Taking the Test

What about Select all?

Taking the Test

I did not pass

Exam Preparation

If you have done poorly, learn from it to do better next time!

• Make a Plan!
• Review material; before and after class: powerpoints , study guides, textbooks ect.

As much as 80% of the material you learn in class is forgotten within 24 hours if you don’t review it. If your schedule allows, take time to rehash the material right after each class.

• Attend Class Regularly: taking good notes and being alert are part of the learning process
• Incremental Studying: Have your studyguide and flash cards with you at all times. Break down your studying.

Talk to instructors regarding low scores.

Schedule Tutoring; Sandy Brown or through the LRC

Make an appointment with me!

apeterson@stanbridge.edu

• Take practice tests (ATI). Try to simulate exam conditions.
• Get enough sleep and eat healthy. Avoid conflicts or emotional upsets.

Protein is a reliable energy source while sitting and concentrating for extended periods of time. Avoid simple carbohydrates and excessive amounts of caffeine since consuming these substances often lead to energy crashes.

• Always arrive early and take a moment to relax and reduce your anxiety.

Achieve Academic Success!

Types of Multiple Choice Questions

• Recall Questions: Recall facts, concepts, or techniques relevant to class.

TIPS: do the reading, remember/review important points, memorize key facts.

• Application Questions: Apply knowledge and understanding to particular situations and contexts. Application questions often ask students to make a decision or choice in a given scenario, connect course content to “real-world” situations, implement procedures or techniques, or predict the outcome of experiments or even their peers’ response to a subsequent question.

• Critical Thinking Questions: Requires students to analyze relationships among multiple concepts or make evaluations based on particular criteria. Often these questions are “one-best-answer questions,” questions that include multiple answer choices that have merit. Select the one best answer from these choices. These are effective in preparing reasoning.

• select all the apply- Have you seen the video!?

The Test is happening NOW!

The test is finally done:

Reward yourself! ......Then study for the next one.

Answering Multiple-choice Questions

1- Formulate your own answer before reading the options.

• Focus on finding an answer without the help of the alternatives.
• Doing this will help you exercise your memory.
• Look for the central idea of each question. What is the main point?

2- Eliminate unlikely answers first.

• Quickly eliminating two alternatives may increase your probability to 50/50 or better.
• Use the true-false methods to find the false alternative.

3- Similar answers give you a clue! One of them is correct, the other is disguised.

4- Watch out for "NOT TRUE"

• Remember to reverse your procedure and eliminate truth.
• Use the true-false methods and find the false alternative.

• Read question carefully. Double check your Math.
• Browse test and determine time to spend on each question.
• Underline – Highlight – Circle important terms.
• Eliminate! – Eliminate! – Eliminate!
• Get rid of choices you know are incorrect at 1st glance doing so improves chances of selecting a correct answer
• Only change answers if you are absolutely sure the current answer is incorrect – Don’t second guess yourself!
• If a questions seems complicated or difficult to understand, put it in your own words, or break it down into understandable parts. Mentally underline key points, or write it down.
• Use time wisely – Pace yourself
• Don’t ignore an obvious answer. Do not overanalyze. The answer might be more obvious if you avoid overanalyzing.
• Avoid patterns (i.e. selecting “C” just because…)
• Maintain a positive attitude. Your self-worth should not be dependent on or defined by a test grade.
• Plan to finish early to have time for review (when review is possible)

If you have to guess:

• The length of choices can be a clue. Choose the longest.
• If two choices are opposites, choose one of them.
• The most general alternative is usually the right answer.
• Think physiological needs first Mazlow or ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability)

Consider every test a practice session - analyze your performance.

• Test taking is an art which needs refinement. One can not refine the art without practice and serious evaluation.
• Go through each test thoroughly and see if your plan worked.
• See me! Or use Focused reviews on ATI
• Look at each section to identify your patterns. Do you need to work on true/false, multiple choice, or select all? Is there a topic that needs more focus?

True/ False Questions

Qualifying words tend to make a question true. Qualifiers (seldom, often, many) increase the likelihood that the statement is true.

Here is a more complete list of QUALIFIERS:

usually frequently often sometimes some seldom many much

probably a majority apt to most might a few may unlikely

Look for extreme modifiers that tend to make the question false.

• Extreme modifiers, such as always, all, never, or only make it more likely that the question is false. Here is a more complete list of EXTREME modifiers:

all none best absolutely always never worst absolutely not only nobody everybody certainly invariably no one everyone certainly not

I feel Anxious....

What to do:

• If you tend to be impulsive and choose the first answer you see, it is important to re-read answers! Ask yourself why, evaluate your logic
• However, if you tend to “second guess” yourself and talk yourself out of the correct answer, then just review the question that you were really not sure about. Stick to your gut

• Participate in deep breathing exercises before taking the test. Use Anxiety as a cue to calm down. Deep breathing is an excellent strategy to calm nerves.
• Stretch prior to sitting down for the test to relieve tension. If permitted or granted a break, stretch your limbs again while taking the test.
• Use progressive muscle relaxation during the test when feeling tense.
• Clinch your fist and count down from ten
• Stay focused on yourself
• Remain positive, use self-talk.

A person who panics…

• Relies on instincts instead of knowledge
• Lacks an understanding of exam content

What happens when you panic?

• Memory is inhibited
• Ability to focus decreases
• Tend to overlook stated facts
• Easily become confused
• Emotions take precedence over reason
• Guessing is not strategic
• Breathing rapidly, tensions increases, and feel restless (fight of flight)