Tackling Tests

Study Skill 10.2 Tackling Tests

Introduction

Think, for a moment, about the decathletes you see in track and field. Many consider the Olympic Champion in the decathlon to be “The World’s Greatest Athlete.” Sure, these athletes are born with incredible talents and have worked hard to become faster and stronger. This is their general preparation but it takes even more than that. To become a great decathlete, you have to understand each of the ten events you compete in inside and out. You have to know the best strategies and techniques for each event, and you have to know how to earn as many points in each event EVEN when you don’t feel your best or aren’t as prepared as you’d like.

Being a champion test taker is a lot like preparing for the decathlon. Though you may be born with high intelligence and have worked hard to learn the material and subject matter, you won’t reach your peak potential until you have mastered the different question types or events that you encounter on exams. Just like the decathlete uses his event specific knowledge and skill to demonstrate his athleticism, you will use your question specific skills to demonstrate your knowledge!

Watch

• College Info Geek: "10 Study Tips for Earning an "A" on Your Next Exam"

Visit

• Test Taking Tips.com “Test Taking Strategies, Skills, & Techniques” https://bit.ly/2MufVW9 Links to an external site.

Key Ideas

• The MOST important thing is to be prepared by having a thorough understanding of the subject matter to be tested.
• For any exam, read all instructions carefully. When possible, quickly scan the exam to determine which types of questions you will be tackling. Start with your strengths and try to earn as many points as possible quickly. Mark questions you do not know to return to after you have already answered questions you do know.
• DON’T finish first. No matter what type of exam questions you see, make sure to spend your available time thinking, planning, answering, and reviewing. There is no extra credit for finishing quickly.
• The types of questions you will see on an exam include Multiple Choice, True-False, Short Answer, Essay and/or Quantitative/Math questions.
• For each test question type, there are specific test strategies that can help you best display your knowledge.

Apply

• Divide into groups. Visit https://bit.ly/2MufVW9 Links to an external site. and have each group learn about and present to the rest of the class on one of the test question types.
• Review some of your recent tests. What types of questions do you perform well on? Which could you improve? Review strategies for those question types to improve for the future.