Test Strategies

The following is Mr. Bigler's advice for preparing for and taking tests.

Studying

• For each important fact or concept in your notes, come up with a question that a teacher could ask that would show whether or not you know it.
• For complex problems, the two most important things to study are:
  • How to recognize the type of problem when you see it.
  • How to get started (the first step).
• Study a little bit often, and take frequent "brain breaks."
• Do practice problems "cold." I.e., don't look at your notes or answers immediately before or while doing them. (A half-hour break is usually enough to flush your short-term memory.)

When You Take the Test

• If you're not sure what a question (or one of the answer choices) means, ask for clarification. Unless it's a standardized test (such as the MCAS or SAT), the teacher should be able to explain what the question is asking.
• If you need to get up from your seat for a moment, the pencil sharpener is a good excuse. (It helps to bring at least one pencil that needs sharpening. If you end up sharpening your mechanical pencil by accident, you can probably get sympathy by claiming you were so nervous that you didn't notice.)
• Bring water. Being hot or dehydrated slows you down.
• Getting bogged down on a question can cause you to run out of time. If you have spent more than one minute on a question without writing anything down, skip it and come back to it later.
• Write out problems. Even if you can do them in your head, writing them out will get you partial credit and will often help you catch stupid mistakes.
• If you forget how to do a problem, try to think of a simplistic example that you already know the answer to. Your simplistic answer will often show you exactly what to do.
• The units on a quantity can give you a formula that can be used to get that quantity. For example, if concentration has units of mol/L, that means the moles divided by the liters will give you the concentration.
• For questions that deal with trends (such as increases/decreases questions), it often helps to draw a diagram.
• If you find yourself getting nervous, find some easy problems to work on until the nervousness passes. If that doesn't work, take a bathroom trip.

Multiple Choice Questions

• If there is no deduction for wrong answers, always guess if you don't know the answer. If there is a deduction for wrong answers, it's often (but not always) better to guess if you can eliminate one or more of the choices.
• Cross out wrong answers. That way, when you go back, you won't have to re-analyze them.
• Negative words (e.g., not, never, except) are a trap. Highlight or circle them.
• If you have a separate answer sheet, always mark your answers in the test booklet as well as on the answer sheet. That way, if your answer sheet ends up off by one question, it's easy to fix the problem without having to re-take the entire test.
• Just because your answer is one of the choices doesn't mean it's right. Multiple choice tests always have choices that correspond to common mistakes. If you take a moment to think of the most likely mistake(s) you could make on a question, you will usually be able to recognize the corresponding wrong answers.
• Make sure your response actually answers the question. Multiple choice questions often have a set of answers that are all correct, but only one of the choices actually applies to the question.
• Beware of over-analyzing the choices! A smart person can rationalize just about any wrong answer. If you catch yourself playing "devil's advocate" on a test, think of an average student and ask yourself which answer choice the teacher would expect from that student.

Open Response Questions

• Always show your work, even if you fill it in after you have figured out the answer. Showing work is the only way you can get partial credit.
• Never leave a question blank. You'll often get a point or two just for writing down the relevant formula and describing the variables.
• It's usually helpful to draw a picture or diagram and label/describe it. You will usually earn partial credit if your diagram accurately describes what's going on in the problem.
• Circle or box your final answer for each question or part. For a multi-part question, be sure to label which parts of your answer correspond with each part. These techniques will help the teacher/grader find your answers, and will also help you make sure you didn't forget something.
• If you change an answer, always erase the old answer completely or cross it out and write the new one next to it. Never write the new answer over the old one—it makes the answer difficult to read, and the teacher/grader may not be able to tell which answer you meant.