Many students know the material but still poorly on exams because of anxiety. In a 2011 , Gerardo Ramirez and Sian Beilock asked some students to ten minutes writing about their just before a test. Surprisingly, these students higher than students who sat . The researchers that writing up working memory that was with worry. The effect was for students who were most anxious.

Most students see tests only as a way of measuring learning. Research shows that they are also one of the best ways to learn.

In a 2006 study, the psychologists Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke asked students to read short science passages. Some students reread each passage several times. Others read it once and then practiced writing down everything they could remember. Five minutes later, the rereading group remembered slightly more. One week later, however, the pattern reversed: the students who had practiced recalling remembered far more than those who had simply reread.

This phenomenon is called the testing effect, or retrieval practice. Each time we pull information out of memory, the memory becomes stronger and easier to find again. Rereading, in contrast, creates a feeling of familiarity that can be misleading: students recognize the material and believe they know it, even when they could not recall it without the book in front of them.

Practical strategies include using flashcards, answering practice questions, and explaining a topic aloud without notes. These methods often feel harder than rereading, but that difficulty is part of what makes them effective.