HOW TO HELP STUDENTS PREPARE FOR EXAMS

1. Narrow down the topics. How much you narrow down the topics will depend on the level of the course, but it always helps to give students a more clear view of what’s going to be on their exam. 
     
2. Give students a list of topics that could be on the exam. With younger grades, create a list of every topic that they need to study. Older grades can still benefit from a list, even if it’s just a list of all the topics you’ve studied that year. That’s because a list gives them something to check off. Throughout your review time, encourage students to mark their topic list, crossing off things that they already know and highlighting or putting a star by things they know they need to study. 
     
3. Have the students work, not you. Don’t just stand in front of the class and frantically try to review everything. Instead, the students should be the ones looking up concepts in their notes and trying to remember how to solve problems. The more actively involved the students are, the more they will be focused and engaged, and the more they will remember. 
     
4. Have students complete worksheets. Give students worksheets to complete that review the material that will be on the exam. Consider allowing them to work in groups and/or requiring them to finish for homework whatever they do not complete in class. Then go over them together so the students can have their questions answered.
5. Have students write quizzes for each other. When students write their own quiz questions, they engage more deeply with the material. So have them write a 5-10 question quiz, then have them exchange with another student and take each other’s quiz. Finally, they are to grade the quiz they wrote and discuss any wrong answers with the student who took their quiz. 
     
6. Give students a practice exam. This is a great way to help students diagnose how prepared they are. Typically the last review day we have, I will give a practice exam – a short, ungraded test that has similar questions as what will be on the exam. We then go over it during the second half of class.