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Test Taking: Strategies

The document provides strategies for preparing for and taking tests. It recommends studying the textbook, lecture notes, or both depending on what the test covers. When studying, focus on key terms, chapter summaries and outlines. It's important to begin studying a week before the test and get a good night's sleep. During the test, read questions carefully, use strategies like process of elimination and show your work. For essays, form a thesis, outline supporting points and answer all parts of the question. Following these strategies can help ensure you do well on tests.

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JENNIFER PAOLA ECHEVERRY
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125 views4 pages

Test Taking: Strategies

The document provides strategies for preparing for and taking tests. It recommends studying the textbook, lecture notes, or both depending on what the test covers. When studying, focus on key terms, chapter summaries and outlines. It's important to begin studying a week before the test and get a good night's sleep. During the test, read questions carefully, use strategies like process of elimination and show your work. For essays, form a thesis, outline supporting points and answer all parts of the question. Following these strategies can help ensure you do well on tests.

Uploaded by

JENNIFER PAOLA ECHEVERRY
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TEST TAKING

STRATEGIES
Test taking is a process. There are things you should do before ever
seeing the test. There are things you should do when you get the test.
It’s kind of like a game. If you use the best strategy you will probably
win.

WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE TEST


Study. Study what? Ask your instructor. Is the test based on the
textbook, the lectures, or a combination?

If the test is based on the textbook, re-read the summaries of each


chapter on the test. Make sure you can define key words (usually listed
in the back of the chapter). Look at the outline for the chapter (either in
the table of contents or in the front of each chapter). In the outline, all
of the major ideas are listed. Make sure you can describe all of these
major ideas. You can even do some of the review or practice exercises
found at the end of most textbook chapters.

If the test is based on the lectures, ask your instructor for exam review
notes. You want to get specific about what will be on the exam from all
the things that the instructor has said so far. Make an appointment with
the instructor and ask what specifically will be on the exam. Then
review all of those concepts and definitions.

If the test is based on a combination of textbook and lectures,


follow the advice for lectures above. And study the chapters as well. But
make sure you ask the instructor how to focus your study on what will
actually be on the exam.

When to study is as equally important as what to study. You should


begin your study as much as a week before the exam. Cramming at the
last minute is a plan for failure. Spreading your study over several days
means you will learn the material more deeply.

Then, get a good night’s sleep before the exam. Studying until the wee
hours of the morning is not as helpful as you think.

WHAT TO DO DURING THE TEST


Now the test is sitting in front of you. What should you do?

Take a deep breath and quickly scan the test. You will likely have a
combination of multiple choice, true or false, short answer, and essay.
Here are some strategies for each type of question.

For multiple choice questions, follow these four simple guidelines:


1. Read the entire question. This is the number one mistake that
people make. Don’t assume anything. Take time to read the
question carefully.
2. Mentally answer the question. This will eliminate the chance of
picking the wrong answer or talking yourself out of the right
answer. Force yourself to answer the question in your mind and
then look for the answer on the test.
3. Eliminate answers you are sure are wrong. If you can’t find the
right answer, use the process of elimination and narrow down your
guess. Usually college course exams don’t penalize you for guessing.
4. Watch out for important words. “Always” and “never” mean
100% of the time. If you can find an instance where something
doesn’t fit the always/never description, then the answer is not
correct. If you find two answers that you know for sure are correct,
then you know that the “all of the above” answer is right.

For true/false questions, follow these four guidelines:

1. Every part of a true sentence must be true. If part of it is false,


it’s false, period.
2. Negatives can be confusing. Words like, nothing, not, and never”
can really blur your thinking. To make it clearer, drop the negatives
from the sentence and think about the answer. The answer will
then be the opposite with the negatives back in.
3. Watch for clues. Words like “sometimes, often, frequently,
ordinarily, generally” make a statement much more likely to be
true. Words like “"No, never, none, always, every, entirely, only" are
absolutes and are more likely to be false. Be careful, it doesn’t
always go this way. But if you have to guess…
4. If you have to guess, most instructors tend to have more true
questions than false. But your money on true if you have no idea.
The rare, tricky instructor who knows this might just ruin your day.
But, as they say in Hunger Games, “May the odds be always in your
favor.”

For short-answer questions, follow these four guidelines:

1. No blanks. Show your work/write down your thoughts, even if


you don't get the exact answer, partial credit is usually awarded.
2. Move on and come back. If you don't know the answer, come
back to it after you finish the rest of the test and make an educated
guess. Other parts of the test may give you clues to what the
answer may be.
3. Ask the instructor. If you can think of more than one answer for a
question, ask the instructor what to do.
4. Read the question carefully and make sure that you answer
everything that it asks for. Some short answer questions have
multiple parts.

For essay questions, here are some guidelines from the University
of Washington. This is the most complex and takes the most
preparation.

1. Perform a "memory dump." Write down all the information you


have had to memorize for the exam in note form.
2. Read the questions and instructions carefully. Read over all the
questions on the exam. If you simply answer each question as you
encounter it, you may give certain information or evidence to one
question that is more suitable for another. Be sure to identify all
parts of the question.
3. Formulate a thesis that answers the question. You can use the
wording from the question. There is not time for an elaborate
introduction, but be sure to introduce the topic, your argument, and
how you will support your thesis (do this in your first paragraph).
4. Organize your supporting points. Before you proceed with the
body of the essay, write an outline that summarizes your main
supporting points. Check to make sure you are answering all parts
of the question. Coherent organization is one of the most important
characteristics of a good essay.

TO SUMMARIZE
The strategies are not complicated. Most are summarized below.

• Read carefully.
• Pay attention to special words.
• Come back to questions you can’t answer right away.
• Don’t leave anything blank.

If you study hard over a few days, get a good night’s sleep before the
test, and are careful when you take it, you should do fine. If you want a
higher grade next time, sit down with the instructor and go over the
test. Find out where you can improve and move on.

Again, it’s like a game. Learn to play the game well and you will be a
winner.

If you would like more ideas, come to the Gateway Center or contact
me at [email protected].

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