at the beginning are a sign of low
levels of appreciation or understanding of the topic which should
improve as one reads. This process must be repeated every time the
reader comes back to the same topic and its sub topics.
