What teachers love. What students do. I think they are good too, for they are pretty much the only source of how you get how the examination format, question types, are like, etc.
However, the reason is still: Find your mistakes so that you don't do the same in the actual exam! Making mistakes anytime that is not in the real exam is good because the person would be able to change it into no longer a mistake. Thus, increasing past papers, increasing flashcards, hunting for mistakes in a very consistent cycle, can turn past paper mistakes into flashcards, study the mistakes and the causes of the mistake, and repeat the cycle until the actual exam. Hopefully, there will be few mistakes in the real exam!
Without that, it's not useful. I experienced that firsthand: Focusing on successes instead of failures. If you only look at how well you did, the questions that were mistakes brought about pain and ignorance. Paradoxically you probably should ignore your successes here (which saves time) because it's not about esteem, it's about game theory.
Category:Examinations Category:Metalearning Category:Education