Modern educators better understand the value of hands-on, interactive approaches to learning. Students often describe themselves as “visual learners” or “street-smart,” and educators have generally done a good job at recognizing that learning looks different for everyone. Schools and programs have incorporated increasingly creative and nuanced approaches to helping students learn and grow, catering to different learning styles that exist within the target average student group, as well as the varied needs of others. However, standardized and traditional assessments still exist and cause anxiety for many students. While the education system already attempts learning through doing in curricula, students can also apply this method in studying to enhance their learning.

Learning Through Doing in the Education System

Philosophers, such as American philosopher John Dewey, have long described education as “not just preparation for life, but life itself.” Through the American core curriculum system, the Canadian proficiency scale, and other interdisciplinary or extensive approaches, it is evident that how educators view “assessments” and “evaluation”, and consequently learning, has evolved over the years.

Field trips, group projects, and labs are now staples in grade school education, even sometimes extending to simulations of professional careers such as mock trials or school-sponsored internships. These approaches reflect the changing needs of today’s generation—today, in an increasingly technology-oriented, skills-based society, knowing what to do is merely a primer for knowing how to do it.

Why Tests?

Despite the many benefits of experiential, project-based learning (PBL), traditional assessments like tests and quizzes remain a cornerstone of grade school and post-secondary education. Why?

Well, tests and quizzes provide a consistent, formal metric for content retention in schools. Group projects and presentations have many confounding factors that influence the effectiveness of a student’s demonstration of knowledge, such as public speaking anxiety or subjective grading. Timed tests also simulate the time pressure that exists in many professional fields, aligning with the sentiment that education prepares students for the “real world.” Moreover, large-scale adoption of PBL is simply difficult to implement, as it is often costly and relatively complicated compared to scantron tests and timed written responses.

Ultimately, there remains a place for both experiential/PBL and traditional assessments in the education system. However, many students struggle with test-taking and memorization, skills that certainly are needed to succeed in these traditional assessments. It is my opinion that students often overstudy for tests, while not being able to achieve the results they want, due to the lack of content online and in school about study habits and techniques.

What Does Learning Through Doing Look Like For Students?

Many students opt to rewrite their notes, diligently organizing and reorganizing their notes, and rereading before attempting their homework or showing up for a test. Though this method certainly works for some students, for others, it may be too cumbersome if they are already short on time or energy.

Instead, students can try to teach a topic to a friend or peer in simple terms, helping them break down a concept into its fundamental components and make it more memorable for exams. They can then fill gaps in their learning by referring back to notes and adjusting their definitions and explanations. This kind of active recall is often referred to as a “high-yield learning technique,” where students must actively struggle through the content rather than passively writing down what they hear or see.

My personal favorite technique is to attempt homework assignments before rereading notes after class or lecture. Instead of splitting studying and homework up into two different tasks, students can maximize their time spent on each by combining the two. By, again, struggling through the content and recognizing the patterns in problems yourself, you eventually gain a personal approach to problem solving for a subject. This strategy primarily works for STEM classes, but certainly can be used for humanities classes as well. Students can brainstorm initial thoughts for essays or presentations before exploring outside sources to have a better baseline for what their own ideas are, helping these assessments come off more confident and assertive.

For me, I found that throughout grade school, studying long before an upcoming test only made me feel bored and disinterested in the content, whereas having some last-minute “aha” moments made me feel accomplished and helped me perform better. However, I recognized that this approach to studying was unsustainable as I entered college, since exams were often back to back and completely unrelated to one another. I found that doing my homework without referring to lecture/class and “figuring it out my own way” helped me with:

1. Feeling more interested in the topics, as I was discovering why certain rules, exceptions, and terms existed as I got questions wrong (which is totally normal!)

2. Minimizing my time spent studying, so that I could focus on other interests that enriched my student life (friends, events, clubs).

3. Experiencing an overall sense of confidence in my learning and studying ability. Having ways of doing homework and studying that work for you is empowering as a student.

Conclusion

Experiential and project-based learning are ways that schools are attempting to incorporate learning through doing, but that doesn’t mean that students should just let learning ‘happen’ to them. Traditional assessments remain a source of anxiety for many students—you certainly aren’t alone if you feel this way! However, there are many ways we, as students, can mitigate our anxieties and more effectively prepare ourselves for these assessments. I hope these study techniques encourage you to try something new for your next homework assignment or test, and best of luck in your studies :)