Test-taking Strategies

Posted On September 10, 2018May 28, 2019

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Success in tests happens when there is a perfect combination of Study and Strategy!

Studies, though crucial, is one of the factors that go into bringing about success in tests. Irrespective of the efforts that a student puts in, it is important to know what to do, when to do it and how to do it; be it before the test, during it and even after it. The formula for success is not complete if these ingredients are missing.

As soon as you feel you have a good and deep understanding of the subject you have been studying hard for, you need to put some primary test-taking strategies in place; time-tested strategies that have proved effective for many successful students in the recent past. Preparing a strategy is never the same for every test, though there are similarities.

Here we glance at some ways to prepare for tests strategies that help a lot and are easy to put into practice as well.

The ‘What’

1. Share your study plan with the teacher/instructor and get a feedback and clarity on whether you are going in the right direction. If what you are doing is not right, then ask what is right and practice as instructed. Find out what is to be the main area of importance; notes or books.
2. Take a survey of the topics within the syllabus.
3. Jot down the most important tips in learning assignments
4. Revisit notes – the most frequent topics in lectures
5. Which abbreviated concepts are important and which are the detailed ones that have been highlighted by the teachers

A few of the tests are collective, which indicates that they have content right from scratch, i.e., the first chapter.  Hence, all the previous test papers and their solutions should be kept safely so that they can be revised.  Nevertheless, all these are at times revised in class.

Our Study Buddy!

Which is better, group study or a single mode of preparation?

This is an individual case dependent choice.

1. If knowledge sharing helps, then it is better to be part of a group study.
2. However, if there are chances of distraction, then studying alone reaps better benefits.

The ‘How’

It is a priority to be familiar with the style of presentation of questions in the test; to be more specific, is it more of multiple-choice or descriptive type.

Multiple-Choice Preparation

1. Definitions and key terms are the main highlights that should be focused upon
2. Review terms and concepts
3. Take a self-test to satisfy that you can reproduce what you have learned.

Descriptive Questions Preparation

1. Learn the broader spectrum key terms along with a few significant examples of each.
2. Look at it from the teacher’s point of view and ask yourself what a teacher would love to ask.
3. Writing is a wonderful way to remember and review what you have studied.
4. Focus on the “Where”, “When”, “How” and “Why answers.

Staying clear of careless mistakes is a very integral part of taking a test successfully. It is to be kept in mind that at the time of taking a test, you are also testing your capacity to grasp the lessons or answer the questions. Being careful registers a higher success rate in taking tests.

Following are the generic pointers to prepare for a test:

• Keep on revising your notes, focusing on the components that are most likely to be part of the test. The terms and parts of the course that the teachers stress upon most should be the areas of focus.
• Maintain a synchronized relationship with classmates because that helps in exchange of knowledge.
• Being regular in studies is a great way to always be prepared.
• It is advisable to get as much as information as one can on the topics that are most likely to feature in the test.

In conclusion, do the best in what you are already good at. For objective questions, be quick on the uptake; take a question and answer it only if sure, otherwise skip it and take the next one. You can always come back to the one you skipped, later. In the case of multiple choice questions, ignore the answers you are sure of not being the right ones. Once everything is done and time is in your favor, go back and check what you have done and also what you have not done. It is perfectly normal at times to get to know the answers to questions after you have left them undone. So a revisit can prove to be very fruitful at times.