Test Taking Strategies
(taken from http://www.studygs.net/)
Test Preparation
To do well on tests you must first learn the material,
and then review it before the test.
These are techniques to better understand your material:
Learning
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Take good notes in your class lectures and textbooks
Review your notes soon after class/lecture
Review notes briefly before the next class
Schedule some time at the end of the week for a longer review
Reviewing
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Take good notes as your teacher tells you what will be on the test
Organize your notes, texts, and assignments according to what
will be on the test
Estimate the hours you'll need to review materials
Draw up a schedule that blocks units of time and material
Test yourself on the material
Finish your studying the day before the exam
Anticipating Test Content
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Pay particular attention to any study guides
that the instructor hands out in class before the exam, or even at the
beginning of the course! For example: key points, particular chapters or
parts of chapters, handouts, etc.
Ask the instructor what to anticipate on the test if he/she does not
volunteer the information
Pay particular attention--just prior to the exam--to points the
instructor brings up during class lectures
Generate a list of possible questions you would ask if you were making
the exam, then see if you can answer the questions
Review previous tests graded by the instructor
Confer with other students to predict what will be on the test
Pay particular attention to clues that indicate an instructor might test
for a particular idea, as when an instructor:
o says something more than once
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writes material on the board
pauses to review notes
asks questions of the class
says, "This will be on the test!"
Review tools for tests
Create study checklists
Identify all of the material that you will be tested on-- list notes, formulas, ideas,
and text assignments you are accountable for. This checklist will enable you to break your
studying into organized, manageable chunks, which should allow for a comprehensive review plan
with minimal anxiety
Create summary notes and "maps"
Briefly map out (see mapping) the important ideas of the course and the
relationships of these ideas. Summary notes should display lists and hierarchies of
ideas. Creativity and a visual framework will help you recall these ideas.
Record your notes
and significant portions of text on audio tapes so you can review material with your
computer. Having a tape of important information will enable you to study while walking or
relaxing in a nonacademic environment
Create flashcards
for definitions, formulas, or lists that you need to have memorized--put topics on
one side of the card, answers on the other. Flashcards will enable you to test your ability to
not only recognize important information, but also your ability to retrieve information from scratch
Dealing with Test Anxiety
Most students experience some level of anxiety during an exam
However, when anxiety affects exam performance it has become a problem.
General preparation/building confidence:
Review your personal situation and skills
Academic counselors can help you in these areas, or refer to our Guides on the topic:
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Developing good study habits and strategies (a link to our directory)
Managing time (dealing with procrastination, distractions, laziness)
Organizing material to be studied and learned. Take a step by step
approach to build a strategy and not get overwhelmed
Outside pressures success/failure consequences (grades, graduation),
peer pressure, competitiveness, etc.
Reviewing your past performance on tests to improve and learn from
experience
Test preparation to reduce anxiety:
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Approach the exam with confidence: Use whatever strategies you can to
personalize success: vizualization, logic, talking to your self, practice, team
work, journaling, etc. View the exam as an opportunity to show how much
you've studied and to receive a reward for the studying you've done
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Be prepared! Learn your material thoroughly and organize what
materials you will need for the test. Use a checklist
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Choose a comfortable location for taking the test with good lighting and
minimal distractions
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Allow yourself plenty of time, especially to do things you need to do
before the test and still get there a little early
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Avoid thinking you need to cram just before
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Strive for a relaxed state of concentration Avoid speaking with any
fellow students who have not prepared, who express negativity, who
will distract your preparation
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A program of exercise is said to sharpen the mind
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Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam
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Don't go to the exam with an empty stomach
Fresh fruits and vegetables are often recommended to reduce stress.
Stressful foods can include processed foods, artificial sweeteners, carbonated
soft drinks, chocolate, eggs, fried foods, junk foods, pork, red meat, sugar,
white flour products, chips and similar snack foods, foods containing
preservatives or heavy spices
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Take a small snack, or some other nourishment to help take your mind
off of your anxiety. Avoid high sugar content (candy) which may aggravate
your condition< relaxation>
During the test:
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Read the directions carefully
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Budget your test taking time
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Change positions to help you relax
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If you go blank, skip the question and go on
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If you're taking an essay test and you go blank on the whole test, pick a
question and start writing. It may trigger the answer in your mind
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Don't panic when students start handing in their papers. There's no
reward for being the first done
If you find yourself tensing and getting anxious during the test
< relaxation>
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< relaxation>Relax; you are in control. Take slow, deep breaths
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Don't think about the fear Pause: think about the next step and keep on
task, step by step
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< relaxation>Use positive reinforcement for yourself: Acknowledge
that you have done, and are doing, your best
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Expect some anxiety It's a reminder that you want to do your best and
can provide energy Just keep it manageable
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Realize that anxiety can be a "habit" and that it takes practice to use it
as a tool to succeed
After the test, r< relaxation>eview how you did
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List what worked, and hold onto these strategies
It does not matter how small the items are: they are building
blocks to success
List what did not work for improvement
Celebrate that you are on the road to overcoming this obstacle
If you are aware that you have a problem with test anxiety, be sure your teacher or
instructor knows before any testing begins (and not the hour before!). There may be
other options to evaluate your knowledge or performance within the subject matter.
Organizing for tests
Begin reviewing early
This will give your brain time to get comfortable with the information
Conduct short daily review sessions
You can ease into a more intense review session prior to major exams
Read text assignments before lectures
This will help you identify concepts that the professor considers important and that are
already somewhat familiar
Review notes immediately after lectures
This will help you identify information that you do not understand while the lecture is
still fresh in your memory--and other students' memories as well. When you review
immediately, you'll have time to clarify information with other students
Review with a group
This will enable you to cover important material that you may overlook on your own
Conduct a major review early enough to allow for a visit to the instructor during his
office hours if necessary
Break up the study tasks into manageable chunks,
especially during major reviews prior to exams.
Studying three hours in the morning and three in the evening will be more effective
than studying at a six hour stretch. Studying while you are mentally fatigued is usually
a waste of time
Study the most difficult material when you are alert
Tips for Better Test Taking
When you take a test,
you are demonstrating your ability to understand course material or perform certain
tasks. Successful test taking avoids carelessness.
Examples of objective tests are true-false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank.
Examples of subjective texts are short answer, essay, or oral exams
NB: If you have any doubts about the fairness of tests,
or of the ability of tests to measure your performance,
please see your academic counseling service.
These suggestions may help you avoid careless errors!
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Prepare:
Analyze your past test results
Each test can further prepare you for the next test.
Use your tests to review when studying for final exams
Arrive early for tests
Bring all the materials you will need such as pencils and pens, a calculator, a
dictionary, and a watch.This helps you focus on the task at hand
Be comfortable but alert
Choose a good spot and make sure you have enough room to work, maintain
comfortable posture but don't "slouch"
Stay relaxed and confident
Remind yourself that you are well-prepared and are going to do well. If you
find yourself anxious, take several slow, deep breaths to relax
Don't talk about the test to other students just before it; anxiety is contagious
Test Taking:
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Read the directions carefully
This may be obvious, but it will help you avoid careless errors If there is time,
quickly look through the test for an overview Note key terms, jot down brief
notes
Answer questions in a strategic order:
First easy questions to build confidence, score points, and mentally orient
yourself to vocabulary, concepts, and your studies (it may help you make
associations with more difficult questions)
 Then difficult questions or those with the most point value With objective tests,
first eliminate those answers you know to be wrong, or are likely to be wrong,
don't seem to fit, or where two options are so similar as to be both incorrect
With essay/subjective questions, broadly outline your answer and sequence the
order of your points
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Review:
Resist the urge to leave as soon as you have completed all the items
Review your test to make sure that you have answered all questions, not mismarked the answer sheet, or made some other simple mistake
Proofread your writing for spelling, grammar, punctuation, decimal points, etc.
Change answers to questions if you originally misread them
or if you have encountered information elsewhere in the test that indicates that
your first choice is incorrect
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Decide on and adopt study strategies that worked best for you
Identify those that didn't work well and replace them.
Multiple Choice Tests
Multiple choice questions usually include a phrase or stem
followed by three to five options:
Test strategies:
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Read the directions carefully
Know if each question has one or more correct option
Know if you are penalized for guessing
Know how much time is allowed (this governs your strategy)
 Preview the test
Read through the test quickly and answer the easiest questions first
Mark those you think you know in some way that is appropriate
 Read through the test a second time and answer more difficult questions
You may pick up cues for answers from the first reading, or become more
comfortable in the testing situation
 If time allows, review both questions and answers
It is possible you mis-read questions the first time
Answering options
Improve your odds, think critically:
Cover the options, read the stem, and try to answer
Select the option that most closely matches your answer
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Read the stem with each option
Treat each option as a true-false question, and choose the "most true"
Strategies to answer difficult questions:
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Eliminate options you know to be incorrect
If allowed, mark words or alternatives in questions that eliminate
the option
Give each option of a question the "true-false test:"
This may reduce your selection to the best answer
Question options that grammatically don't fit with the stem
Question options that are totally unfamiliar to you
Question options that contain negative or absolute words.
Try substituting a qualified term for the absolute one, like
frequently for always; or typical for every to see if you can
eliminate it
"All of the above:"
If you know two of three options seem correct, "all of the above"
is a strong possibility
Number answers:
toss out the high and low and consider the middle range numbers
"Look alike options"
probably one is correct; choose the best but eliminate choices
that mean basically the same thing, and thus cancel each other
out
Double negatives:
Create the equivalent positive statement and consider
Echo options:
If two options are opposite each other, chances are one of them
is correct
Favor options that contain qualifiers
The result is longer, more inclusive items that better fill the role
of the answer
If two alternatives seem correct,
compare them for differences,
then refer to the stem to find your best answer
Guessing:
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Always guess when there is no penalty
for guessing or you can eliminate options
Don't guess if you are penalized for guessing
and if you have no basis for your choice
Use hints from questions you know
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to answer questions you do not.
Change your first answers
when you are sure of the correction, or other cues in the test cue
you to change.
Remember that you are looking for the best answer,
not only a correct one, and not one which must be true all of the time, in all cases, and
without exception
Short Answer Tests
An instructor's primary purpose
in giving a short-answer test is to cover the material.
Go over your notes and the assigned reading:
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Prepare for the test
by studying off of summary sheets that are packed with
information within condensed space. Try to categorize the
material
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Use grammatical clues
within a statement as hints for the correct answer
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If you can think of several answers
for a blank or short answer question, let the instructor know.
The instructor may give you a clue to the correct answer he/she's
looking for
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A guess made with common sense
could get you more test points than if you leave an answer blank.
Don't be a smart aleck if you guess
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Write your short answers in simple, telegraphic sentences.
Packing as much information as you can is more important than
literary style.
The Essay Exam
Organization and neatness have merit
Before writing out the exam:
Set up a time schedule
to answer each question and to review/edit all questions
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If six questions are to be answered in sixty minutes, allow
yourself only seven minutes for each
If questions are "weighted", prioritize that into your time
allocation for each question
When the time is up for one question, stop writing, leave space,
and begin the next question. The incomplete answers can be
completed during the review time
Six incomplete answers will usually receive more credit than
three, complete ones
Read through the questions once and note if you have any choice in answering
questions
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Pay attention to how the question is phrased, or to the
"directives", or words such as "compare", "contrast", "criticize",
etc. See their definitions in "Essay terms"
Answers will come to mind immediately for some questions
Write down their key words, listings, etc, as they are fresh in
mind. Otherwise these ideas may be blocked (or be unavailable)
when the time comes to write the later questions. This will
reduce "clutching" or panic (anxiety, actually fear which disrupts
thoughts).
Before attempting to answer a question, put it in your own words
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Now compare your version with the original.
Do they mean the same thing? If they don't, you've misread the
question. You'll be surprised how often they don't agree.
Think before you write:
Make a brief outline for each question
Number the items in the order you will discuss them
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Get right to the point
State your main point in the first sentence
Use your first paragraph to provide an overview of your essay.
Use the rest of your essay to discuss these points in more detail.
Back up your points with specific information, examples, or
quotations from your readings and notes
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Teachers are influenced by compactness, completeness and
clarity of an organized answer
Writing in the hope that the right answer will somehow turn up
is time-consuming and usually futile
To know a little and to present that little well is, by and large,
superior to knowing much and presenting it poorly--when judged
by the grade received.
Writing & answering:
Begin with a strong first sentence
that states the main idea of your essay.
Continue this first paragraph by presenting key points
Develop your argument
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Begin each paragraph
with a key point from the introduction
Develop each point
in a complete paragraph
Use transitions,
or enumerate, to connect your points
Hold to your time
allocation and organization
Avoid very definite statements
when possible; a qualified statement connotes a philosophic
attitude, the mark of an educated person
Qualify answers when in doubt.
It is better to say "toward the end of the 19th century" than to say
"in 1894" when you can't remember, whether it's 1884 or 1894.
In many cases, the approximate time is all that is wanted;
unfortunately 1894, though approximate, may be incorrect, and
will usually be marked accordingly.
Summarize in your last paragraph
Restate your central idea and indicate why it is important.
Review:
Complete questions left incomplete,
but allow time to review all questions
Review, edit, correct
misspellings, incomplete words and sentences, miswritten dates and numbers.
Not enough time?
Outline your answers