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Tips for Taking Tests
Despite doing all the assigned work some students are ultimately disappointed with their test grade. To improve test performance, students are encouraged to incorporate the following approaches into their daily learning. Then on test day, students should use sound test taking strategies.
Approaches to Daily Learning Employed by "Excellent Test Takers"
- Get Organized. Students have a binder set up for each class in which they keep all handouts, previous tests and their notes. Students are ready to go when class starts.
- Take Notes. Students take notes in class each day. Students create organized notes so that if needed, they could speak about 5 minutes on what was covered in class on that day. Their notes include key concepts, important formulas, new information shared by teacher, etc. Students do not rely on their memory, particularly when the instructor is presenting new information.
- Reflect on Your Notes. At least once each week, the student reviews their notes and tries to identify a question they now have. These periods of reflection should help the student see relationships or impacts between important concepts or facts covered in the class. Examples include: inflation raising prices which hurts individuals on fixed income, or formatting in Word is very similar to formatting in Excel.
- Ask Questions in Class. Students should ask at least one question each week in class to clarify or learn more about a fact or concept. Students should assume that many more students have the same question or are equally confused.
- Budget Your Time: Students use time in class wisely. When work outside of class is necessary, the student budgets their time to balance ongoing work in other classes while seeking to produce their “best work” for this particular assignment or project. Students who budget their time wisely do not need to be “sick” periodically to finish up work in a particular class.
- Visit with Your Instructor: Students know that instructors are happy to individually help students at available times (ISH, during a teacher’s prep periods or before and after school). Students know that asking for help is a sign of strength….it says the student knows what they do not yet understand. Building relationships with instructors in college is particularly helpful…so practice these skills in high school!
The excellent test taker, after following these study approaches in their daily learning plan now uses some test taking strategies that help them perform their best. See below for Strategies to use while preparing for test day and Techniques to use on test day.
Test Taking Strategies of Excellent Test Takers – Prior to Test Day
Excellent test takers know that while preparation for a test cannot guarantee success, a lack of preparation will almost guarantee a disappointing exam grade. Listed below are approaches and strategies used by excellent test takers prior to test day.
1. Budget Time for Test Review. Student begins to study for the exam at least one or two days before the scheduled test. The student knows that trying to cram over long study periods at the last minute will leave the student tired and unable to do their best. Cramming for a test might benefit short term learning but not long-term understanding and recall. Long study periods are not as effective as multiple small periods of say 20 minutes each spread over several days.
2. Focus. Student knows that effective study time requires focus on the subject at hand with perhaps only some soft background music such as classical music. Students that are multitasking as they “study” are usually listening to favorite popular music, responding to cell phone text and phone messages and/or navigating websites such as Face book. These students are not studying in a manner that will bring about their best performance but they can claim to have studied for hours.
3. Target Learning Objectives. Most instructors routinely tell the class the key learning objective being taught. Instructors routinely test if key learning targets have been mastered by the student. Believe the instructor. Mark in your notes that this is a key concept or issue to master. If the student is not clear on this content, they should ask questions in or outside fo class.
4. Single Frame Graphic. One way to summarize a chapter or unit is to prepare a “single frame” or a single power point slide like graphic that lays out all key points on a single page. In designing and creating this graphic, you will build new connections between the data and begin to see important relationships. Your graphic should use the chapter or unit vocabulary and layout in picture or graphic form the chapter summary. If you could speak for 2-3 minutes using only this single fram graphic, you probably have created pathways to help your brain recall important facts later on test day.
5. Study Group Option. Some students benefit greatly by studying in a group of 2 or 3 students. This can be fun and very helpful as long as the group stays focused. Form a group of students that you are sure will be ready and able to focus – otherwise, don’t waste your time talking with friends and suggesting that you studied for a long time for a test.
Day of Test Procedures to Achieve Best Performance
The night before a test, the student studies in an effective manner and gets a good night’s sleep. This is the day the student has been waiting for to demonstrate what they have learned. Instead of fearing the test, the prepared student welcomes this challenge to demonstrate what they know. Still, there are some procedures to use when taking a test that will help the student achieve their best performance for this content. People who are “good” at taking tests are those students who have adequately prepared and have basic test taking knowledge. Some standard suggestions for taking a test include:
- Do not leave blanks. Most tests count blank responses as automatically wrong. If in doubt ask your instructor.
- Make your best guess and move on. Instructors have seen many times where a student changes a correct response to a wrong response. Go with your initial or intuitive answer unless you suddenly remember a key fact or relationship that gives you a new, better supported answer.
- Beware of NOT and EXCEPT. Many instructors periodically use the concept of not or except in their question. The student is advised to circle these words on the test form to make sure the student is properly interpreting the question. Make sure that you read the question several times to help you understand that the answer is governed by NOT or EXCEPT.
- Ask Questions About Procedure. If you do not understand the question or some type of instruction, please ask the instructor. While each instructor tries to prepare a perfect test, it may not be “perfectly clear” to each student. Please ask – don’t assume.
Test Question Types (True-False, Multiple Choice and Matching)
Some students know that when taking a test, certain types of test questions should be approached differently. The remainder of this Tips sheet offers brief and simple advice to the student who needs to handle certain types of test questions.
True-False Questions.
While this question type is often viewed as "simple", True-False questions are not necessarily simple. Some True-False statements contain partially true statements and some false statements or facts. Remember, if any part of a True-False question is False your response should be False. Some helpful hints when completing these types of questions include:
- Watch for Absolute Words. Look for absolute words like “always”, “never”, “only”. The use of these words often suggest the answer is false as few things, processes etc. are “always”, “only” or “never”.
- Be Suspect of Unfamiliar Terms. Some questions encourage the student to choose one response or the other by using a polished phrase or name that sounds good but may in fact be totally made up. If a student prepared for a test, the student should assume that unfamiliar terms or statements may be included merely as distractions to the correct response. Of course you must have read the book and taken notes to recognize a suspect term or phrase.
Multiple Choice Questions.
This question design is usually viewed as more difficult than a True-False question. The prepared student sees both question forms as easy. The prepared student will see the correct or best answer while immediately knowing options that cannot be true or the best response. Some helpful hints when completing multiple choice type questions include:
- Read the stem-then project the answer. First read the stem (or opening statement) and then ask yourself what you would expect the answer to be. If you find an option that matches your projected answer, it will usually be correct.
- Pay attention to the key words in the stem. The wording in the stem will often point the student to the best answer or help the student narrow the potential choices.
- Read the stem and then each option. If the option read is definitely not the answer, cross it out on the test form. If the option might be the correct answer, do not strike the response. Try to narrow your choices to no more than two best responses.
- Read all the options. Even if you think you know the answer, read all the options. Sometimes, the best answer is “all of the above” or “none of the above.”
- Absolute Words in each option. Words like "all", "never" or "only" often indicate a wrong response. These words can help the student eliminate an option and do well in True-False question types.
Matching Questions.
Another common question type is that of the matching question. The student should determine if the number of available responses equals the number of questions. Many tests have matching of five terms with five definitions. To make this question type a little more difficult, the question form may allow a response to be used more than once or have more options than questions. Under the most common situation where the number of options equals the number of questions, the student should consider the following helpful hints:
· Complete Questions You Know. If there are five terms and five definitions, first do the questions you know. This will narrow down the choices for questions which you may not be sure about initially.
· Look for Hints. Some matching questions will offer word hints or even use a similar phrase to define a specific term. Read the terms carefully and determine if there are hints there for the prepared student.
Short Answer Questions.
Many instructors employ short answer questions. Excellent test takers knows how to handle these questions by remembering to:
· Use an Outline. Even for short answer questions, the prepared student uses a scrap of paper to at least outline their proposed response. This then allows for a redraft when the student offers their test response – one that reflects better grammar and word choice.
· Don’t Repeat the Question. Repeating the question merely tips off the instructor that the student is struggling and this only wastes the student time on the test.
· Terminology. Use related vocabulary to answer the question e.g., if you are in a business law class, use business law terminology to demonstrate your mastery.
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