One-Stop Study Success
If you are looking for some way to pass examinations other than by thorough mastery of the material to be covered in the examination, you will be disappointed in what psychologists have to say about this subject. No one has yet come up with a magical shortcut or substitute for adequate preparation through study. Of course, mastery of the subject is sometimes not enough if the student is emotionally upset, fails to interpret questions properly, has his knowledge organized in such a way as to interfere with quick recall, or is overtired. If you follow the precepts of efficient study, you can avoid the factors which cause unsatisfactory test performance, despite adequate preparation. Get enough rest; do not engage in a last-minute hurried review instead of a planned, systematic one; and adopt a relaxed, almost fatalistic, attitude at examination time.
Essay and Objective Examinations
The examinations given in most schools divide themselves rbughly ihto two main classes, the essay and the objective. Although there are exceptions, these types are likely to have different purposes. You should therefore prepare ror them and take them differently.
Essay examinations emphasize the ability to understand, organize, and recall information. The student has latitude in which to discuss and qualify his answers. Essay questions let the student show the depth and breadth of his knowledge. And they also demonstrate his ability to set down his thoughts in good English and to communicate his ideas to others. Keep these points in mind as you prepare for and take an essay examination. When you begin the examination, don't just start writing on the assumption that if you write enough the teacher can find the correct point somewhere in the hodgepodge. Take time to organize your thinking before you begin to write. Remember that the teacher will think better of a paper if the information in it is well organized and to. the point, rather than full of rambling and irrelevant discussion. Survey the examination as a whole before you write, and estimate the amount of time you will spend on each question. Try to leave time at the end for rereading your answers so that you can correct mistakes or add missing points.
Remember that most teachers generally think of grading papers as a chore. You can help "sell" your answers through good organization. Also keep in mind that your paper is compared with all the others in the class. 'Examinations are competitive. It is fair to say that they are graded fairly, although suJjjectively. You should outline answers, indent, and number points.
Objective examinations are usuallv recognition tests. The right answcr is before you, as well as wrong answers. Your task is to pick cut the right answer wrien you see it. Be on guard against careless reading uf obiective test items. All the answers usually have some degree of plausibility; otherwise they would serve no useful purpose as a testing device. Sometimes the correct answer may hang on such statements as "never" or "always" or "rarely," and you may miss the point if you do not read the questions carefully.
In objective-type examinations it is well to skip items temporari· ly on which the answer is uncertain, rather than to puzzle about tbem lcr an undue amount of time which might otherwise be sp:.mt on easier iwms. When you are finished with the easier items, go back to the harder ones. In objective examinations one questioil usually "ounts as much as another, so do not concentrate too much on difficult questions. Doing this will cause you to run out of time or make you rush through the remaini 19 items and make needless mistakes. There is another goorl reason for perusing an objective examination and answering first those Cjnestions that you. are sure ahnut: To start with responses that you feel sure are right gives you confldence, facilitates your thinking, and helps you in seeing the relationship to other questions.
When your examination has been graded and returned, use the evaluation \wisely for the future. Don't be content with a "Well, that's that" attitude. Learn from the results of the exaplaination. Where shodd you have placed more emphasis in your study? Was your organization good? Dc you have the proper technical vocabulary? What were the errors? Carefully work out the answers to these questions and profit from them in preparation for the next examination.
Steps in Taking a Multiple-Choice Exam
First, pay attention to the instructions. Let us assumt: that you are asked to choose the best answer of four or five possibilities. This mears, of course, that perhaps two answers may be correct. Hence, do not waste time arguing with yourself that there may be more than one answer.
Second, the student taking a multiple-choice exam is in part Iike the accomplished poker player who is trying to get himself into a position where he is betting un a sure thing. In poker, one is in a stronger Position if he knows pretty well what is in the other fellow's hand. In the exam situation, Knowhg the material is a first step. There is no substitute for study. It is also unlikely that you will be certain about all the answers. Our suggestions also assume that. you are not penalized for guessing.
What are the next steps? Let us summarize from a study:
- Go through the exam a first time and answer all the items of which you are fairly certain. This helps get certain items out of the way without wasting time on single, difficult items. There is sometimes another advantage in doing this. Having gone through the exam once will suggest the answers to questions that might have been difficult had they been answered in serial order.
- Go through the exam a second time, answering any other questions that now seem obvious. There are usually a number of questions which were left unanswered from .he first time through. It is in connection with these ttat tht: test-wise student knows what to do.
- Do not guess at this stage of the game. See what choices on any given question can be eliminated. In a four-choice question, pure guess will give the student one chance in four of being correct. If one alternative can be eliminated as incorrect, the odds lre reduced to one in three. If two can be eliminated, chances become fifty-fifty
- Having eliminated some alternatives, choose the answer which you first thought of as right. Studies show that this procedure is better than pure guesswork.
- If you have no choice at all as to the right answer, take choice "2." Again, from studies come this suggested rule of thumb based on how teachers select items. When the instructor makes up a multiple-choice item, he usually has only a vague notion of what he wants to test. There is a tendency to make the first choice incorrect, the second choice the right answer, and the remaining ones anything that isn't too far afield. Of course, some instructors are conscious of this bit of behavior and correct for it. Remember, this suggestion is in the last-resort category!
- When finished, check your answers. Clerical errors on exams are common for some people. Again, studies show that changing answers is in the direction of making them right. Yes, we are aware of the common misconception on this point. In a group of 100 papers (for example) it wa'l discovered that two-thirds of the changes made in them resulted ,n the selection of a correct choice rather than a wrong one.
- Besides studying for the exam and studying the behavior of the instructor, the above suggestions may help eliminate some of the anxiety one builds up about taking an exam.
Do we have any good suggestions for taking a true-false test?
None except that one should study and look for give-away words such as "always," "never," etc. Remember. there is no substitute for learning the material in the first place, and for the time spent in overlearning.
