A priori it may seem that the answer to this question is very simple. We would all say that studying a lot is better than studying a little. This is a no-brainer. However, in my personal experience as a student, I have come across situations in which this basic premise has not been fulfilled..
Sometimes studying hard has gotten me into trouble. Other times studying little has given me advantages. Today I want to share this experience with you.
We all know the pros of studying hard (passing) and the cons of studying little (failing). But have you ever wondered what are the cons of studying hard and the pros of studying little??
Sometimes I have been so prepared to an exam that I have begun to doubt everything. This happens to me mainly in the multiple choice exams.
When I have the subject very well prepared, some questions are so simple that I think they are tricky. So I start to doubt and look for the three feet of the cat. The question in question does not have to be simple if you have devoted a normal study time to the subject.
However when you stick authentic studio beatings and you review the concepts countless times, you have things so clear that it does not enter your head that they are asking you something so simple. You think the question is tricky.
The situation of taking an exam with the complete subject very well studied has happened to me on rare occasions. I don't always have that much time to study. What happens to me most often is specific topics of a subject better prepared than others. Either because I like them better or simply because they are simpler. The questions about these topics are the ones that make me hesitate on the exam.
To resolve this conflict about the difficulty of the question in front of me, I do a little empathy exercise. I try to put myself in the shoes of an "imaginary me" who had studied less and wonder what that alternative version of me (with fewer hours of study) would think about the question. This may seem a bit simple but most of the time it works.
Surely this is the part you look forward to most. How is it possible that there is any advantage to studying little? Until recently I myself doubted this possibility. However, last January something happened to me in an exam that he did change your mind.
I put you in situation. January 2013 exams. I have 3 exams in 2 days. On monday i do Psychobiology in the afternoon. On Tuesday I have two exams in a row which are Psychological evaluation Y Development II.
During the study of the previous weeks I have focused on Psychobiology and Psychological Evaluation, leaving very aside Development II. I only have time to read the Development II book once and the week before I barely reviewed anything about this subject. I decide to take the exam because it coincides with the date of the Psychological Evaluation. Since I am at the University that afternoon I do not lose anything by introducing myself.
The fact of having studied little for that exam and feeling that I had nothing to lose made me respond 29 questions out of 30. I just left one question blank. If I had taken the exam well prepared, I would not have dared to answer more than 22 or 23 questions. I would have tried secure the answers.
Beyond the number of questions answered, what really surprised me was pass the exam. I wasn't 100% sure of any of those 29 questions answered And yet it seems that a part of my subconscious did know the answer. If I had been told that I could only answer the questions I knew with complete confidence, I could not have answered more than 2 or 3.
I'm not saying I answered randomly. Not much less. I was just quickly answering the first thing that came to my mind, without stopping to reflect because I really didn't have enough knowledge in my head to reflect on. I don't remember it well but I think I was the first person to finish the exam and I turned it in convinced that I had failed. I didn't even go through the answers again because it would have been of no use.
More than one will say, "Look at the nerd telling us that he read the book 1 time and still passed the exam". The truth is that I still don't understand what happened that afternoon. I believe that sometimes we absorb knowledge that we cannot consciously communicate. That is, you think you do not know something but unconsciously you do store that information in some part of your brain.
I have to admit that this situation has only happened to me in that exam. Normally I have the material fairly well prepared, otherwise I don't show up. From now on I will introduce myself even if I think I have not studied enough.
In any case, it is not a matter of tempting luck and getting into the habit of taking exams without studying. Based on what I say here, someone might think that studying in the UNED too easy. Quite the opposite. I already have a 4-year career in Face-to-face university and the difference in the syllabus and difficulty in the exams is abysmal. The exam I have studied the most for in my life was Psychobiology 2 years ago. It is also the only exam I have ever failed in my life.
Without a doubt, studying a lot is better than studying a little. With this article I have only tried to exemplify what happens at both ends. Personally I think that in the middle point is virtue and balance.
Has something similar ever happened to you? Could you tell me about your experience?
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