Once you’ve taken some of the suggestions from my last post and are feeling confident that you have not just studied, but have actually prepared to do well, you may be wondering just how to take all your newfound confidence and apply it to the test itself. Now matter how well you feel you’ve prepared for a test, feeling overwhelmed by the paper or computer screen filled with questions that you are sitting in front of is still a possibility. If that happens, don’t panic! Just take a deep breath, remind yourself that you have prepared for the test, and remember that there are ways to get past the panic. Test-taking tips, tricks, and strategies can help you figure out how best to approach the test so you can show what you know, and keeping them in mind will help you do your best.
The first thing to remember to do is to actually read the test. Take the time to read the directions – even when you think you already know what to do. On paper tests in particular, read all the questions and answers in each section so you can do the ones you know first, and when you are stuck, read ahead to see if any information in a later section can help you figure out an answer in an earlier one. You can even read the entire test before filling in any answers – you might find that a later section is actually easier to do first, or find information at the end of the test that could help you answer something at the beginning, or simply gain confidence by realizing as you read just how much of the information you actually know. If you are able to do these things when taking an online test, great, but if not, just remember to read the directions, even if they start to seem repetitive, and read all your answer choices, too. Online tests are often multiple choice. It’s tempting to think you know the answer before reading all the choices, and sometimes, thinking of the answer before looking at the choices is helpful, but before you mark your answer and move on to the next question, reading all the choices and ruling out the wrong ones might make you more certain of your choice.
Once you start marking answers, another important thing to remember is to cross off answer choices you’ve already used, particularly in matching and fill-in-the blank sections. Instead of crossing out the letters and words completely, make your marks in ways that allow you to return to the answers to make changes if necessary, then make additional marks to show that you have fixed your answers. At the end of the section, reread it to make sure your answers are reasonable and that you haven’t repeated or forgotten any answers. If the directions say that some answers will be repeated or will not be used, make sure to make the best choices you can based on those directions, and double-check your answers to make sure you have followed whatever directions you were given.
All of the suggestions I’ve given so far refer to objective tests. Some of them, such as reading the directions and reading the whole test to see if information in one section can be used in another, can apply to short-answer and essay tests as well, but there are also tips, tricks, and strategies that apply to these questions in particular. Following the directions may well include things like making sure you outline your answer first or that you include a certain number of sentences or paragraphs, or that those paragraphs include topic sentences and concluding sentences. Make sure you don’t take any of those types of directions too lightly – you could lose points even when you know the content of an answer, or keep yourself from whatever points you might earn even when you don’t know the content. When you think you’ve finished an answer, make sure you reread it so you can make corrections if necessary- not only can you catch grammatical errors or directions you might not have followed, you can also add content if you realize you forgot something, thereby improving your answer, which will in turn increase the amount of credit you receive.
This is a very general, partial list of test-taking tips, tricks, and strategies. In future posts, as well as on the strategies page, I will provide more examples and go into more detail. Over time, you will find that the more prepared you are for your tests, the more confident you will be not only about what you know, but also about how best to use tips, tricks, and strategies to show it.