Myths about exams and taking breaks

It has been a while since I have taken an academic exam but I am pretty sure that when my life was dotted with it when I was a student, it was not “politically correct” to say that I enjoyed taking an exam. Had I said it, I would have run the risk of being thought of as “weirdo” or a “brag.” But now, it is safe to say that I really did secretly enjoy exams on topics that I loved. These topics were not necessarily the ones I was particularly getting good grades in. “Algebra” and “Biology” were the high school subjects I loved but did not excel in back then but I looked forward to being tested in those courses. I could not explain it then. It just seemed to me that it helped me move forward with the little I knew and retained and that made me feel good. But what really are exams for?

Recent research has proven that exams are not just as torture weapons of teachers but also effective in making you learn. You retain things better when tested on them. This study was published last Oct. 15 in the journal Science and was entitled “Why Testing Improves Memory: Mediator Effectiveness Hypothesis.”

Two researchers from Kent State University, Dr. Katherine Rawson and Mary Pyc, did an experiment where they proved that for certain tests that require some kind of codes to arrive at the answers, tests do help you learn. The study had 118 English-speaking subjects study 48 Swahili words. They used this design because studying a foreign language typically would make use of codes which they termed “mediators.” “Mediators” are concepts, ideas, words or phrases that give you clues to what a word translates to, in another language. To illustrate what “mediator” is, I tried to do my own Swahili translation. As an example, if the Swahili word “anga” means “sky,” I could associate that with “angat” which in our language means “raised” which could remind me of something “up there” which could lead me to “sky.” In that sense “angat” is my mediator. Overall, the group that did practice tests performed three times better than the ones who just studied. Not only that, those who did practice tests even came up with improved “mediators” which helped them learn better.

I am not sure if this would have students volunteering in droves to take tests but I am sure that for many college students who are about to take their semestral break, they all think this break would have all of them refreshed and ready to refocus on getting those degrees. Hmm, not so fast. Do you think you are talking a break because you really just physically had reached your limits for now?

Another study that came out in the journal Psychological Science last week just found out that the itch to take that break may just be in your head. This means that if you think that each person has his or her own “willpower” quota, then you are more inclined to take breaks or procrastinate more, eat more junk food and perform poorer than those who think “willpower” is something you can control and therefore, stretch to great lengths. This is what their experiment with Stanford students revealed. The study was led by a post-doc scholar in the University of Zurich, Veronika Job, co-authored with Stanford psychology Professor Carol Dweck and Assistant Professor Greg Walton.

I am sure that willpower has a lot to do with learning and the study proved that. We all have had experiences of stretching ourselves to face challenges and being rewarded with the results. But I think getting a break is not simply about not having enough willpower. Sometimes, it is about ensuring that you have time for other things apart from those learned within the regular academic setting. Those breaks, I would never exchange for the world. And exams? I think young people should take advantage of how tests could help them learn. Later on in your lives, you will find that the real working world is still full of tests, but by then, the consequences would not just be a number or letter in your class card.

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