Test-Taking Techniques & Test Anxiety

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Test-Taking Techniques Test Anxiety

• Angela Hardwick
• Academic Success Center
• April 27, 2006

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Preparing for and Taking Test

• Test measure your ability to remember facts and
  figures and your understanding of information.
• Objective (multiple choice) tests are often
  designed to make you think independently, so
  dont count on recognizing the right answer.

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Preparing for and Taking Tests

• Instead, prepare yourself for high level critical
  reasoning and for making fine discriminations to
  determine the best answer.
• Know and understand the power of test.

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Preparing for and Taking Tests

• Tests can
• Determine if you get into a particular school.
• Pass a class
• Achieve academic success
• Graduate
• Get a job

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Preparing for and Taking Tests

• Tests do not
• Indicate your level of learning
• Level of Proficiency
• Personal worth
• Level of knowledge

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Preparing for and Taking Tests

• Because tests have this incredible power over us,
  it makes sense to try to do our best on them.
• It is important to understand how you approach
  tests (i.e. assess your testing skills) as well
  as how you approach two specific types of test
  objective and essay.

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During the Objective Test

• Do the Drill!
• Be prepared emotionally as well as
  intellectually. Focus on what you know reinforce
  your strengths and arrest your weaknesses.
• Preview the whole test before trying to answer
  any questions. Read the directions carefully.

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During the Objective Test

• Plan your time. Allocate your time as you would
  any other resource. Leave time at the end to
  review.

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During the Objective Test

• Implement a Strategy!
• Read the question as is.
• Avoid reading into the questions. Interpret
  questions literally.
• Reasoning ability is a very important skill for
  doing well on multiple choice tests.

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During the Objective Test

• Be Active!
• Mark key words in every question.
• Do not panic if you see a question you did not
  anticipate. Use everything you know to analyze
  the question and create a logical answer.
• Remember to relax

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Quick Quiz

• Are you aware of being really nervous on a test,
  may be so nervous that you dont do your best and
  you lose points, even though you studied well and
  are prepared?

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Quick Quiz

• 2. Does your stomach ever get tight or upset
  before or during a test? Are your hands cold and
  sweaty? Headaches? Do you have trouble sleeping
  the night before a test?

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Quick Quiz

• 3.Do you ever find your mind racing, or dull or
  muddy, so that you cant think clearly while
  taking a test?

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Quick Quiz

• 4. Do you ever forget material you studied and
  learned, maybe to remember it again later after
  the test is over?

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Quick Quiz

• 5. Do you overanalyze questions, see too many
  possibilities, choose the complex answer and
  overlook- and miss- the simpler, correct ones?

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Quick Quiz

• 6. Do you make many careless errors on tests?

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Key

• A yes answer to any one of these questions
  suggest that you may be experiencing test anxiety

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FYI

• It is estimated that as many as 20 of college
  students may suffer from nervousness that is so
  severe a couple of things may happen.

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FYI

• Their grades may drop, because anxiety interferes
  with their mental processes and keeps them from
  doing their best.
• The quality of their life may decline, because
  theyre so miserable when they have to take test.

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Solution

• Most test-takers may benefit from suggestions for
  ways to self-calm and maintain a productive level
  of tension while preparing for and taking tests

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How to Keep Calm During Tests

• 1. Prepare well in advance. Keep up every day if
  you can, but dont judge yourself harshly if you
  dont. Avoid last-minute cramming. Dont go
  without sleep the night before.

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Keeping Calm

• 2. Know the time and place of the test and what
  you need to bring. Be on time, neither too early
  nor too late, with blue books or supplies. Dont
  rush.
• 3. Don t talk about the test with classmates
  immediately beforehand, especially if you know
  this sort of thing raises your anxiety level.

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Keeping Calm

• 4. Read over the test and plan your approach.
  Ascertain point values per part, time limits for
  each section, which question youll start with to
  boost your confidence, ect.

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Keeping Calm

• 5. Dont hesitate to ask for clarification from
  the professor, teaching assistant, or proctor if
  you have questions about instructions, procedure,
  ect.

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Keeping Calm

• 6. Be clear about your job. A test is a thinking
  task, and your job during the exam is to think as
  clearly as possible based on what you currently
  know. Focus on your job ( the thinking process)
  and practice letting go of what you dont
  control( the grading). Approach the test
  determined to think to the best of your ability,
  but also accept the limits of what you currently
  know.

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Keeping Calm

• 7. Reduce anxiety with activity. If you go blank
  and cant think of anything to write, go on to
  another question or another part of the test. On
  an essay question, jot down anything you can
  recall on scratch paper to simulate your memory
  and get your mind working

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Keeping Calm

• 8. Relax yourself physically during the test,
  especially if you notice that you are not
  thinking well or your muscles are tight. Pause,
  put your test down, and take several slow, deep
  breaths. Tense and release your muscles. Do this
  in particular if you notice that you are worrying
  excessively about one problem, not reading
  carefully, and unable to recall information you
  know.

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Keeping Calm

• 9. Pay attention to the test, not to others.
  Dont waste time wondering how other people are
  doing.

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Relaxation Exercise

• Close your eyes.
• Keep your mind focused on the task of just
  sitting upright in your chair.
• Relax your feet, arms
• Let your mind focus on the task at hand.