Active Vs Passive Learning: Maximising Your Study Time

1. Active Vs Passive Learning: Maximising Your Study Time

2. Active Vs Passive Learning: Maximising Your Study Time • Study strategies can be broadly categorised as either active or passive learning. • Active learning strategies require actively engaging with the material—for example, by testing yourself. • Passive learning strategies, on the other hand, do not require active engagement—for example, re-watching lectures. • In the long run, active learning strategies will help you retain the material more efficiently and effectively, which is immensely useful for GAMSAT exam preparation.

3. Active Learning • Active learning strategies include (but are not limited to) the following: • Testing yourself with flashcards or quizzes • Discussing the material with classmates • Drawing diagrams • Writing summaries (without looking at the reference material) • Answering GAMSAT practice questions • Active learning strategies require quite a bit of effort, as you need to actively recall material. Another hurdle to active learning is that many of these strategies require some set-up, such as making your own flashcards or quizzes, organising study groups, sourcing practice questions, and so on. However, in some instances, the act of preparation itself may also help you to learn.

4. Active Learning • On the upside, active learning strategies do not require any specialised equipment. Drawing diagrams, writing summaries, etc. are easily done with simple pen and paper or with a computer. Flashcards can be done with index cards that you can buy in bulk from essentially any shop that sells stationery, or with free flashcard software such as Anki (note, not free on iOS but is free on other platforms). • Active learning strategies also lend themselves well to both individual and group studying. For example, if you are studying in a group, you can write questions to test each other. You can also practice summarising textbook chapters or lectures to each other.

5. Passive Learning • Some of the most common passive learning strategies that are used include underlining or highlighting textbooks and re-watching lectures. While these strategies are “easier” in that you do not have to actively recall material at the time, relying on these strategies alone can make it more difficult to recall material later on (e.g. during your test) as you haven’t already practiced recalling the material. • If you are studying from a textbook, an easy way to turn that study into an active learning experience is to do the questions at the end of the chapter. If your textbook doesn’t have questions at the end, you can turn the headings, sub-headings, etc. into questions. • If you are studying from lectures, you can turn the lecture outcomes into questions or write lecture summaries.

6. Further Materials • How to Prepare for the GAMSAT • Free GAMSAT Preparation Materials • GAMSAT Biology: How to prepare • GAMSAT Chemistry: How to Prepare • GAMSAT Physics: How to Prepare • Don’t forget to sign up for our GAMSAT Free Trial, which includes 50 MCQs from our intelligent MCQ Bank, access to our week-by-week study guide for each section, and a wealth of our GAMSAT resources: https://gradready.com.au/gamsat-preparation-courses/free-gamsat-trial