Test Taking Strategies - PowerPoint

							   Test Taking Strategies

    This is a compendium of ideas from
 various sources to help you to do well on
tests and to help you to teach your students
        about successful test-taking
                                   Short Answer
      •   Taking the Short Answer Test
      •
      •   Step 1: Read the question carefully to understand what it asks. Underlining key
          words often will focus your attention.
      •   Step 2: Start your answer by making a PROMISE that includes key words from
          question and your general answer.
      •   Step 3: Keep the promise with a REASON, EXAMPLE, or EXPLANATION.
      •   Step 4: REINFORCE the logical train of thought that the first two steps establish
          with a MORE SPECIFIC EXAMPLE, REASON, OR EXPLANATION.
      •   Let's look at a sample question from a History 001 test. Can you see where the
          answer addresses all four steps?
      •   What was the significance of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.? Who was
          involved in leading this conference?
      •   The Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. met at the order of Constantine (the Great) of
          Rome and was significant because it marked the first time that leaders of the
          Eastern and Western church came together to solve a mutual problem. In this case,
          the problem was renouncing Arianism by adopting a creed or test of faith that
          stated the divinity of Christ the Son and His position of equality with the Trinity.
      •   As you prepare for a short answer test, come up with your own practice questions
          so you can rehearse for the final.

http://www.eop.mu.edu/study/ShortAnswer.html
                        Multiple-choice tests
      • MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS:
      • Read the questions carefully.
      • Always try to guess what the answer is BEFORE you look at the choices.
      • If you are unsure about an answer, eliminate what it CAN'T be. Try to
        remember if any of the answers left are related to that subject. Do you
        remember seeing that word in the chapter?
        If you have never heard of a choice it is probably a distracter. If you can
        not recognize a choice then it is probably NOT the answer.
      • After eliminating all other choices, lake a logical guess. At least you have
        narrowed down the odds of getting the answer correct. Remember, the
        first guess is usually more reliable unless you obtain a major revelation
        along the way.
      • If after a few seconds you are still perplexed, mark the question so you
        can find it easier later and go on with the test. Sometimes the answer
        you're looking for is given in a different problem. Go back to that
        question later.
      • NEVER leave a multiple choice question blank. You have a 20-25%
        chance of getting it right by guessing.

http://www.eop.mu.edu/study/BiologyExam.html
                Multiple-choice Questions
      • ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE QUESTIONS: If 2
        or more of the answers are correct, then the
        all-of-the-above option is the correct answer,
        EVEN IF you are unsure of the third option.
      • LOOK-ALIKE OPTIONS: Sometimes there
        are 2 options that are alike except for one
        word. Such a pair indicates that the question is
        focused there. USUALLY, not always, you
        can assume the answer is one of that pair.

http://www.eop.mu.edu/study/BiologyExam.html
    General Test-taking Strategies
• Remember Maslow: make sure your basic needs are
  taken care of. Get plenty of sleep—don’t cram all
  night. Eat a meal prior to the test that doesn’t cause
  your blood sugar to spike and fall off sharply (eat
  fruits and vegetables rather than Twinkies and
  candybars). If it is okay to do so, bring something to
  eat during the test.
• Arrive early so being late will not add to your
  anxiety. Use multiple alarm clocks and get your
  mother to give you a wake-up call.
    General test-taking strategies
• Wear a watch, particularly for timed tests.
  This is critical for Praxis II.
            General test-taking strategies
    • Bring everything you'll need to class with
      you. There's nothing worse than being
      unprepared and spending your time searching
      for a pen or pencil.




http://712educators.about.com/cs/assessment/qt/teststrategies.htm
        General test-taking strategies
 • READ THE DIRECTIONS
 • READ THE DIRECTIONS
 • READ THE DIRECTIONS

 • OH—AND READ EACH QUESTION
   CAREFULLY
The only way to get full credit for what you know is to answer questions as
completely as possible. This can only happen if you READ the directions and the
questions.
            General test-taking strategies
     • Look over the whole test so you can see what
       you will need to do and perhaps choose which
       part you will do first.
     • Do a quick "mind dump" of information you
       don't want to forget. Write it down on scrap
       paper or in the margin.



http://www.bucks.edu/~specpop/tests.htm
              General test-taking strategies
      • 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


http://www.studygs.net/tsttak1.htm
         General test-taking strategies
 • Every time you skip a question, be sure to
   mark it. How many times have you left an
   answer blank by accident? Ouch--what a
   waste. Be sure to make a star beside questions
   if you skip them. Don't leave any blanks.




http://homeworktips.about.com/od/schooltests/a/tips.htm
              Plan for your test
• Break the materials down and study one part each
  day. This means you have to PLAN some time in
  advance and you need to be disciplined about
  working every day.
• Each day test yourself on previous days’ studying.
• If you do this, you will approach the test with much
  greater confidence.
• Confidence will help you to make good decisions.
• Anxiety produces poor decisions. Do what you can
  to avoid anxiety by preparing for the test beforehand.
                              Plan for your test
        • Where possible, simulate test conditions. Create test
          questions for yourself or use materials in the book, old tests,
          or quizzes you find on-line (my guess is that you can find
          quizzes about almost anything on-line).
        • Time yourself so you can practice being under test conditions.
        • Try to analyze your struggles. Are you getting answers
          wrong because you lack information? Or, are you getting
          answers wrong because you are having trouble warping your
          brain along the lines of the test? If you lack information, then
          you need to study more. If you know the information but are
          still getting things wrong, you need to analyze how the test
          questions are constructed and work on test-taking strategies.
Go to http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/checklis.html for a way of figuring out where some of the
difficulties might be.
                 Plan for your test
• Do NOT study passively—passing your eyes over a bunch of
  text, hoping some of it sticks in your brain. It won’t. That’s
  like sleeping with your book under your pillow, hoping to
  learn by osmosis. It doesn’t work (I was so desperate once
  that I tried it).
• Remember that people learn best when they have access to the
  same information visually, aurally, and kinesthetically.
• Therefore: read (visual), write (visual AND kinesthetic), draw
  pictures and diagrams (visual), read out loud (aural), talk
  (aural), make a podcast of information to play on your mp3
  player (aural), use sign language—official or your own made
  up version (kinesthetic).
• P.S. Help your students learn to do this also.
            Plan for your test
• One of the common test-taking strategies is to
  underline key words. The question becomes,
  what is a key word?
• You need to practice this, especially if you
  have struggled with test-taking in the past.
  Find a sample test in the area, underline key
  words, and then go talk to someone (a student
  who is good at test taking or a professor)
  about this to see if you were right.
            Plan for your test
• Now that you know your key words, you need
  to practice understanding what they mean,
  particularly in the context of a test.
• Try defining them. Then check your
  definitions with an expert (student who does
  well with tests or professor). Ask yourself,
  “why did the author of the test use this word
  here? What is this word asking me to do?”
                                      Studying
    •   1. Set aside a place for study and study only!
    •   A. Find a specific place (or places) that you can use for studying (for example, the
        campus libraries, vacant classrooms, quiet areas in the student center, bedroom at
        home, etc.)
    •   B. Make a place specific to studying. You are trying to build a habit of studying
        when you are in this place. So, don't use your study space for social conversations,
        writing letters, daydreaming, etc.
    •   C. Insure that your study area has the following:
    •   good lighting
    •   ventilation
    •   a comfortable chair, but not too comfortable
    •   a desk large enough to spread out your materials
    •   D. Insure that your study area does not have the following:
    •   a distracting view of other activities that you want to be involved in
    •   a telephone
    •   a loud stereo
    •   a 27-inch color TV
    •   a roommate or friend who wants to talk a lot
    •   a refrigerator stocked with scrumptious goodies

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/concentr.html
                               Studying
• 2. Divide your work into small, short-range goals.
• A. Don't set a goal as vague and large as ... "I am going to spend all day
  Saturday studying!" You will only set yourself up for failure and
  discouragement.
• B. Take the time block that you have scheduled for study and set a
  reachable study goal. (for example: finish reading 3 sections of chapter
  seven in my Psych. text, or complete one math problem, or write the
  rough draft of the introduction to my English paper, etc.)
• C. Set your goal when you sit down to study but before you begin to
  work.
• Set a goal that you can reach. You may, in fact, do more than your
  goal but set a reasonable goal even if it seems too easy.




http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/concentr.html
                          Time management
      • Planning for a test requires you to manage your time.
      • Each evening, you need to plan the next day,
        thinking about what you want to accomplish in
        relation to long- and short-term goals and how much
        time you have.
      • Planning time is a lot like budgeting money: you
        often find that you have more things you want to buy
        than money to buy them with. In that case, you have
        to prioritize.

Visit http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/TMInteractive.html for a helpful time management tool.
             Time management
• Even with the best of planning, situations arise that
  take more time than you planned. You may have to
  reprioritize the rest of your day.
• However, you might find that you can PREVENT
  time problems with proper planning. For example,
  running out of gas can throw your whole schedule
  out of whack. Yet running out of gas is something
  that can be prevented with good planning.
               Perfectionism
• Oftentimes, people who have a strong desire
  to do very well have a difficult time getting
  started. It’s very hard to start doing
  something when you are afraid of doing it
  wrong.
• Remember that anything you do towards
  studying is better than nothing, even if it is
  not perfect.
  An example of an extreme exam
• I knew someone who had to study for the exam that allows a
  person to become a veterinary pathologist.
• The exam is three DAYS in length. It involves examining
  tissues under a microscope (being able to tell species of
  animal, organ from which the tissue was drawn, as well as the
  disease), as well as multiple-choice questions about a huge
  range of professional literature.
• People studying for this exam have to read and digest years’
  worth of information printed in professional journals. They
  have to practice looking at tissue samples under the
  microscope across a huge range of species, organs, and
  diseases.
• As you might imagine, most people do not pass all sections of
  the exam the first time.
                Extreme exam
• This person elected to study four hours a day for six
  months. She elected to make sure she spent time
  every day doing some fun things as well.
• She followed this schedule and passed the exam the
  first time.
• Moral of the story: When you have a large task to
  do, break it down into manageable pieces and don’t
  burn yourself out by thinking about it 24 hours a
  day.