Test Taking
You can learn to become a better test-taker by incorporating some of the strategies suggested here into your own “exam plan.”
What It Is
Testing may not be the only way to evaluate how much students have learned, but, as a college student, you can count on taking tests in almost all of your courses. Tests can be very stressful for some people, but there are steps you can take to make them more manageable and to preserve your sanity.
How to Do It
- Before the test:
- Prepare,
- Sleep.
- During the test:
- Identify the type of question you are dealing with,
- Use a strategy that “fits” that type of question,
- Proof your work but don't change your answers unless you find an obvious error.
- After the test:
- Make sure you know which questions you got wrong and why.
Where to Find Help
The Skill Enhancement and Tutoring Center (SETC), located in 439 Smith Memorial Student Center, is an excellent source for test-taking help. Visit their website, and go to the resources section to explore the range of test-preparation and test-taking resources they have available.
Before the Test
Long-range preparation: Successful test taking is not something that you begin the night before the exam. It starts with doing the assignments, reading all the material, and reviewing and organize your notes. It's very difficult to ace an exam when you haven't been keeping up on the materials throughout the term. Forming a study group to quiz and challenge each other is also a useful long-range strategy that will help you prepare for exams.
The night before: In addition to studying your notes, take the time to lay out everything you’ll need for the test the night before. Double check that you have everything you might need or want before putting stuff in your backpack. Don’t forget to pack paper, pens, pencils, calculator, and any Scantron sheets or blue books that may be required.
Sleep on it: Studies have shown that students who stay up all night cramming don’t do better on tests. Staying up all night can make it harder to focus and remember your material. Waking up rested, eating a healthy breakfast, and leaving enough time to get to class without rushing are important too. You want to enter the classroom as relaxed as possible.
During the Test
Read the instructions carefully: If the instructions are not clear or you do not understand exactly what you're being asked to do, ask the professor for clarification—it’s not cheating!
Start by reading over the whole test: This allows you to see which parts will take the most time and which parts are worth the most points and to start forming ideas for any essay questions. The key here is to budget your time and effort wisely.
Be strategic about the order in which you answer questions: PSU’s Skill Enhancement and Tutoring Center recommends starting with easier questions so you can build your confidence and connect the vocabulary of the exam questions to the materials you studied. Then shift to the more difficult and more valuable questions. Even though you start with the easier questions, make sure you spend the majority of your time answering the most valuable questions. Keep moving; don’t get stuck on any one question. If you're not sure about a question, make a mark next to it and go back to it later. You may find that another question or the answer for another question may help you figure out the correct answer to the question you were having difficulty with.
Identify the type of question you are dealing with: Don't get so caught up in providing an answer that you fail to recognize the type of information the question requires you to provide. For example, if you're answering an essay question, then providing a list of bulleted points will not be adequate; essay questions require that you write in complete sentences. Another example, found on some multiple choice tests that you may encounter, is a question that asks “Which of the following is FALSE?” You will need to treat each response as a separate “true-false” question in order to successfully answer this question.
Proof your work but do not change your answers unless you find an obvious error: Take the time to review you answers. Start by making sure you've answered every question (check both sides of every page of the exam) and that each of your answers are complete. Make sure you have used proper grammar and sentence structure for any essay questions. Do not second-guess yourself. Once you're sure you understand the question, most of the time your first choice is the correct one. Only change an answer when it is obvious that your initial choice is clearly wrong.
After the Test
Make sure you know which questions you got wrong and why: After you get your test back, review the questions marked as incorrect. Take the time to read the notes your professor put on your exam in order to get helpful feedback for future exams. If the exam is discussed in class, listen to the professor’s explanation for why one response was better than another, and if appropriate, ask questions and defend your answers.
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