10.4: Preparing for and Taking Tests
Even though most of our learning needs to be longer term than simply the next quiz or exam, we can use specific strategies to prepare for individual quizzes and exams. Distributed practice/studying certainly is a strategy so that information stays in our long-term memory. If information is in our long-term memory, we are more likely to recall and retrieve that knowledge in stressful testing situations. Cramming may allow us to remember some information, but if we’re stressed by taking a test, we’re less likely to be able to recall or retrieve items that we’ve only crammed rather than allowed to “gel” into our long-term memory over the period of several days or weeks.
Getting enough sleep the night before an exam will help our brains work. If we’re physically tired, we are less likely to be able to think effectively since our brain’s function is closely related to the functions of the rest of our body. There is a term called “sleep hygiene” which may remind you of “dental hygiene.” Sleep hygiene basically means maintaining our sleep health just as we strive to maintain our dental health. Just as we’re supposed to brush and floss our teeth at least twice per day, we need to get an adequate amount of sleep in each 24-hour period for optimal physical and cognitive functioning.
In addition to sleep, our bodies and brains need nutrition from food and drinks to function physically and cognitively which means we need to eat something and be hydrated before taking an exam. Very simplistically, the brain is fed by glucose which is a simple sugar found in many foods, and many bodily functions are fueled through protein, among other substances. Eating whole foods, not processed, enables our bodies and brains to get those nourishing substances for optimal functioning. Entire college classes are offered about health and wellness including nutrition, exercise and sleep so this paragraph is an extremely short summary, and students are encouraged to explore these topics further.
Taking an exam is stressful enough without worrying about being late. When you have an exam scheduled, plan to arrive early - whether that means in a classroom or logging into a remote or virtual class. If you’re on campus in a classroom, you never know what might happen with traffic, parking and many other obstacles that could pop up. If you’re early, you can sit down, unpack your supplies and take a breath before starting an exam.
In the case of virtual exams, most exams are timed so students need to plan for that amount of time plus a time cushion in case of technical difficulties. In other words, if a virtual exam is scheduled for 30 minutes, students should be logged in and ready to take the exam at least 15 minutes before starting. Most virtual exams also have a deadline so students should plan to finish the exam attempt at least 60 minutes before the deadline. That way, there is a cushion after finishing the exam before the ultimate deadline in case of technical difficulties. Of course, the best case scenario is to take a virtual exam several days in advance of the deadline.
How many times have you “blanked out” during a test, or a question in front of you sounds familiar, and you know you studied the information, but the answer isn’t coming to you? What’s happening is that your stress level is increasing which means your cognitive skills are decompensating. This phenomenon is related to the “fight or flight” stress response you may have heard about in psychology or biology class. When we are stressed, our brains think we’re threatened and prepare our bodies to fight off the stressor or run away. If we’re fighting or running, we can’t think very well about higher-level content such as equations or theories.
When this “blanking out” happens during a test, we need to employ relaxation techniques to reduce stress. We can close our eyes and take three to five slow deep breaths or use progressive muscle relaxation where you tense and release muscles from your toes up through the body to the top of your head. We also can visualize a calming scene - whatever is calming for you. A technique called the “warm blanket” involves visualizing a soft warm blanket being draped around you as you sit there taking the test. Anything that briefly takes your mind off the stress and allows your brain and body to relax will help you get back on track with answering questions, and that answer on which you “blanked” probably will pop back into your head.
Many students deal with test anxiety . The good news is that test anxiety is not a medical diagnosis and instead is a learned behavior that can be unlearned. Test anxiety often results from previous negative testing experiences or negative experiences with the subject matter of the test. Once a student has a negative test experience, that negativity is easy to remember and keeps cropping up in future tests so the negativity keeps building and increasing to the point that students feel physically ill when thinking about taking a test.
Since test anxiety is a learned behavior that builds upon experiences, reducing test anxiety happens the same way. In other words, students need to expose themselves to positive testing experiences and layering on those positive experiences to continue building positive responses to test-taking. One effective method is to use practice quizzes. As discussed in this chapter, students can create practice quizzes using the SQ4R reading method and the Cornell note-taking system. When taking those practice quizzes, students can simulate testing situations by putting away all notes and textbooks plus implementing time limits for each practice quiz. If possible, taking your practice quizzes in a classroom on campus works even better. The more that practice quizzes resemble actual testing situations, the more students will expose themselves to, and overcome, the stress that occurs in those testing situations. Taking multiple practice quizzes in real-life situations before taking an actual test will reduce test anxiety.
When you’re taking a paper/pencil test, you don’t need to start with question #1 and continue in order. Sometimes online tests also allow you to move back and forth between questions but not always. Here is a method for how to approach and take a test using the same SMART acronym we’ve seen with decision-making and goal-setting.
S = s kim over the whole test to know what to expect and look for answer clues
M = m ark the ones you don't know right away or that will take more time
A = a nswer easy questions first
R = r eturn to the questions you marked
T = t rack your time so you have enough time for more challenging questions
If you’re taking an online test, hopefully your professor has structured the test so you can use this SMART method, but sometimes you will be prevented from skimming the whole test or returning to previous questions.
When you’ve finished a test, chances are you just want to forget about the whole experience, especially if you didn’t do as well on the test as you hoped. Although that response is tempting, in order to improve your test-taking, you need to review and think critically about your test performance. Remember the whole idea of metacognition and thinking about your thinking to make your thinking better - the same goes for test-taking. When you receive a graded test back from the professor or get virtual feedback, review your correct and incorrect answers, and make sure you know why you got those answers correct or incorrect. You can review with your professor, classmates or possibly a tutor to learn from your incorrect answers.
Different types of test questions call for different techniques. Here are some tips for answering different types of test questions.
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For true/false questions, watch for absolute terms such as “always,” “never” and “every” which tend to make false statements.
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For true/false questions, if you don’t know the answer, guess “true” since writing false statements is more difficult for the instructor.
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For multiple choice questions, think of the answer in your head before looking at the answer choices. Then when you see the answer choices, the correct choice will jump out at you.
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For multiple choice questions, read the “stem” (first part) of the question as a true/false statement with each answer choice. If the answer choice causes the statement to be true, you’ve probably found the correct answer.
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For essay questions, focus on the direction words. For example, are you asked to “compare” or “compare and contrast?” You don’t want to “explain” if you’re actually supposed to “analyze.”
Here is a useful video from the Dennis Learning Center at the Ohio State University summarizing some of these test-taking strategies. Video Test-taking Dennis Learning Center Ohio State University [www.youtube.com]