Question practice is an essential component of every success strategy in academics. One must tap into the potential these question practice and question banks hold in order to get ahead of others. Question bank is a type of revision module in itself as it tests all the concepts we have studied and the tricks involved to answer particular topics.

Reliable Resources

There are thousands of question bank available on the internet and in different publications. One should narrow down the resources to the best set of question banks which are credible and reliable. In order to do so, a good guide or a mentor will be very helpful. An import factor in ascertaining of books should be that you must have the detailed answers of every question in the bank because if you get stuck while solving, you’ll miss out on learning a different approach or concept used in the question. If it’s difficult for you, it will be difficult for others, and such questions are examiners favourite.

Once done with the compilation of resource list, you should begin practising questions from the bank.

Maintain a Practice Notebook

These question banks consist of the questions that are basic and easy to complex, difficult and tricky. Solving these questions by yourself in a notebook will be extremely helpful. A practice notebook will be like your solution bank to the question bank. When you’ll revise it later, you will instantly remember the concepts used since your handwriting will also bring the thought process you had in your mind while solving such questions. It can act as a brilliant source for revision. Moreover, you can mark the questions that you found tricky or difficult to solve which can be of help during quick revision.

One more helpful suggestion can be of maintaining a separate doubt notebook. This notebook will contain all the questions that you could not solve. It will save you from the hassle of searching such type of questions during quick go through.

Decoding the Pattern of the exam

A good question bank is carefully drafted which keeps in view the need of the examination. While solving the questions keep an eye on what type of questions are you solving. Are they too theoretical or numerical, conceptual or factual, derivation or formulae based. Such decoding will provide you with a more holistic approach towards the IB exam. In the final days of examination, you can devise a revision plan according to the needs of the examiner as decided by your question bank.

Make short notes alongside star Questions

Star questions are those questions which you found difficult, tricky or unsolvable. Such questions are very important and should be revised. One can use highlighter to star mark these questions. To make revision easy, you can make shorts of 12-15 words which tell you about the trick used or give you the direction in which you should proceed. A quick glance on such notes refreshes your memory and the chances of your remembering the concept during the exams also increases. This strategy is highly recommended by toppers.

Revise, Revise and Revise

As mentioned in the first point, it is better to have limited resources. One should revise the same bank multiple times as this brings more clarity in the concepts used and boosts the confidence. Thereby to exploit the full potential that these banks offer you should revise it multiple times throughout the course. Most students drift off to new material after one or two iteration of revision and hence their entire revision may bring quantity but will lack quality. We all know that the exams we are eyeing need quality over quantity. Therefore, stick to limited number of resources and revise them multiple times.

Sync between question banks and your notes

Sync here refers to the linkage between your notes and the question bank. Whatever you study in your class or at tuition, you should solve the related questions within 2-3 days. This makes the concept embed in your mind and enhances conceptual clarity. It is a key factor in utilizing the question bank’s potential and will help you in revision later on as you will have better understanding of the concept and tricks and techniques in the questions will be highlighted early on in your journey.

It is needless to say that question banks can act as brilliant source for revision. Most students fail to see them through the lens of revision. You must keep the above mentioned points to reap the potential of question bank as a revision bank by Tribe Topper. If done rightly, you will be better placed than an average person who has focused largely on notes. Revision of question banks will give you a glimpse of how and what level you will have to perform. Therefore, you must integrate revision of question bank in your revision strategy.