University of Texas – Pan American Department of Social Work

University of Texas – Pan AmericanDepartment of Social Work Social Work License Exam Preparation Workshop April 19, 24 & 26, 2008

Presenters • Lydia Arizmendi, J.D., MSW • Sonja Arredondo, LMSW • Alonzo Cavazos, Ed.D., LCSW • Catherine Faver, Ph.D., MSW • Janis Feldman, Ph.D., LCSW • Kristina Church, MSSW • Estela Sosa-Garza, LCSW • Sharon Pittman, Ph.D. • Shirley Rombough, Ph.D., MSW

Test Taking Strategies April 19, 2008 9:00am – 10:00am Alonzo Cavazos, Ed.D., LCSW

Test Taking Strategies • General tips • Strategies for studying for the test • Strategies for responding to questions • Other Strategies

General Tips • Analyze your past test resultsEach test can further prepare you for the next test.If available, use old tests to review when preparing for an exam. • Arrive early for testsBring all the materials you will need such as pencils and pens, a calculator, a dictionary, and a watch (if allowed). This helps you focus on the task at hand. • Be comfortable but alertChoose a good spot and make sure you have enough room to work, maintain comfortable posture but don't "slouch" • Stay relaxed and think positively (be 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.

Strategies for studying for the test • Find a study partner OR form a study group • Divide the material to be covered (some content areas have more questions on the exam) • Share notes and information with each other

Strategies for studying for the test Divide you study time among the different areas: • Priority #1 – greatest portion of the exam & with the section that you have the least familiarity. • Priority #2 -- focus on area that makes up a lesser portion of the exam that you know the least about. • Priority #3 – focus on greatest portion of the exam & with which you have the greatest familiarity. • Priority #4 – focus on area that makes up a lesser portion of the exam & that you know the most about.

LMSW Exam Content(section with 7% or greater) • Direct and Indirect Practice – 22% • HBSE – 18% • Assessment, Diagnosis & Intervention Planning – 11% • Professional Values & Ethics – 11% • Supervision, Administration, & Policy – 8% • Diversity – 7% • Communication – 7%

Direct and Indirect Practice • Intervention models and methods • The intervention process • Intervention techniques • Intervention with couples and families • Intervention with groups • Intervention with communities and larger systems • Consultation & interdisciplinary collaboration

Strategies for studying for the test(continued) • Make sure you carefully examine each question….watch for qualifying words such as best, most, least likely, first step, etc. • Skip 1st question you don’t know; move to the next question. When you come to the 3rd question you need to skip, go back and answer the skipped questions.

Test Simulation – encountering first 5 questions • Know the answer • Don’t know the answer (Skip to next question) • Don’t know the answer (Skip) • Know the answer • Don’t know (return to number 2 and answer the 3 questions that you skipped)

Strategies for studying for the test(continued) • Most questions will have at least 2 “good” answers. Do not answer a question based solely on the practice agency where you work. Questions are designed to cover a broad range of practice settings. • Test Question: In most states, the vast majority of children in placement reside in: • Institutions • Foster homes • Group homes • Detention centers

Suggestions • Accept the question at face value (don’t read anything into question) • On client related questions – the client’s safety comes first • Your first “considered” choice is probably the correct response • Consider what social work principle or theory is being tested

If a question does not have one answer that is clearly the correct answer, eliminate all but the two best answers. And then… • If an answer refers specifically to assessment, choose this one. • In general, do not choose an answer that contains extreme wording such as always, never, must, etc. --- There are a few exceptions (“It is never appropriate to engage in sexual activity with a client.”) • Select the answer that was your initial guess. • If an answer has more professional wording, choose that one.

Focus on answer that refers specifically to assessment Following an initial visit to an elderly client, social worker notifies the client that they will meet again in six weeks. The next day and for several subsequent days the client continues to call the worker. The client’s questions seem contrived and trivial and do not concern significant or pressing issues. The worker should. • Answer the questions and not schedule another appointment. • Reflect to the client that her anxiety is causing her to make the calls. • Ask the client if she would like to schedule an earlier visit. • Transfer the case.

The correct answer is “c” – ask client if she wants earlier interview Communication includes both manifest and latent content. Answering the client’s questions responds only to the manifest content, not the underlying message that there may be a desire for more contact.

Test Question – professional wording A social worker who uses a behavioral approach to assessment and treatment will usually be most concerned with:a. Applying treatment methods that are simple to apply and easily understood by the client. b. Interventions that are based on empirical research and produce observable and measurable results. c. Rapid progress that encourages further change. d. Changing the client’s thought patterns through repetitive exercises.

The correct answer is “b” • A social worker who uses a behavioral approach to assessment and treatment will usually be most concerned with interventions that are based on empirical research and produce observable and measurable results.

Multiple choice questions usually include a phrase or stem followed by 3 – 5 options Test strategies: • Read the question (directions) carefully Know if each question has one or more correct option.If possible, read through the entire test quickly and answer the easiest questions first. Mark those you think you know in some way that is appropriate. • If possible, 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 optionsImprove your odds, think critically… Cover the options, read the stem, and try to answerSelect the option that most closely matches your answer • Read the stem with each optionTreat each option as a true-false question, and choose the "most true"

Test Question In a beginning interview with a client, the purpose of asking questions is to: • Probe the client’s unconscious feelings. • Obtain information about the presenting problem. • Direct and focus the client’s conversation on the client’s personal and family history. • Find out if the client really wants help.

The correct answer is “b” b. Obtain information about the presenting problem. • Understanding the presenting problem as the client experiences it is the first step in a social work intervention.

Read the stem with each optionTreat each option as a true-false question A client’s capacity to enter into a social work relationship cannot usually be determined by • emotional and personality make-up • age • judgment • intelligence

The Correct Answer is “b” - Age • Most human beings, regardless of age, are capable of entering into a relationship. Age will more accurately reveal how the person may enter into a relationship, based on developmental expectations, rather than whether they are capable of a relationship.

Strategies to answer difficult questions • Eliminate options you know to be incorrectIf 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

Test Question An infant showing drug withdrawal symptoms at birth is ready for foster care placement following medical treatment and court action. To prepare the prospective foster parents, the social worker should • Not mention the infant’s drug background so as not to precipitate feelings of bias. • Inform them of the infant’s drug background, and the treatments provided, and answer any questions about the medical issues the child may present. • Inform them that they baby may have some medical problems and give them instructions about how to proceed. • Inform them of biological mother’s drug addiction, and that they should not worry about any potential medical problems.

The correct answer is “b” b. Inform them of the infant’s drug background, and the treatments provided, and answer any questions about the medical issues the child may present. • This is both an ethical and a practice question. The foster parents have a right to full disclosure of the infant’s condition. Moreover, in order for them to properly care for the child they need to have complete information. Holding back or minimizing is an ethical breach and is poor practice.

Strategies to answer difficult questions • 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

Question options that contain negative or absolute words When considering Native American customs and developing treatment or service plans, social workers should understand that • all Indians have the same culture and that tribal differences are minor. • there are important reasons why Indians never integrated into American culture. • with more than 500 tribal groups, there are substantial cultural and social differences among Indian groups. • it is important for Indians to separate from the traditional culture if they want to succeed economically.

Correct Answer is “c” c. with more than 500 tribal groups, there are substantial cultural and social differences among Indian groups. There are many similarities among Indian groups, but there are important cultural, geographic, economic and tribal differences that are considered in diagnosis and treatment.

“All of the above"If you know two of three options seem correct, "all of the above" is a strong possibility Test Question Group leaders are expected to protect confidentiality of members by: • Clearly defining what confidentiality means. • Explaining to members why is it important. • Discussing the difficulties involved in its enforcement. • All of the above.

The correct answer is “d” – all of the above

Number Answers:toss out the high & low and consider the middle range numbers The optimum “span of control” by a supervisor is: • 1-3 persons • 10-12 persons • 5-9 persons • 11-15 persons

The Correct Answer is “c” c. 5-9 persons

Strategies to answer difficult questions • "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 qualifiersThe 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

Echo options:If two options are opposite each other, chances are one of them is correct • There are many different types of groups that social workers lead. The type of group most associated with self-improvement and opportunities to expand self-awareness is • the therapeutic group • the socialization group • the growth group • the recreational group

The correct answer is “c” – the growth group

Guessing • Reject answers that use specific determiners such as: everyone, always, never, etc. • Look for grammatical inconsistencies which may help eliminate wrong answers. • Choose the longest, most precise answer. • Choose the answer that is in the middle. • Choose answers which use qualifying terms such as: often, most, etc. • Choose the answer which first caught your eye.

When guessing -- choose the longest, most precise answer • In treating a client with a narcissistic personality disorder, the social worker most frequently becomes • the object of the client’s libidinal impulses. • an object of the client’s anger. • idealized by the client to fulfill functions that have remained unfulfilled by the client’s parents. • angered by the client’s projections.

The correct answer is “c” --- idealized by the client to fulfill functions that have remained unfulfilled by the client’s parents. Narcissistic personality disorder develops, according to Self Psychology theory, as a result of difficulty during a time when the child needs to feel invincible and needs to experience the parents as perfect. In the relationship with the worker, the client will need to transform the worker into a parent figure as an audience for her grandiosity, or as a perfect parent substitute.

Choose the answer that is in the middle Which condition is known to have a genetic cause? • hypoglycemia • autism • downs syndrome • obsessive-compulsive behavior

Correct Answer is “c” Downs Syndrome can be detected by a pre-natal test – amniocentesis. In this test, amniotic fluid is withdrawn from the uterus and tested for genetic abnormalities.

More on Guessing Rely on your first impressions. • The answer which comes to mind first is often correct. • Nervously reviewing questions and changing answers can do more harm than good.

Answering multiple choice questions: A review • Read the question before you look at the answers. • Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers, this way the choices given on the test won't throw you off or trick you. • Eliminate answers you know aren't right. • Read all the choices before choosing your answer. • In "None of the above" choices, if you are certain one of the statements is true don't choose "None of the above". • A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one. • Usually the correct answer is the choice with the most information.

Direct Practice – test question • A client’s wife calls her husband’s social worker for information concerning her husband’s emotional problems. The first thing the social worker would most likely say to her would be • That the relationship is confidential and any information would have to come from her husband. • To probe why she was asking. • To ask her if anything has created a concern. • To suggest that she not interfere since it could have a detrimental effect.

Correct answer “b” • Why is “b” the best answer? The question stem stresses “the first thing” Focusing on why she is calling enables the social worker to deal with relationship and formulate an assessment.

Test Question • The basic difference between social workers and psychiatrists is • Social workers primarily use verbal methods and interpersonal relationships to modify attitudes and behavior. • Use of groups by social workers to facilitate change. • The different patient populations served by each profession. • None of the above.

Correct answer is “a” • Why • Strategy – when none of above is an option, you can rule this out if one of the choices is true. Social workers use groups. • Strategy – choice “b” suggests that all social workers use groups and than on psychiatrists use groups. • Strategy – choice “c” not true, certainly in mental health, the clients are the same for both social workers and psychiatrists.

University of Texas – Pan American Department of Social Work