Academic Strategies for Success - Test Taking Tips

Memory Dump

Reduce test anxiety by taking the first 5 minutes of a test to write down all of the important information you know and don't want to forget. This can really reduce the pressure on your retrieval mechanisms and make it easier for you to achieve success on your test!

What do you know?

Do you stop cold with a frustrated "I don't know" the first time you are confronted with an unfamiliar question or problem on a test? Take a deep breath, don't panic and use what you DO know to help solve or answer the question. Use these questions and tips as a starting point to help you activate what you do know and generate at least a partial answer.

Do you know which answers cannot be correct?

Are there other questions on the test that are similar, or are about the same information that you can use as clues to solve the current question?

Do you know how to solve an easier version of this problem, so you can recall the key steps to solving the more complex problem?

Can you solve or recognize parts of the problem? For instance if you know that a triangle and a straight line are both 180 degrees, can you break down a more complex figure to these more recognizable and solvable parts?

Do you know or recognize one part of the unfamiliar word (prefix or root) so that you can take an educated guess as to its meaning?

Do you know the type of word (noun, verb adjective, adverb) that should fit into this fill-in-the-blank question?

Do you know the key words that should be in the answer? Check the question - the teacher probably used them in asking the question!

Do you know enough vocabulary words from the unit (or can you pull them from other parts of the test) to put down at least a partial answer for the essay question?

Asking these essential questions and using other parts of the test for clues should help you build upon what you DO know to help you answer unfamiliar questions!

3 day planner

Here is a great three day planner adapted from Walter Pauk's original 7-day study plan in his book How to Study in College to help you organize your time for studying before a test or quiz.

3 days before the test - set-up time @ 30 minutes

• Notes organized
• Homework, quizzes corrected
• Make flashcards, two-column  lists, vocabulary fan, or other tool for drilling vocabulary

2 days before the test - work time @ 30 - 45 minutes

• Memorize vocabulary
• Web or outline essays
• Practice problems (especially for math)
• Make up your own test questions
• Anything you don't understand, you can ask about in class tomorrow!

1 day before the test - final preparations @ 45 minutes to 1 hour

• Break up the material into sections
• Drill and test yourself (no cheating) on one section at a time
• Put all the sections together and quickly check yourself on them one more time

Test day - activating memory @ 5 minutes

• Read over the material one more time, to reactivate it in your memory
• Use the "memory dump" once you get the test - write everything you think is important on the back of the test before starting it

We have also included a handy graphic organizer , complements of Deb Rottinger, Upper School computer teacher at Woodlynde School, that you can print out and hang in your study space to help you keep on track.

Mid-term and Finals Focus Areas

In the 10 days before a large test such as a mid-term or final, you should be concentrating on these 5 areas to maximize your chances for success!

1. Last-minute work
• Complete any overdue assignments
• Finish any extra credit work
• Work on almost-final drafts of papers (use teacher or learning specialist to proof)

2. Physical organization for exams
• Study area selected and cleared away
• All papers and books for each class in proper binder/folder
• Are any review materials available? Be sure to get them!

3. Temporal organization
• Time plan
• 20-30 minute “academic sprints” for each course are a good study approach for most people for the week  before exams
  • Use this time for correction of old work, preparation of vocabulary lists, etc.
• Include any extracurricular activities, exercise and sleep in your time plan
  • All are necessary to keep you focused and balanced
4. Getting down to studying
• Don’t wait for the teacher's study sheet – make your own, based on old tests and notes
• For each exam, make an intelligent prediction about the type of questions you will face, and on which material
• Select (you can ask the teacher or a learning specialist) a study strategy that is likely to work for you for each type of question
  • make sure you play to your learning strengths as much as possible when selecting a strategy
• Brainstorm and outline or web, or at least list, information that addresses possible essay questions
• Take a cumulative (adding on a bit at a time) approach to drilling terminology
  • Whatever you do, use more than one modality (auditory/oral, visual, kinesthetic) to drill it!
• Don’t get so hung up on the details, however, that you miss the big picture.  Take five minutes before each break from studying to fit the material you’ve been working on into a bigger picture. 
• Talking and doodling your way through the material, linking it together to make a sort of “story”, is a common approach (ask to practice with the teacher or learning specialist if you’re not sure how to do this).
5. Eliminate Test anxiety
• It has long been documented that the primary cause of test anxiety is knowing that you didn’t study sufficiently for the test; see above to avoid this; trying to cram it all in the night before is a great contributor to test anxiety
• That “big picture” review mentioned above can sometimes help you here, as you can often “talk around” a question for which you don’t have a specific answer, and still earn at least partial credit
• Taking the first five minutes of the exam to perform a “memory dump” – quickly writing down on the back of the test all the key information you don’t want to forget - can really help by taking pressure off your retrieval mechanisms  

Post Test Assessment

You've finished your exam and gotten back your grade. Dissatisfied with the result? Honestly ask yourself these questions provided by Sean Sweeney - Woodlynde School math teacher, to improve your study practices for next time.

Estimate the amount of time you studied for the exam. Divide the time by 3 if you did not study in a quiet place without distractions such as TV.

Did you devote enough time and effort to studying? Hint: the number one cause of test anxiety is inadequate preparation time.

In class leading to the test did you...

• Take any notes?
• Take notes in words that are meaningful to you?
• Keep your notes organized,and available?(didn't throw them out or lose them)
• Write down, and draw attention in your notes when the teacher made comments like:
  • "This is something that many people forget" or "Something that is easy to make a mistake on"?
• Come for help when you weren't sure of what you were doing?
• Do your homework?
  • Have your notes on hand while doing your homework to make sure you were practicing correctly?
  • Check selected answers to homework in the back of the book or with the teacher to make sure you had done the problems correctly?

To prepare for the test did you...

• Complete some of the easy review problems?
• Complete the harder review problems?
• Complete more than half of the review problems?
• Check your answers with the teacher or the selected answers from the back of the book?
• Practice questions that were incorrect again until correct?
• Orally summarize lecture notes without looking?
• Review all past quizzes related to the test?
• Pay special attention to where you made mistakes on previous quizzes and homework?
• Come in for help during office hours or before school?
• Use note cards or any other drilling method to bring out differences between definitions and processes?
• Test yourself on every type of problem? (Try practice problems without using your notes, making sure to not make mistakes)
• Review examples from the book?
• Review examples from the test review?
• Get a good night's rest and eat breakfast?

During the test did you...

• Use the memory dump technique?
• Read ALL the directions carefully?
• Underline important terms in the directions and think about their meanings?
• Use a pencil?  (So that it's easier to correct mistakes)
• Double check answers with your calculator?
• Draw a picture or diagram for any word problems?
• Go through every problem at the end, making sure to
  • Completely review your thought process
  • Review each calculation
  • Review if each step made sense
  • Look for sign errors, and completely redo any questionable problems on a separate sheet of paper, without looking at how you did it the first time?
• Check your work completely (Hint: you can't answer yes to this if you answered no to the last question... They are the same!)
• On questions you may have struggled with
  • Did you make sure to write down any information about the key words or the type of problem that you *did* know.
• Show your work?
• Use any other learning or studying strategy?(fill it in)