STRATEGIES for Test Taking

2. STRATEGIESfor Test Taking Lee Darby, MEd San Diego Community College District

3. Test Taking • Test scores may not reflect competence • Test taking is a skill that can be improved with practice • Improvement can be made before during after an exam is given

4. Before the Exam • Know stuff! • Study • Keep Up • Talk/Work with classmates

5. Before the Exam • Attitude • Beliefs/self-image affect performance • Describe research study • Examine self

6. Before the Exam • Sleep (better than study at some point) • Comfort (materials, organization, water, relaxation techniques)

7. During the Exam • Think like the test writer • Why is the question on the exam • What is the test writer looking for • What is the point (objective)

8. During the Exam • Estimation • What should answer look like? • What kind of number or size? • Does each answer seem connected to question?

9. During the Exam • Elimination • Most of the answers are wrong • Eliminate wrong answers to confirm correct answer

10. During the Exam • Back Engineering • Most useful in math or chemistry • Take each answer to see if it is correct

11. During the Exam • Look for Context Clues • Which word tells what the problem is about • Identify key words

12. During the Exam • Time Management • Watch clock to help, not to pressure • Look at the average time for each question • Better to do many easy questions than a few hard ones

13. During the Exam • Easy Questions: Answer them and move on • Hard Ones: Mark and return to them later after finishing the easy ones. If no time left, guess on these. • No Clue: Mark, Guess, and Go

14. Some examples…

15. Examples Which of the following principles of elevator engineering applies in adjusting cable tension? • A Torque should exceed 28 ft lbs/sec • B Door alignment should be from bottom • C Cable tension must not exceed rating of pulley assembly • D Tension must be adjusted at each level

16. Examples What is the value of 20322? • A 4,124 • B 41,902 • C 4,129,024 • D 412390124

17. Examples • What is the value of x where: • A 2.5 • B 3 • C 5 • D 9

19. After the Exam • Exams are reviewed with you • Discover why you missed the questions you missed: • Studied wrong material • Missed the point of the question • Didn’t understand the question • Fell for a trick • Other reason

20. After the Exam • Analyze the key words • Identify the clues • Look for connections you could have made

21. After the Exam • Reflect • Identify strengths / weaknesses on exam • Think about how you could have used better strategy • Make plans for next exam

22. Prepare • Strategize • Reflect • Improve skill with each exam you take

23. Keep getting better • And better • And better • And better • And better

24. TO TEST BETTER!