Testing Smart

7/28/2019 Testing Smart

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A Guide to Testing Smart on Multiple Choice ExamsGillian Bice, Ph.D.

The following is a guide to some basic strategies for improving performance onmultiple-choice exams. Topics include time management, minimizing silly errors,over-thinking and second-guessing, changing answers, guessing strategies, Bloomstaxonomy of knowledge, and test anxiety.

As time goes by

When taking a multiple-choice exam, you need to manage your time wisely. Its just as bad to rush through an exam and leave early, without checking

your work, as it is to get bogged down by a few very difficult questions and

miss out on easier points because you run out of time! Having a plan that keeps you moving at a reasonable pace through the exam

can keep you from panicking and prevent you from wasting time and makingsilly mistakes.

Plan your time usage strategy before the exam so that you can pace yourselfappropriately during the exam.

o Example: Your exam is 60 questions and 80 minutes long First, subtract 5 minutes from the total exam time for settling

in, receiving directions and filling out the scantron. Next, subtract 5 minutes (~5sec/Q) for double-checking your

work at the end & making sure youve bubbled things correctly. 80 5 5 = 70 minutes to take the exam, which is a bit more

than one minute per question. Most questions will take less time. The main reason to do the math beforehandis to help you set a

maximum amount of time to spend on tough questions beforeyou make your best guess and move on.

Executing your strategy during the examo Knowing when to move on is key.o Wear a watch so that you can easily keep track of the time, but dont

clock watch.o Skim quickly through the exam to get an overview, and to make sure

you know how many questions and pages there are supposed to be(theres nothing more maddening than missing the last page ofquestions!).

o Do easier questions first.


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This maximizes the amount of time youll have for difficult Qs Itll guarantee you get all the easy points you can Itll help build your confidence

o Statistically speaking, youre more likely to get hard questions wrong,so dont spend too much time on them. If you can eliminate some

options, do so, then guess, mark the question to come back to later,and move on.

If you find it difficult to continually shift your focus from the test bookletto the scantron, you might find it helpful to work exclusively in your testbooklet, circling your answers as you go, and save bubbling for last.

o Caution! If you do this, budget your time wisely and be sure you saveenough time at the end to bubble in all your answers. Courseinstructors will not accept answersthat are only recorded in your testbooklet, and you will not get extra time to complete your scantron. If

you combine the process of bubbling with checking your work foraccuracy, budget 10 seconds per question at the end of the exam.

To not err

Minimize the type of errors that make you want to kick yourself later Make sure you know how many questions and how many pages there are, so

you dont skip any. Listen to and follow directions. Check and double-check your answer selection to eliminate bubbling errors

and other silly mistakes. Underline key words, write notes and draw diagrams on your test booklet.

o Everyones ability to think through a question is limited by theirshort-term / working memory capacity (STM holds about 7 10 itemsfor about 30-60 seconds). The more information you have to sortthrough while figuring out the correct answer, the more likely you willforget something or make a mistake, so write things down as theycome to you.

Keep alert for thought-shifting words such as, but, although, however, onthe other hand, while, in spite of, despite, etc. These words can make thedifference between a right and wrong answer.

Cross-off eliminated options to create a visual reminder this will reducethe likelihood youll accidentally select it.


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Just the facts maam

Read questions carefully and thoroughly. Dont assume you get it beforeyou read the whole thing you may miss a key word or important detail.

Dont fall into the trap of thinking you recognize the question as a practicequestion youve seen before. Professors often write new exam questions by

changing just a word or two in a practice question, which creates an entirelydifferent question! Theyre not trying to trick you; modifying old questions isa very common technique for generating new questions.

Try to predict the correct answer before looking at the options But Read all the options before making your final selection. Select the best option given the contextof the question. In other words,

dont read stuff into the question thats not there (often described asover-thinking). This may be the biggest cause of wrong answer selectionamong people who know the material. If you have to use your imagination to

come up with a scenario that makes an option correct, its probably not thecorrect answer re-read the question. Remember, your selection mustanswer the question posed, not the one youve created in your head.

o Dont be fooled by options that seem correct because they soundright or are true statements these options might be correct answersto a question, but not the question. Your selection must answer thequestion, so once youve made your choice, re-read the question tomake sure youve answered it!

A factually correct option may not be the right / correct answer to thequestion. In fact, there may be several options that are factually correct.The right / correct answer is the one that best answers the question. Itsoften about context, so read the question carefully. Once youve selected

your answer, continue to read the options, benchmarking them against yourfirst answer selection, and evaluating them within the context of thequestion stem. This isnt second-guessing yourself, its simply making sure

you havent been too hasty and overlooked something. Dont allow your emotions to dictate your answer. People with intuitive and

feeling personality types (NFs; take the Jung Typology Test1) may be

influenced by emotions and value judgments when answering questions

2

.Keep to the facts of the question. Keep in mind that the best possible option may not be one of the choices

youre given. Get over it! Dont assume the test-writer is trying to trick you tricky questions are in

the eye of the beholder. So-called trick questions are usually either poorlywritten (it happens nobodys perfect) or difficult. A difficult question is


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not the same thing as a tricky question it just means you havent quitereached the depth of understanding you need to answer the question. Byassuming the test-writer is out to get you, youre setting yourself up forover-thinking the question and jeopardizing your exam performance. Keepin mind, however, that while the question stem is not meant to trick you, the

answer options (foils) will most likely include choices representing commonmistakes / misunderstandings thats just good test-writing!

Uh, Id like a second opinion

Second-guessing yourself makes you your own worst enemy! This is often a resultof low self-confidence (or over-thinking the question or assuming the test-writer istrying to trick you or some combination of factors). Conquer second-guessing byhaving a test-taking strategy and by over-preparing. Sometimes second-guesserssay they were over-prepared or knew too much. Theres no such thing as

knowing too much! In reality, it probably means they have a superficialunderstanding of the topic (breadth as opposed to depth) and they read things intothe question that are not there (make assumptions about conditions or contextthat werent presented in the question). Exams test your knowledge andunderstanding of a subject. Bottom line is, when you know the material well, you willbe more confident of your answer selection, and less likely to second-guess

yourself.

To change or not to change, is that the answer?

Many of you have heard the refrain, never change your first answer! The idea isthat your first impression is usually correct, so go with it. However, this notion hasnot been borne out by research. On the contrary, people are more likely to changea wrong answer to a right answer, or a wrong answer to another wrong answer, thana right answer to a wrong answer. Nevertheless, it is still not good strategy torandomly change your answers, based on lack of self-confidence or second-guessing. Unless your first choice was just a guess to begin with, you should havea good reason to change your answer. Good reasons to change your answer are:

You realize you misread the question stem or the options the first timethrough, or

You come across information later in the exam that suggests your firstanswer was wrong, or

You later remember specific, factual information that strongly suggestsyour first answer was wrong.


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Guessing gamesIf there are 5 options, you have a 20% chance of guessing correctly, right? Notnecessarily. Thats only if your guessing strategy is purely random. Without apredetermined guessing strategy, making a truly random choice is hard for peopleto do - we have a lot of subconscious biases. If your strategy is nottruly random,

you could guess wrong on every question! One recommendation is always select thefirst choice of those remaining (after youve eliminated obvious wrong answers). If

you cant eliminate anything, then your choice is A. If youve eliminated A, thenyour answer is B.

But, that doesnt mean you should only try to make random guesses. You cansignificantly improve your odds of guessing correctly by using critical reasoning toeliminate options. When eliminating options; however, the trick is to NOT eliminatethe correct option once youve done that, your chance of getting the question

correct is 0%. In order to eliminate an option, ask yourself whether youd putmoney on it, say $5 (this suggestion comes from COMLEX Secrets, p. 11). If youdbe willing to bet $5 on it, then go ahead and cross it off.

Anyone up for a game of clue?Content clues Taking advantage of information provided in the exam.

The exam is not just testing you; if used properly, it can also teach you. Information you need to answer a question may be found in other questions.

o This is one reason why it can be beneficial to quickly skim through theexam before diving into your first question.

Idiosyncratic clues Taking advantage of the test-maker. Avoid options with absolutes such as always and never they tend to be

wrong. Long answers containing more information are often correct. Grammatical agreement between the question stem and the correct answer

can sometimes give away the correct answer. If two of the answers are opposites, one of them is likely correct.

If two of the options are indistinguishable, neither one of them is likelycorrect.

Disclaimer: If you know the correct answer, dont let any of the above dissuade youfrom selecting it. These clues can be helpful if you have to guess.


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A Bloom by any other name

Understanding a little about test construction and levels of knowledge can help -perhaps not so much during the exam, but in preparation for it. It can help to knowwhat types of questions or what level of understanding will be required of you.Blooms taxonomy is a way of ranking levels of knowledge or competence being

tested. Six levels are described (levels 3 and up represent higher-order thinking):1) Knowledge tests recall of facts, but does not require or demonstrateunderstanding. 2) Comprehension tests understanding of meaning and the abilityto associate, generalize and predict. 3) Application - tests ability to use or applyinformation in a different context from how it was presented, and tests the abilityto problem solve according to established rules and principles (e.g., performcalculations using formulae). 4) Analysis tests ability to break down informationinto its constituent parts to see how its organized, and demonstrates an ability todifferentiate, compare and contrast. 5) Synthesis tests ability to create new

information and ideas from old ones, make connections, generate hypotheses anddesign experiments. 6) Evaluation tests ability to make judgments about the valueof theories and ideas, weigh information appropriately and use reason and logic todetermine if an argument is good or bad.

Individual course exams tend to emphasize levels 1 and 2 (knowledge and meaning),while national board examinations (COMLEX and USMLE) ask mostly higher-orderquestions. This is an important principle to keep in mind as you progress through

your studies and begin preparing for the boards. Higher-order questions on course

exams are usually perceived as more difficult. Their presence provides youextremely important practice. It is to your benefit to have higher-order questionsincluded on your course exams.

The little doctor that could - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

Dont underestimate the power of positive thinking! Develop or adopt an affirmingpositive mantra that you regularly repeat, such as, I have studied all I can, I knowthe material well, and theres no question I cannot answer.

High anxiety!Test anxiety can be profoundly debilitating; however, often what many interpret astest anxiety is simply a well-founded lack of confidence due to under-preparation(e.g., you know you didnt study enough or dont know the material well enough).Some anxiety can be stimulating it can provide motivation (e.g., a fear of failurecan make you study harder); some people even enjoy the adrenaline rush they feelbefore an exam.


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If you think you genuinely suffer from debilitating test anxiety, you will needprofessional counseling to overcome it - it is a psychological issue requiringdiagnosis and treatment (e.g., therapy and / or medication).

Some indicators of test anxiety are: a past history of test anxiety, negative self-image, anxiety and worry creeping into other aspects of your life, being bombarded by negative thoughts during the exam (Im so stupid, Ill

never be a doctor, Im going to fail), comparing ones performance after the exam to that of classmates (asking

friends what they put for question X), inability to sleep the night before the exam, physiological symptoms of a general stress response before or during the

exam (sweaty, shaky, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, nausea), or blanking out during the exam.

The most successful treatments for anxiety are typically some combination ofcognitive behavioral therapy, to control negative thoughts, and desensitizationtherapy. Meditation and relaxation techniques can also help minimize the impact oftest anxiety.

Some bare bones steps for controlling test anxiety are:

1) Dont panic Remind yourself its not the end of the world and panic isunproductive. Your body and brain are treating the situation as though itslife-threatening - it isnt.

2) Take several deep breaths Controlling your breathing can help reduce thephysiological symptoms of anxiety.

3) Push worry thoughts away Negative thoughts take time away from thecognitive task-at-hand. This greatly diminishes your mental processingefficiency, and tends to have a larger detrimental effect on examperformance than the more obvious physiological symptoms3.

To sleep perchanceSo, heres a question for you What can suck knowledge out of your head fasterthan you can put it in by cramming all night before an exam? You guessed it lackof adequate sleep (Adequate sleep for most people is 7 8 hours per night. Veryfew people probably those with a specific gene4 can get by with less. Youreprobably not one of these people)!


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Sleep deprivation, even for just one night, impairs important cognitive abilitieslike

judgment, reasoning, memory recall and focus. It can increase the number of sillymistakes you make, as well as, severely impair your ability to recall information

youve learned, even if you know it pretty well. Studies comparing driving while

under the influence of alcohol to driving while sleep deprived have shown that sleepdeprived individuals (less than 6 hours) perform worse than folks with a bloodalcohol level of 0.055!

Resources1. Jung Typology Test (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp).2. Lawrence, G. People Types and Tiger Stripes. Center for Applications of Psychological Type,

Inc., 1979.3. Eysenck MV and MG Calvo (1992) Anxiety and Performance in Cognition and Emotion 6(6):

409-434.

4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4493113.stm5. CNN.com (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/) [accessed on

8/13/09].

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