Tips for Answering Multiple-Choice Questions

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Study Skill 10.4 Tips for Answering Multiple-Choice Questions

 

Background

Sometimes students worry about multiple-choice quizzes and exams. However, by paying careful attention to the class, reviewing essential information ahead of time, and taking your time on the exam itself, you can master multiple choice quizzes and exams.  The University of Missouri Middle School quizzes and exams are based on the number of right answers out of the total possible. Therefore, you should answer every question even if it’s a guess. You should also ask your teachers for advice on how to study for their tests, and then carefully follow their advice. As you will learn, different study strategies apply to multiple-choice style tests, that may not apply to an essay style exam. Below are some other specific tips to help you succeed on our multiple-choice quizzes and exams.

Apply

Read each of these tips carefully and plan to use them on your next multiple choice quiz or test. Some actual multiple-choice questions will follow in the Practice section to check your understanding of these strategies:

  • Narrowing the odds: How do you narrow the odds, to make them more in your favor?  If you are able to eliminate one or more of the answers as definitely wrong, you have done just that.  When you are guessing which answer is correct out of 3, then you could get one-third of your guesses correct.  When you are guessing between two, you could get half of them right.
  • Identifying incorrect answers: What if you see an answer choice that you absolutely have never seen before?  There is a very good chance it is a wrong answer and you can eliminate it. If you’ve studied the material, you will know if something doesn’t belong.
  • Identifying correct answers: Does the answer make sense?  A correct answer always makes sense.  Incorrect choices may, or may not. So if a choice does not make sense in relation to the question, it is probably a wrong answer.
  • Knowing when to move on: Do not spend a lot of time on a question that is giving you trouble.  Move on, and come back to it later. Many times, you will find something in a later question or answer choice that helps you remember something that helps in the question you skipped over. 
  • Study for the quiz/exam: Make a study schedule to go over the material that will be covered on the exam well before the actual date of the test. Once you have studied, take a deep breath and go for it!

Practice

Now you will practice answering multiple-choice questions to check your understanding of these strategies. Respond to the following questions based on the information in the Apply section above.

When taking or preparing for a multiple-choice test:

Although this was a simple exercise, these are strategies that work. In summary, success on a multiple-choice exam starts with increasing your odds for choosing the correct answer, identifying incorrect or wrong choices, and then picking the choice that makes the most sense. If you get stuck on one question, don’t spend a lot of time on it. It is best to move on and come back at the end. In this example, if you were unable to recall the answer to Question #1, when you moved on to Question #2, that information likely helped you. This just illustrates that there might be other hints along the way that will spark your memory for the answer you could not recall. The more prepared you are, the less you have to use these strategies.

Closing Thought

It is okay to feel nervous before an exam or quiz. These multiple-choice test-taking strategies will help you choose more correct answers that will, in turn, improve your grades. The more prepared you are, often the less nervous you feel. Review these tips before taking an exam or quiz and you will feel be more prepared.

Some other very important keys to success are to pay careful attention to your coursework, complete all your assignments, ask questions when you do not understand something, and review the material prior to the test. This is best done a little bit each day so you don’t get to a point you feel overwhelmed.

YOU CAN DO THIS!