14d • Study Tips
Don't put that marked test away just yet!
Your test came back. Don’t put it in your binder just yet!
Most students look at the number, feel something about it, and move on. But that’s a wasted opportunity. The test you just wrote is the most accurate diagnostic you’ll get all semester — it tells you exactly what’s broken, if you know how to read it. Here’s how to do a proper post-mortem.
Step 1: Go through every lost mark and categorize it into four buckets:
1. I didn't know it - You looked at the question and had no idea where to start. The concept wasn't there.
2. I knew it but blanked - You understood it in class, you could follow the examples, but you couldn't produce it on your own under pressure.
3. Careless error - You knew exactly what to do. You dropped a negative, misread the question, made an arithmetic slip, forgot to answer the actual question being asked.
4. I ran out of time - You could have gotten it. You just never got there.
Step 2: Count them up. Now look at the pattern.
Mostly category 1? You have a content gap. You need to go back and actually learn that material — and you need to figure out whether the gap started in this unit or earlier. This is the most urgent one because it compounds.
Mostly category 2? This is the most common and the most misunderstood. You don't have a knowledge problem, you have a retrieval problem. You've been studying by reading and recognizing instead of producing. The fix isn't more studying — it's different studying. Closed book, from scratch, under time pressure.
Mostly category 3? Your understanding is fine but test taking needs some focus. This is actually good news — it's the fastest thing to fix. Slow down, show every step, read the question twice, check your work at the end.
Mostly category 4? You're spending too long on questions you should be moving past. Practice with a timer. Learn to recognize when a question is costing you more than it's worth. A test is a game where you try to maximize the marks.
Step 3: Fix the biggest bucket first
Don't try to fix all four. Look at where you lost the most marks and attack that one. If 60% of your lost marks were category 2, improving this area will get you the biggest improvement on your next test.
Step 4: Redo the test — properly
Not "look at the answer key and nod." Actually redo the questions you got wrong, closed book, a few days later. If you can't do it cold, you still don't know it. Reading the solution feels like learning. But it's learning is disguise!
We're at the point in the semester where there's still runway. Whatever this test revealed, you have time to fix it before it compounds into the next unit and the one after that. A 68 in October is information. A 68 in May is a result.
Most students can't accurately categorize their own mistakes. Category 1 and category 2 feel identical from the inside — both just feel like "I got it wrong." And a student who misdiagnoses a knowledge gap as a careless error will study the wrong thing for the next six weeks. That's exactly what a diagnostic session is for. If you've gone through your test and you genuinely can't tell what the pattern is, that's worth sorting out properly. I am offering free diagnostics for all members! Just shoot me a message :)
Did your test come back yet? What's your biggest bucket? Drop a comment — I'll tell you what to do about it. 👇
— Gabe
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Don't put that marked test away just yet!
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