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STRATEGIES for Test Taking. Lee Darby, MEd San Diego Community College District. 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. Before the Exam.
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STRATEGIESfor Test Taking Lee Darby, MEd San Diego Community College District
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
Before the Exam • Know stuff! • Study • Keep Up • Talk/Work with classmates
Before the Exam • Attitude • Beliefs/self-image affect performance • Describe research study • Examine self
Before the Exam • Sleep (better than study at some point) • Comfort (materials, organization, water, relaxation techniques)
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)
During the Exam • Estimation • What should answer look like? • What kind of number or size? • Does each answer seem connected to question?
During the Exam • Elimination • Most of the answers are wrong • Eliminate wrong answers to confirm correct answer
During the Exam • Back Engineering • Most useful in math or chemistry • Take each answer to see if it is correct
During the Exam • Look for Context Clues • Which word tells what the problem is about • Identify key words
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
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
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
Examples What is the value of 20322? • A 4,124 • B 41,902 • C 4,129,024 • D 412390124
Examples • What is the value of x where: • A 2.5 • B 3 • C 5 • D 9
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
After the Exam • Analyze the key words • Identify the clues • Look for connections you could have made
After the Exam • Reflect • Identify strengths / weaknesses on exam • Think about how you could have used better strategy • Make plans for next exam
Prepare • Strategize • Reflect • Improve skill with each exam you take
Keep getting better • And better • And better • And better • And better