
Looking up answers immediately or simply guessing until you get an answer right doesn’t actually teach you the material. To make the most of your homework practice, and to be sure the homework is preparing you for the test, consider the following tips so you can be most effective in your practice approach: All of these skills play a part in self-monitoring, which is what helps to give you an accurate picture of how you’ll do on your tests. Simultaneously, this practice will show you what you know well and what you need to spend more time learning. Have you already read about the memory process? If not, give it a look, and if you have then you'll remember that engaging in repetition and elaboration are aspects of the learning and memory process that will help you to remember the material for the long-term. The goal of these activities is to give you hands-on practice with the concepts and problems, and to get you thinking about what you know and/or don't know, as well as why something is used or solved in the way that it is. If you're working to identify/solve/explain/connect as a part of your daily learning practice, then you're working to remember, and when you get into your tests you'll draw on your memories as you retrieve your answers.Ĭommon types of homework might be practice problems, practice questions, assigned reading, assigned videos, quizzes covering what you've read or viewed, discussion board posts, interviews/experiences, self-reflections, etc.

It's your chance to practice what you know so you’re fully prepared to perform on your test. Homework is there to help you learn the content fully.

Homework is your opportunity to practice what you've learned in class, or to test your learning and find gaps where you need to engage in additional research or testing or practice. And, If you are assigned homework, do your best to take full advantage of it. If this is the case, make it a point to give yourself some homework (finding practice problems, doing outside readings, making mind-maps about all that you've learned, etc.). Homework in college will likely look, feel, and be used differently than the homework you were assigned in high school, and it's possible there won't be any homework assigned at all.
