School of PE Blog

One of the most nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing experiences in life is an exam, so much so that test anxiety has been established as an official anxiety disorder. However, these exams are crucial to industry professionals. Certification helps showcase their knowledge and enables them to perform legally in job roles, adding to their qualifications and desirability.

However, with the added pressure of test anxiety, many people have a hard time passing these critical exams and, as a result, can’t move forward in their careers. In an attempt to mitigate these negative results, many people turn to exam review courses for help. Exam review courses are pivotal in whether an individual passes an exam or not.

Unfortunately, one of the main reasons that so many people choose not to utilize these valuable tools is that they cannot justify the time commitment involved. This is an unnecessary worry, though, because many course reviews are opting for a self-paced learning style. Self-paced exam review courses offer them flexibility and convenience and connect them with industry experts to help prepare them for examinations.

Self-paced learning is exactly what it sounds like: taking the time you have to move through course material at your own pace. This learning structure is on-demand and requires the examinee to work through the material on their own. They may take the same class as others, but they will progress through the program entirely on their own and be fully responsible for the outcome.

Many educational groups have taken to this sort of learning style. We’ve seen a major resurgence in the availability of online college programs that can be done at a distance and when the student is ready and able. The natural next step is implementing it into the exam review space, where education is not the primary goal. Self-paced learning is meant to be done around a person’s busy schedule.

There is another method of learning that has its own set of benefits, and that’s cohort learning. Cohort-based learning is a collaboration between individuals who are working through a program together. The main difference between cohort and self-paced learning is that instead of one person being entirely responsible for moving through a review course in their own time, they must follow a schedule set up by the group or the organization.

Self-paced learning is increasingly available, and with the introduction of learning management systems (LMS), information is becoming increasingly valuable and individualized. Though the standardization of self-paced learning is becoming more prevalent, it’s not always the best choice for your individual situation. Here are a few factors that can help you decide whether a self-paced learning style is preferable over any other learning style.

Goals- Your personal and professional goals will tell you which method to choose. For instance, do you need to have the course completed by a certain date? Do you want to use the program as a form of networking? What is the specific purpose behind taking the course? Think about what you’re hoping to get out of the course. If you’re unconcerned with networking, or your deadline is rapidly approaching (or actually much farther away), then using a self-paced model in which you can adapt the schedule to fit around your lifestyle is a good idea.

Availability- How much time do you have to commit to the course? Take into consideration the amount of time you have to dedicate to studying. Does your schedule change from week to week? If you’re unable to commit to completing weekly assignments and can’t justify making adjustments to your schedule, then self-paced courses can fit around any variation in the structure of your days.

Learning Style- Last but not least, your learning style plays a huge role in your suitability to work effectively with self-paced learning. For instance, in review courses, you’re rarely going to find others at the exact phase in the course as you, so collaboration and clarity will be rare. Working alone is a standard unless the course is part of your organization’s professional development efforts. Do you thrive with structure or flexibility? Self-paced courses are a great way to maintain a degree of control over your learning path, but some people don’t do well without the responsibility of structure.

Your goals, availability, learning style, and personality each have their own part to play in making this decision, so take extra care in making the right one.

Self-paced exam review courses can fit into your lifestyle for a number of reasons.

Convenience- Information at Your Fingertips - Many courses have the added benefit of using the information wherever you are. If you have a few minutes on your morning commute to listen to a few lectures, you don’t have to worry about being at the office or at home to listen. The accessibility of information is a convenient way to implement review into the small moments in your day.

Efficiency- Less Pressure, Better Retention - Stress levels play a defining role in information retention. If allowed to move at your own pace, it removes an unnecessary level of stress from the equation. Without the pressure of a deadline, information can be absorbed rapidly and potentially change the degree to which information is remembered.

Low Pressure Flexibility- Set Your Own Schedule - Life can get in the way of your goals. It’s a frequent occurrence, and if allowed to happen repeatedly in a structured review course, it can derail the ultimate outcome. However, with self-paced review, people have the opportunity to work around their lives and still end up with passing results. Self-paced review is flexible when other areas of life are demanding.

Focus- Less Distraction - Using self-paced review courses where there’s no set deadline or time, reviewers can make sure that their environment is entirely free from distraction. This helps them focus more entirely on the information at hand rather than being distracted by every little thing that enters their space.

Autonomy- Different Learning Styles for Different Learning Personalities - This type of learning can prove a benefit when the student understands their learning style well. If they need more time to process information, they can take their time. On the other hand, if they process better by moving rapidly from one thing to another, they can also do so. For a realistic example of this, many people play videos at double speed because they process information faster and can focus better when information is relayed at a greater speed. Without it, their focus dwindles, and their brain turns to other, more exciting parts of their lives.

The main benefit of self-paced learning is the ability to adjust their review to their own schedule. What happens, however, is they miss out on the collaborative nature of cohort learning. There is a lack of support, structure, and outside perspective as they work through the program in relative solitude.

While this is how it tends to look when a person is individually working through the review course, it doesn’t have to be this way in your organization. By working as a team with a unified deadline, they can utilize the benefits of self-paced learning with the added perspective of working alongside a team. The group can collaborate in study scenarios and support each other as they work together towards a common goal.

While it has many benefits, self-paced learning can be difficult to work through because of the amount of responsibility that the learner has to implement in order to actually take the time to focus on the material and not let life and other distractions get in the way. While one of the greatest benefits of self-paced review is that you can do it on your own time, that is also one of its biggest drawbacks. Without the added pressure of a deadline, or at least an accountability group to motivate a person forward, it’s easy to let the course fall by the side of every other responsibility. It’s easy to justify the neglect.

However, using self-paced review courses like School of PE’s courses (rated #1 by Testing.org for SE review courses) for your organization can be such a powerful tool. On-demand courses with the option to add live lectures for those who need that extra assistance can give your organization the opportunity to take advantage of self-paced learning while still utilizing the collaborative nature of group learning. Self-paced exam review courses can be the one thing that propels your career forward at your own pace.

Ready to experience the power of self-paced learning? Explore our expansive list of Ondemand engineering, architecture, and project management courses at School of PE today!