APA-Navigation

PE03328A.gif (2743 bytes)

Programs and Overview-APA Main Page

Jobs at APA

Staff

UC Berkeley

 ContactWebmaster
(Vincent Tang)

Last updated:
10/29/99

              

General Suggestions for Taking Tests
Learning Skills Center

  1. Plan your arrival so that you have plenty of time. Be sure to check your test taking material prior to leaving for the exam. (Showing up for an exam late or without a pencil is a sure way to focus unfavorable attention on yourself.)
  2. Read all directions. Underline key words in the directions that give indication as to how your answers are to be recorded and how they should be worded.
  3. Budget your time. Survey the test to determine the type and number of questions to be answered. Determine where you will start on the test. Check yourself at 15 to 20 minute intervals to determine if you are progressing at an acceptable rate.
  4. Be aware that you may have problems remembering from time to time. If you find yourself blocking, move on to the next question.
  5. Ask for help in interpreting test questions which you do not understand.
  6. Be aware of any negative statements you are telling yourself about the test. Such statements as "I’m failing, I didn’t study for this, and the test is too hard for me" are sure ways of increasing anxiety.
  7. Do not be concerned with what the other students are doing. (Another sure way of increasing anxiety is to tell yourself you are the only one having trouble.)
  8. As a general rule answer the easy questions first.

Taking Objective Exams

  1. Answer the questions in order.
  2. Leave check marks by the questions which are doubtful.
  3. Read the questions carefully. Be especially careful of questions containing negative words such as "not, no, least," etc.
  4. Check for wording such as "all, most, some, none; always, usually, seldom, never; best, worst; highest, lowest; smallest, largest."
  5. Watch for limiting phrases in true-false statements. Names, dates, places are often used as the key to make a statement false.
  6. In multiple choice questions look for grammatical inconsistency between the stem and the response. In most cases the alternative is not correct if you find an inconsistency.
  7. Change your answers only if you are sure you made an error.

Taking Problems Tests

  1. Read all questions first. Write down the key points that occur to you as you read the questions.
  2. Plan the amount of time you can spend on each question based on the difficulty and the amount of points to be received.
  3. Answer the easiest questions first.
  4. Underline key words in the questions that give you a clue about how to answer. Words such as "define, compare, contrast, explain," require different ways of answering.
  5. Answer all questions. If you don’t know the precise answer try to write a closely related one.
  6. Be neat and legible.
  7. Leave enough space between answers to be able to add information you may recall while working on other items.

Essay Exams

  1. Use the technique of budgeting your time.
  2. Work the easiest problems first.
  3. Write down formulas, equations, and rules before you begin working on the test.
  4. Check your answers when time permits. Check for addition and multiplication errors by reversing numbers whenever possible.
  5. Show all your work; label your answers.

How to Avoid Study Without Really Trying

  1. Don’t have the appropriate materials that you’ll need. This will allow you to get in a lot of conversation with others who live on your hall.
  2. Realize after you begin studying that you need to go to the bathroom, or are hungary, or that you need to write a letter, or that you aren’t clear about an assignment, or that you have to find out the details of a friend’s Saturday night date.
  3. Dwell on how dull the course is and thoroughly believe that if you just had a half-way decent instructor all the material would be easier to understand and be more interesting.
  4. Plan to study all the time and schedule no recreational time. This will allow you to feel virtuous and help keep you from seeing that you actually put in very little productive study time.
  5. Develop a kind of smug, superior attitude that can be used to impress others with the fact that you don’t need to study, that it somehow is beneath your dignity and that it is not worth your serious consideration.
  6. Only study in your room with the door open at the dorm. This will assure you of being ther if friends call or drop in.
  7. When people do come and interrupt your study, don’t send them away because you’ll hurt their feelings.
  8. If your dorm is too quiet, find a place to study in the library where there is a lively social gathering. (An alternative to the library would be in the snack bar, next to the TV, and sitting at a table with a group of people playing cards.) Why be bored when you study?
  9. Remember and practice the things you learned about studying when you were in high school. College isn’t any different.
  10. Always drink beer while you study. It helps you relax, and popping all those cans builds strength in your hands and arms.
  11. Remember that "A clean and uncluttered desk is a sign of a sick mind."
  12. Never study material you don’t enjoy since you’ll obviously never use it anyway.
  13. Always remember that people will think you’re smarter if you flunk a test because you didn’t study rather than flunking it when you did study.

Important Words in Essay Questions

The following terms appear frequently in the phrasing of essay questions. You should know their meaning and answer accordingly. (The list and the sense of definitions, though not the exact words, are adapted from C. Bird and C.M Bird, Learning More by Effective Study, Appletom-Century-Crofts, New York, 1945, pp. 195-198)

COMPARE: Look for qualities or characteristics that resemble each other. Emphasize similarities among them but in some cases also mention differences.

CONTRAST: Stress the dissimilarities, differences, or unlikeness of things, qualities, events, or problems.

CRITICIZE: Express your judgment about the merit or truth of the factors or views mentioned. Give the results or your analysis of these factors, discussing their limitations and good points.

DEFINE: Give concise, clear and authoriative meanings. Don’t give details, but make sure to give the limits of the definition. Show how the things you are defining differs from the things in other classes.

DESCRIBE: Recount, characterize, sketch, or relate in sequence or story form.

DIAGRAM: Give a drawing, chart, plan, or graphic answer. Usually you should label a diagram. In some cases, add a brief explanation or description.

DISCUSS: Examine, analyze carefully, and give reasons pro and con. Be complete, and give details.

ENUMERATE: Write in list or outline form, giving points concisely one by one.

EVALUATE: Carefully appraise the problem, citing both advantages and limitations. Emphasize the appraisal of authorities and, to a lesser degree, your personal evaluation.

EXPLAIN: Clarify, interpret, and spell out the material you present. Give reasons for differences of opinion or of results, and try to analyze causes.

ILLUSTRATE: Use a figure, picture, diagram, or concrete example to explain or clarify a problem.

INTERPRET: Translate, give examples of, solve, or comment on a subject, usually giving your judgment about it.

LIST: As in "enumerate," write an itemized series of concise statements.

OUTLINE: Organize a description under main points and subordinate points, omitting minor details and stressing the arrangement or classification of things.

For more information about our academic self-help resources, please contact the Learning Skills Center of the Student Counseling Service at 845-4427, ext 108.