How often did you get a poor grade in a class despite knowing the material well?

[Ryker]

deRham, you make some valid points and perhaps my statements have been too strong. I am still convinced that in general there is a positive correlation between how you do on tests and how you do later on, though, as well as that there can't exist a significant amount of people that would function exceptionally well in research or demanding jobs, but who just do bad on tests. But I'm beginning to sound like a broken record now, so I'll leave it for someone else to chip in their 2 cents, as well

 

[deRham]

Yeah, the question is what the definition of very well is. I am sure most people who are smart can do B to A level work no matter what, but when one is comparing within that level, the means of assessment can make a bigger difference. And randomness in tests is one of the worst things. I feel asking students to master certain (not easy) ideas that take some time is good.

 

[jeebs]

I came to a very important realization a few years ago and it turned my education around. That realization was that doing past papers are the number one way to getting good exam grades. It doesn't matter if you understand every last word in lectures etc. if you are not familiar with the style of the questions. The exams that get set in my university all have pretty much the same type of question year after year, and once I started revising with them rather than just going through notes and solving problem class problems, my grades leapt up.