Test preparation

• To do well on tests you must first learn the material and then review it before the test.

Reviewing

• Organize your notes, texts, and assignments
• Estimate the hours you'll need to review materials
• Draw up a schedule that blocks units of time and material
• Test yourself on the material
• Finish your studying the day before the exam.

Organizing for tests

• Begin reviewing early
  • This will give your brain time to get comfortable with the information;
• Conduct short daily review sessions
  • You can ease into more intense review sessions prior to major exams;
• Break up the study tasks into manageable chunks, especially during major reviews prior to exams.
  • Studying three hours in the morning and three in the evening will be more effective than studying at a six hour stretch.  Studying while you are mentally fatigued is usually a waste of time;
• Review with a group
  • This will enable you to cover important material that you may overlook on your own.
• Study the most difficult material when you are alert

Review tools for tests

• Create study checklists
  • Identify all of the material that you will be tested on - list notes, formulas, ideas, and text assignments you are accountable for.  This checklist will enable you to break your studying into organized, manageable chunks, which should allow for a comprehensive review plan with minimal anxiety.
• Create summary notes and "maps"
  • Briefly map out the important ideas of the course and the relationships of these ideas.  Summary notes display lists and hierarchies.  Creativity and a visual framework will help you recall these ideas.
• Create flashcards
  • For definitions, formulas, or lists that you need to have memorized - put topics on one side of the card, answers on the other.  Flashcards will enable you to test your ability to not only recognized important information, but also your ability to retrieve information from scratch.

Index study system

• Here is a method of studying that gives you:
  • An accurate perception of how well you know the material,
  • And forces you to think about it, rather than just look over it.
  • Review your notes and readings frequently, so the material is "fresh"
  • As you're reading your text or reviewing your notes,
    • Generate and write down questions about the material. Imagine you're teaching the course.
    • What questions would ask on the exam?
  • Keep track of any terms you need to know.
  • Write each question or term on the back of an index card.
  • On the front of each index card, write an answer or an explanation for the question or term on the back.  Use your notes and text for a reference, but put the answer or explanantion in your own words whenever possible.
  • Shuffle the index cards (so you can't figure out any answers based on their location in the deck:
  • Look at the card on the top of the deck:
    • Try to answer the question or explain the term.  If you know it, great!  Put it on the bottom of the deck.  If you don't know it, look at the answer, and put it a few cards down in the deck (so you'll come back to it soon.)
  • Proceed through the deck of cards until you know all of the information.

Some tips:

• Carry your cards with you everywhere (except in the exam room).  Take advantage of little pockets of time.  Test yourself while you're waiting, Online, riding the bus, etc.
• If you think you know an answer, but can't put it into words, you probably don't know it well enough.  Being able to explain the information is the only way to be sure that you know it.  It's also the best way to prevent test anxiety.
• Consider testing yourself someplace where nobody can see you (and think you're crazy), and reciting the answers out loud.  That's the best way to be sure that you can explain them.
• Study with a friend.  You can share ideas and help each other out with concepts.  Also, you can use each other to make sure that you're explaining your answers adequately.

Dealing with test anxiety

• Be prepared!  Learn your material thoroughly.
• A program of exercixe is said to sharpen the mind.
• Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam.
• Approach the exam with confidence:  View the exam as an opportunity to show how much you've studied and to receive a reward for the studying you've done.
• Don't go to the exam with an empty stomach.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are often recommended to reduce stress.
• Take a small snack, or some other nourishment to help take your mind off your anxiety.  Avoid high sugar content (candy) which may aggravate your conditioni.
• Allow yourself plenty of time, especially to do things you need to do before the test and still get there a little early.
• Relax just before the exam.  Don't try to do a last minute review.

During the test:

• Read the directions carefully
• Budget your test taking time.
• Change positions to help you relax.
• If you strike a blank, skip the questions and go on.
• If you are taking an essay test and you strike a blank on the whole test, pick a question and start writing.  It may trigger the answer in you mind.
• Don't panic when students start handing in their papers.  There's no reward for being the first done.

Ten Tips for Test Taking

• When you take a test, you are demonstrating your ability to understand couse material, or perform certain tasks.
• The test forms the basis of evaluation or judgement for your couse of study.
• There are many environmental conditions, including your own attitudes and conditions, which influence how you perform during tests.

1.These suggestions may help:

• Come prepared; arrive early for tests.
• Bring all materials you will need such as pencils, pens and a non-programmable calculator.  This will help you focus on the task at hand.

2.Stay relaxed and confident

• Remind yourself that you are will-prepared and are going to do well.
• Don't let yourself become anxious; if you feel anxious before or during a test, take several slow, deep breaths to relax.  Don't talk to other students before a test; anxiety is contagious.

3.Be comfortable but alert

• Choose a good spot to take the test.
• Make sure you have enough room to work.
• Maintain an upright posture in your seat.

4.Preview the test (if it is not timed)

• Spend 10% of your test time reading through the test carefully, making key terms and deciding how to budget your time.
• Plan to do the easy questions first and the most difficult questions last.
• As you read the questions, jot down brief notes indicating ideas you can use later in your answers.

5.Answer the test questions in a strategic order

• Begin by answering the easy questions you know, then those with the highest point value.  The last question should:
  • Be the most difficult
• Take the greates amount of writing, or
• Have the least point value

6.When taking a multiple choice test, know when to guess

• First eliminate answers you know are wrong.
• Always guess when there is no penalty for guessing or you can eliminate options.
• Don't guess if you have no basis for your choice and if you are penalized for guessing.
• Since your first choice is usually correct, don't change your answers unless you are sure of the correction.

7.When taking essay tests, think before you write

• Create a brief outline for you essay by jotting down a few words to indicate ideas you wat to discuss.
• Then number the items in your list to indicate the order in which you will discuss them.

8.When taking an essay test, get right to the point

• State your main point in the first sentence.

9.Reserve 10% of your test time for review

• Review your test; resist the urge to leave as soon as you have completed all the items.
• Make sure you have answered all the questions.
• Proofread your writing for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Check your math answers for careless mistakes (e.g. misplaced decimmals).
• Match your actual answers for math problems against quick estimates.

10.Analyze your test results

• Each test can further prepare you for the next test.
• Decide which strategies worked best for your.
• Identify those that didn't work well and replace.
• Use your tests to review when studying for final exams.

Effective Habits for Effective Study

• You can prepare yourself to succeed in your studies
• Try to develop and appreciate the following habits:
  • Take responsibility for yourself
  • Responsibility is recognition that in order to succeed you can make decisions about priorities, your time, and your resources.
  • Center yourself around your valued and priciples
  • Don't let friends and acquaintances dictate what you consider important.
  • Put first things first
  • Follow up on the priorities you have set yourself. and don't let others, or other interest, distract you from your goals.
  • Consider yourself in a win-win situation