College 101 – Blog 7 or 8: Test-taking Strategies

If you do not know the material, all the test-taking strategies in the world will not help.  But there are things you can do to be a wise test-taker:

General:

• Look at the whole test before you start so you have an idea of what to expect.
• Plan your time.   For example, if there are four essay questions, divide your time in quarters.  If it is half essay and half multiple choice (MC), divide your time accordingly.
• Use the test to help you answer.  If you have both the essay and MC at the same time, you can use some of the MC questions and answers to prompt your memory for the essay.  (It is possible you will not be able to have both of these parts at the same time to avoid this strategy.  Professors were once students too!)
• If you are anxious, take a deep breath before starting.
• If on scantron, frequently be sure you are on the correct number!

 Essay:

• Read the prompt twice.  Mark-up if allowed to highlight the main points you are to address.
• Take a minute to plan your answer – sometimes if you just jump in and start to write you end up in corner!   If possible, make a quick outline in corner of test page.
• Answer points from prompt in the order they appear.
• Use signal words to help your professor follow along.
• Remember that your job is to show how much you know.  Don’t leave out important information because the professor already knows it!
• If time, reread.

 Multiple Choice:

• If you don’t know the first question, skip and start with one you know.  Once you access your background knowledge you will begin to remember more.
• Use process of elimination – cross off wrong answers.
• Look for best answer – there may be more than one that fits.
• If unsure, use future questions and wrong answers to prompt you to know earlier answers.
• Be careful with prompts containing NOT or EXCEPT.   Often that means you are looking for the wrong answer in the group.
• MC may be very different on a computer.  You do not have the ability to physically cross off the wrong answers.  Programs vary in how they deal  with skipped questions.

True/False:

·       If any one word in wrong it is all false.

This was a long blog, the there is much to consider when taking an exam.  The last blog in this series will address how to stay motivated, even in a class you are not interested in!

*****
First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available in hard copy and as an eBook from amazon.com, and in hard copy from wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

College 101: Blog 6 of 8 - Preparing for exams

Major exams should be announced in the syllabus given at the beginning of the semester.  It is not uncommon for an exam to be rescheduled, usually to a later date so the professor can cover the material covered by the exam.   Here are two scenarios for preparing:

#1 – You have been studying and learning throughout the semester.

• Be sure you know what the exam will cover.
• Be sure you have all of the information.   If you missed a class, get the notes from a student you think will earn an ‘A’ in the class.   You will learn better if you rewrite the notes in your own style.  Hopefully when you were absent you left a few blank pages in order to insert these notes where they belong in the sequence of the information.
• Know the format – essay, multiple choice, short answer, etc.?
• One week prior to exam, go over all notes and identify the main topics.
• Make an over view chart
• Take one topic per day and do an in-depth review including self-testing.
• Each subsequent day review the previous information and do next in depth.
• Last day(s) review all
• When available go to tutoring, professor-led review sessions, or study groups. 

#2 – If you have not been learning all along.

• Do the first three items on scenario #1.
• Identify main topics as above and make a review chart.
• Go through notes and identify subtopics under each main heading.  Write them on chart.
• Depending on time, write next level of material on chart.
• Review chart.  Refer back to notes and textbook for anything you are not sure of.
• Go through chart, cover information and practice self-testing as much as time allows.
• Do NOT stay up all night!! 

Blog 7of 8 will examine the next step – test taking strategies.

*****

First Semester Success, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  The book is now available as an eBook through Amazon.  Click on the upper right link.