Whether you were struggling last year or not, becoming an "A" student or maintaining an "A" average is a goal that every student should have. Grades are very important, but even more, so is understanding the concepts. Here are some ways to become an "A" student this school year. Organizational Skills Being organized is an essential skill to have if you want to be an "A" student. This means you have to become very familiar with to-do lists and planners. Have a folder with sections for each subjec t that you do so that you can easily and effectively file handouts, worksheets, notes and test papers. Studying : As it relates to studying, create a list with the topics or points that you wish to study based on the time that you have to study. However, be realistic with what you can achieve in each study session. There are also various study techniques that you can make use of! Homework : When it comes to homework, be sure to create a list of your h
It is important to understand that preparation is only the beginning.
You must learn how to approach and analyze the structure of multiple choice questions in order to answer the questions. Of course, you will have to make use of the material covered during classes, however, it is less about memorization and more about applying the knowledge to assess and answer the questions. While many students find this type of testing easy, never underestimate what the examiners may throw at you.
Here are the top 10 strategies that you should apply when doing multiple choice exams.
Be Prepared: It goes without saying that if you want a good outcome, you have to put in the necessary work to achieve that outcome. Ensure that you have covered enough material from the different sections of the syllabus and practice as many past-paper questions as you can.
Browse Through the Paper: Take a brief look through the entire paper and take note of the questions that seem easier and the ones that don’t. Make a simple plan to do the easier questions first and allot the necessary amount of time to spend on the harder ones.
Unanswered Questions: After confidently answering the questions, this is the time to focus on the questions that you did not answer on the first attempt. In some cases, being relaxed and confident will allow the answers to flow more readily to you, while in other cases, more work will have to be done. The following strategies may be applied in these cases.
Budget Your Time: Divide the total minutes you are allocated to take the exam by the number of questions you are required to answer. Monitor your time to ensure you are not spending too much time on any one question, however, do not obsessively check the time as you do the exam. Always allow time to review the test at the end.
Read the Questions Carefully: Sometimes you have to read a question multiple times in order to understand what is really being asked. If you are dealing with particularly long questions which are oftentimes hard to keep up with, try breaking the question into smaller parts. Highlight key words or phrases in the questions, including but not limited to words such as: NEVER, ALL, ALWAYS, NONE and SOME.
Answering Difficult Questions: When answering questions, consider the cover-up strategy. This is where you read the question and try to answer it before looking at the provided options, which may help you discern the alternatives from the most reasonable options. It may also help to rewrite each option making sure to include the key point of each, and assessing which one answers the question better.
Selecting the Most Accurate Answer: Be aware of the fact that you are looking for the best answer, not only a correct one. Even if an option appears to be the correct choice, do not skip the remaining answer choices because the remaining options may be even better. Some answer options are very similar to each other and it may be difficult to select the correct option. Here's a hint, the answer to the question is usually embedded in one of the very similar pairs. The most correct answer is often the option that uses the correct or familiar terminology and directly correlates to a syllabus objective. If two options are identical, they are both wrong, unless there is a choice which includes both options.
Changing Answers: Be open to changing your answers, if, and only if, you have a good reason for doing so. What does this mean exactly? Do not change an answer because you notice your 3 previous answers are all C’s and you believe that there can't possibly be 4 C’s in a row. If you can recognize a valid reason your first response may be incorrect, you should consider changing your response.
Guessing Answers: We somehow always find ourselves having no idea how to answer a question or two, and have to resort to guessing. Though we do not recommend it, if you have to guess, look for the possibilities of the style of the options, the grammar, the relevance of the options to the topic, etc. It is best to avoid options containing words such as “None’, ‘All’, ‘Always’ and ‘Never’. Options using ‘Some’ or ‘Often’ are more likely to be correct. Be sure to answer all the questions! It is better to have guessed an answer and it turns out to be correct than it is to leave a question unanswered.
Double-Check your Answer Sheet: This is one of the most important aspects of taking a multiple choice exam. Avoid this stressful and time consuming mistake by checking that the answer you have selected on your answer/bubble sheet is corresponding to the correct question on your test booklet. It only takes a few extra seconds to check for this alignment after each question. Imagine having to erase everything you have been working on in the last hour because your responses are mismatched!
And there you have it, the 10 best test-taking strategies for multiple choice based exams.
We hope you have a better understanding of how multiple choice questions are phrased and how you can go about answering them.
All the best on your exams.
References:
Daniel Wong, Victor, & Wong, D. (2021, July 14). 20 test-taking strategies and tips for anxious students. Daniel Wong. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.daniel-wong.com/2021/07/14/test-taking-strategies
MSU 2018 - Hannon Hill Cascade Server v8. (n.d.). Minot State Online. MSU - How to Take Multiple Choice Tests. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.minotstateu.edu/online/pages/tour_and_skills/skills_05.shtml
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