Why Correcting Your Exams is the Key to Better Grades

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When you get back assignments or tests, what do you do with them?  Do you go over them?  Do you read the comments?  Do you correct the answers?

Most students check their marks and then plan to review the assignment when they get home. When they get back, this doesn’t happen. Instead, the assignment is filed away in their binder, and attention is directed toward the new material. 

This is understandable, considering how fast post-secondary studies move. Several concepts are often discussed in a single lecture, and by the following class, we have moved on to another topic. It would be understandable if staying current took all your focus.

What if I told you these comments are vital to understanding this current coursework? Going through and reading these comments is crucial for future assignments and could significantly impact your final exam scores. 

Grab your red pen! We are going to discuss 10 reasons why you should correct your exams and assignments. We will also dive into why this practice is vital to your success.

How correcting exams and assignments helps build memory cues.

Memory cues are crucial to being able to retrieve the correct information at test time.  When you study, you strengthen these mental pathways to ensure you understand the concept and can easily communicate your knowledge.

When you review exams and assignments, you can significantly strengthen some of these cues. The questions you answered incorrectly will trigger an emotional response. It will obviously hurt a bit that you answered these questions wrong. This pang will be what cements the concept in your memory.

Studies have proven that reading the feedback and correcting these questions will help to amend your understanding of the concept. When you encounter these questions again, you will remember the hurt you felt when you answered them wrong. This feeling will lead you to reflect on the feedback and amendment, which will tie into the correct answer.

10 Reasons Why You Should Correct Your Exams and How This is Vital to Your Success

Study strategies that allow students to use their time smarter are some of the best options. Correcting exams and assignments is one such strategy. This strategy is crucial for reviewing gaps in understanding and then filling them in.

Reviewing incorrect answers and reading the feedback will help you to understand what you got wrong and adjust. You can also mark your own practice quizzes and reap the same benefits. 

Correcting your exam and assignments allows you to assess what concepts you know well.

The most basic reason for testing is to figure out the information you know. When studying, you need to evaluate what information you know well so that you realize when you are ready to move past it.

In almost all learning, complicated concepts are built upon each other. You cannot hope to be familiar with increasingly complex theories if you don’t understand the material that came before them. Knowing which information you clearly understand lets you move on to more complicated concepts. This means you can cross off, putting any more heavy lifting into this one.

As a side note, you should not stop reviewing this concept altogether. While it’s essential that you do not entirely forget any idea, you can move this off your “actively studying” list and onto your review list.

Reviewing past exams allows you to assess what you do not know.

Nothing makes you realize the concepts you don’t understand, like a test. Exam time exposes you to everything you are expected to know in one place, at one time. Time seems to stop when you encounter a question you don’t know the answer to.

Never leave it blank; instead, answer it as best you can and leave a note to yourself about how and why you were struggling. When you return to correct your work, consider these questions carefully. Take the extra time to fix these answers. 

When correcting your exam, you need to link how you answered the problem when uncertain about the actual response. Once you have adjusted these answers, make sure you write down and create a plan of study exercises to amend this information and reinforce it in your memory.

One way to get ahead of this is to write practice exams. When doing your practice quizzes, make a special note of the information you do not know. You need to be aware of concepts you struggle with, so you can double down until you understand them. Correcting these answers is the second most critical part of taking a practice exam.

Reviewing the answers on your exams and assignments allows you to evaluate what you think you know but actually don’t.

You might have noticed that identifying information you do not know is only the second most important reason for taking practice exams. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but let me explain. Identifying information you do not know is very important. I don’t want to downplay that; however, the most essential part of taking practice exams is identifying the information you think you know but do not.

The key here is the “note to self” that I asked you to write when you were uncomfortable or lacked confidence in an answer. When you go back and correct your exam, make sure to note and pay special attention to the questions you got wrong despite your absolute confidence in the answer. 

Finding these questions is especially important because you may think you understand this information, but do not. You cannot continue with this false confidence. 

Make a plan to amend your understanding, figure out why your interpretation is so off and how you can link it to the correct information. These concepts should also be added to your study plans and followed up with plenty of practice tests.

Reviewing your exams will help show you what you are struggling with.

When studying a subject, it is crucial to develop ease and fluency with the information. You know you're ready for exam time if you can effortlessly recall and work with a concept. When you test yourself, you can note which questions you are uncomfortable working with and those you have anxiety about recalling. This information is handy because it shows that you need to work on the subject more.  

Work with and review concepts until you are comfortable with them. Continue until you no longer need to pause to retrieve the information. This will give you more time to clarify and elaborate on your answers.

Reviewing your answers is the only real way to know if you can adequately recall and communicate this information. Correcting past exams and writing practice tests ensures this accuracy before you write your final.

Marking and reviewing practice quizzes can build confidence.

Answering your practice test quickly and correctly will build the confidence you need to ease concerns about your final exam. Replicating exam conditions and completing a problematic practice quiz can alleviate test anxiety and show you that you ARE prepared. Having the ability to quickly work with and recall concepts builds confidence.

Imitate exam conditions as closely as possible.  Put your books away, time yourself, and go somewhere unfamiliar.  In doing this, you will be able to simulate the day of the final more accurately.

After you have written your practice exam, sit down and mark it.  Be as critical as you can.  The more you repeat this process, the better your mark will be.  As your score improves over sittings, you will feel more and more prepared to write the final exam.

Correcting answers you got wrong will help amend your understanding of tricky concepts.

Correct wrong answers, whether you were confident in the answer or not. Fixing these responses can help to bolster new information in your brain. The process will add an extra layer to the mental association, strengthening the pathway to the correct answer.

When you adjust your practice exams, you will feel disappointed in the questions you answered incorrectly. This is a necessary process. Even though it's wrong, this emotional connection to the solution will add another layer to your understanding.  

Pulling up the correct information and rectifying your answers will help fortify the new information, amplifying your emotional attachment to it. Aligning a connection between incorrect and correct data further aids this mental association.  

When you come to this question again, you will feel an immediate sting when you think of how you got it wrong in the past. Emotion is a strong memory cue. The negative feeling of remembering the wrong answer will lead you to recall the correction. This entire process will help to bring the correct answer to the forefront when it’s “go time.”

Correcting past exams and assignments counts as studying.

Doing practice exams is an excellent way to revise. A quick quiz is one of the few ways to incorporate an entire semester’s information into one study session. This can help you to see any areas of weakness instantly. You can then devise a plan to study what you need to do and direct your efforts where they are most needed.

Practice exams can be done anytime and as often as you like. Quiz yourself on everything you’ve learned to date, or just the last set of topics that have been discussed, to make sure that you are ready to move on.

Practice tests are a fantastic starting point for creating a plan to gauge your use of upcoming study sessions. Correcting practice exams piggyback off this usefulness. Use this opportunity as a tool to create study guides. Use them to focus on questions you answered incorrectly or struggled with.

Read the comments and suggestions from the professor and T.A.

When you receive an assignment or test back, you will often notice that the markers have commented throughout. We usually look at these comments, then shove the papers deep into our binders. We don’t want to read them because we feel like we’re being judged.

This is not quite the case. These comments have been added to aid efforts and guide you in improving your weaknesses. When you receive your assignment back, go through and read these comments. As you’re doing this, also be sure to read the whole question and answer they were added to.  

Context is critical. Did you misinterpret the question? Was your answer unclear? Or was the problem something else?

Taking this constructive criticism can help you understand the concept you got wrong. It can also help you ensure that you give the professor what they’re looking for in future assignments.

Knowing what the professors and T.A.s are looking for, and giving it to them, is the easiest way to improve your grade. Keep these tips in the forefront of your mind when providing answers in the future.  

Make adjustments based on their recommendations.

Comments made on returned assignments and tests and in class should be incorporated into future answers. We often get stuck in a rut and continue doing things as we were taught. This method rapidly becomes the most comfortable, even when a better approach is presented. 

The world is dynamic, and so is what we learn. With new discoveries often reveal better insight and expose new ways of doing things.

If a professor takes the time to suggest how an answer could be more precise, take it. It is one thing to simply read the comments on a marked assignment. It is another thing to actually make these changes in the future.

Correcting exams and assignments can alleviate anxiety.

Test anxiety is a real thing, and it plagues most students.  Recreating exam conditions and correcting the exam will help you become more aware of what you do and do NOT know.  Finding and addressing the information you are uncomfortable with can help you do better.

Once you have corrected the quiz or assignment, create a plan to study the inconsistent solutions and stick to it.  Do not get overconfident or lazy and skip this step.  Trust me. You will thank me later when these questions come up on the final.

Correcting practice quizzes and returned assignments will reduce anxiety by resolving your uncertainty.  There is no more fear of the unknown.  You already know precisely which concepts you can work with and where to improve.

The more you repeat the process of testing yourself and reviewing your answers, the more comfortable you will be.  You will also be more likely to feel ready to take on the final.

5 Tips for Exam Day Anxiety.

Exam day is stressful.  There’s no way around that.  But you can do a few things to reduce your anxiety on test day.

1. Do plenty of practice quizzes leading up to your exam. Try to fit them in as often as possible. Not only will they help you get used to test-taking, but they are an excellent active recall activity.

2. Recreate exam conditions as closely as possible. If you are preparing for a 3-hour exam, you will need to build up your stamina. 30-minute quizzes will not prepare you for the amount of sustained concentration you will need.

3. Before you answer any questions, read through the entire exam. Much of anxiety is fear of the unknown. Sometimes simply reading through the exam will help because it is no longer shrouded in mystery. Read through the exam first and answer only the questions that pop immediately into your head. This will help you to focus better on your second pass-through, as you will already know exactly what questions will be asked.

4. Plan to take the entire amount of time allowed to write the exam. Test-taking is not a race. There is no prize for finishing first. Take your time as you go through the exam on your second pass. Skip over questions that might stump you and return to them later. Thoughtful answers will always win out over rushed ones.

5. Avoid negative self-talk. Be kind to yourself, even if an answer does not immediately come to you. As you answer easy questions, memory cues will make it easier to tackle hard ones. Negative thoughts and self-talk will only breed more doubt and anxiety. Trust in your preparation and take the exam one question at a time. You can do this. Repeat this to yourself, and you will have a much easier time relaxing and recalling the answers.

Take Your Study Skills to the Next Level

Reviewing your mistakes is one of the most effective ways to improve your academic performance. But what if you could take it a step further and develop a study system that ensures you don’t make the same mistakes twice?

That’s exactly what you’ll learn in my Study Skills Digital Course

Inside the course, you’ll discover:

• The best strategies for analyzing and correcting exam mistakes

• How to create a personalized error log to track weak spots

• Active learning techniques to reinforce challenging concepts

• Note-taking and review methods that boost long-term retention

• A step-by-step plan to turn every exam into a learning opportunity

Bonus: You’ll get access to exclusive printable study resources, to help you break down mistakes and improve for next time!

Ready to study smarter, not harder? Click here to enroll in the Study Skills Digital Course today!

Exams and assignments are the culmination of what you have learned over the semester. Once it is completed and you hand it in to be graded, it does not cease being a study tool. When it is received back, it can turn into a powerful ally to your study efforts.

The comments and incorrect answers are the standards to which you must compare your understanding. The feedback they give you is invaluable for understanding how you will approach these and similar questions on future assignments and tests.

Creating a deliberate, well-thought-out study plan will help you get the best mark on your exam. Pick up my free study guide template for all the forms and worksheets you need to make this happen. It’s jam-packed with resources to make this semester the best one ever. You can download it here.

I would like to be transparent so that there are no misunderstandings. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission from any products linked in this post. This is not a sponsored post, and I was not asked to recommend these products. These are products that I genuinely love and want to share with my audience.