Test Taking Skills

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Test Taking Skills
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Multiple Choice Question Make-up

• First lets have a look at what are the elements
  of a question
• Stem the question itself
• Alternatives choices students have for the
  correct answer
• Distracters responses that attempt to make
  students pick the wrong answer

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• EXAMPLE
• What is the capital of Canada?
• (Stem)
• Toronto (Distracter)
• Montreal (Distracter)
• Ottawa (Answer)
• Edmonton (Distracter)
• (Alternatives)

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Suggestions

• Look at the stem for important words
• Highlight/underline these words. So that you can
  filter out the garbage and find what is really
  being asked.
• E.g. What choice best describes the goals of the
  following political forces in Europe during the
  mid-nineteenth century?

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• Look and eliminate distracters that are complete
  irrelevant to the answer.
• Better odds than 1 out of 4
• E.G. Who was the first man to walk on the moon?
• a) Neil Armstrong
• b) Paul Martin (Irrelevant)
• c) John Glenn
• d) Stephen Harper (Irrelevant)

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Here are a few test taking strategies that are
useful when looking at multiple choice

• Common element in question and answer
• Look for words that are specific determiners
• Look at length of distracters and answer.
• Look for a grammatical clue in the stem
• Look for teacher mistakes within the responses.

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Common Element in Question and Responses

• Look for words that are the same in the stem
  (question) and the responses that will allude to
  the right answer
• Example
• The Augustine National Party has it headquarters
  in
• A) Camden, New Jersey
• B) St. Augustine, Florida
• C) Palo Alto, California
• D) Dallas, Texas

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• The Augustine National Party has it headquarters
  in
• A) Camden, New Jersey
• B) St. Augustine, Florida
• C) Palo Alto, California
• D) Dallas, Texas
• Answer B

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Specific Determiners

• Look for words in the responses that specifically
  give away the correct answer
• Example
• Hermann Klavemann is best known for
• A) developing all musical scales used in the
  western world
• B) composing every sonata during the Romantic Era
• C) translating all Russian classics into English
• D) inventing the safety pin

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• Hermann Klavemann is best known for
• A) developing all musical scales used in the
  western world
• B) composing every sonata during the Romantic Era
• C) translating all Russian classics into English
• D) inventing the safety pin
• Answer D

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Response Length

• Look for one response that is much longer than
  the other ones giving away the right answer
• Example
• The Davis Act of the 20th Century
• A) provides more money to schools
• B) struck down an earlier law
• C) prohibited the manufacture, sale,
  transportation, or use of several specific drugs
  that were being used for illegal purposes
• D) gave a raise to government employees

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• The Davis Act of the 20th Century
• A) provides more money to schools
• B) struck down an earlier law
• C) prohibited the manufacture, sale,
  transportation, or use of several specific drugs
  that were being used for illegal purposes
• D) gave a raise to government employees
• Answer C

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Grammatical Clue

• Look for a grammatical clue at the end of the
  stem that alludes to the correct response
• Example
• Harold Stones book, The Last Friendship is an
  example of an
• A) Political satire
• B) Autobiography
• C) Science Fiction
• D) Biography

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• Harold Stones book, The Last Friendship is an
  example of an
• A) Political satire
• B) Autobiography
• C) Science Fiction
• D) Biography
• Answer B

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Teacher Mistakes

• Teachers overlook mistakes when creating exams
• Example
• The population of Franktown is more that
• A) 50 000
• B) 60 000
• C) 70 000
• D) 80 000

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• The population of Franktown is more than
• A) 50 000
• B) 60 000
• C) 70 000
• D) 80 000
• Answer D
• Reasoning Every answer will be correct if
  greater than the other. So if the answer was D
  than A,B,C, would be correct. Answer is C than
  A,B would be correct. Answer is B than A would be
  correct. All other responses are always greater
  than A thus A will always be correct.

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• Look for answers that can be found from other
  questions
• Example
• Which of the following books was written by
  Harold Stone?
• A) My Mother
• B) The Last Friendship
• C) Summertime
• D) The Last Rose of Autumn

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• Which of the following books was written by
  Harold Stone?
• A) My Mother
• B) The Last Friendship
• C) Summertime
• D) The Last Rose of Autumn
• Answer B
• Reasoning Question four asked
• Harold Stones book, The Last Friendship is an
  example of an
• A) Political satire
• B) Autobiography
• C) Science Fiction
• D) Biography

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Practice

• See if you can answer these questions using the
  skills I just taught.
• The Dardanelles are a
• Ridge of high mountains dividing the Italian
  peninsula
• Series of rolling hills that stretch through
  Hungary and Austria
• Flat plain that stretches from the Balkans into
  the heart of Russia
• Narrow waterway linking the Black Sea with the
  Meditteranean Sea

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Some historians have argued that during the Reign
of Terror, the National Convention that claimed
to be acting in the name of liberty was, in fact,
acting as a

1. Egalitarian republic
2. Totalitarian dictatorship
3. Constitutional monarchy
4. Parliamentary democracy

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The royal courts of France that were used to
register the edicts of the king were known as

• Regents
• Intendants
• Parlements
• Magistrates

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In 18th century France, salons were

1. Public meetings in town market-squares of France
   at which radical politicians spoke out against
   the abuses of the French Government
2. Public meetings in town market-squares of France
   at which all citizens voted on important
   political decisions
3. Social Gatherings at which the guests discussed
   ways to discredit the radical and dangerous
   ideas of the philosophes
4. Social Gatherings at which the guests discussed
   intellectual ideas and questions

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Before 1789 the government of France would be
called an

1. Benevolent despotism
2. Absolute monarchy
3. Limited monarchy
4. republic

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Assignats were

1. Documents demanding the overthrow of the king
2. Writs to have a person arrested arbitrarily
3. Seigneurial due
4. Paper money with which confiscated Church
   property could be purchased