Effective Exam Strategies: Mastering Multiple-Choice Questions for Success (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: There are many tips out there for taking exams. Here's my top strategy. Step 1. Instead of skimming, carefully read through directions to avoid costly errors. Step 2. Match your test-taking strategy to the format of the exam. I'll focus on multiple-choice exams to exemplify this point. For multiple-choice questions, read only as much of the question as you can visualize. Add necessary, underlying keywords or points to help you understand. The goal is to have a clear understanding when you get to the end, so you might need to break down the parts along the way. When reading the question, consider what answer you would give before looking at the answer options, then see if you can find an option which matches your answer, being sure to read through all answers, even if you think you've immediately found your answer. Be very careful with all of the above or none of the above answers. Look to see if any answers are an exception. If the question asks for the one answer which is either true or false, literally write true or false next to the option. I've seen too many students get mixed up as to which answer they were looking for by the time they finish reading the options. Note that some experts say to do all the easy ones first and then go back to the difficult ones. But other experts recommend that you try the hard ones first. Choose the method that works best for you. Starting with the easy ones might build your confidence. On the other hand, starting with the hard ones will help to identify potential roadblocks. If you encounter a roadblock, don't linger too long. Your brain will still continue to consider the difficult problem as you work on the rest of your exam, and another question might trigger the answer to the difficult question. Don't get caught up on any question for too long. About 30 seconds or so is a good gauge for how long to work on a problem before skipping it and then coming back to it later. If you don't skip it, it can cause anxiety that might affect the rest of your performance. If you've narrowed a question down to two answers, try plugging each answer into the stem separately and see how it sounds. Doing so will likely help you to determine the right one. Do not pay attention to the pattern of answers. A lot of professors use exam writing programs which randomly assign the order of answers so it's possible to get an unusual pattern of answers. Only pay attention to the validity of your answers. If using a Scantron, bubble in your answers as you go through each question. Don't fill in all of the Scantron bubbles in the end. There have been unfortunate cases where a student accidentally skipped a line of bubbling, making all subsequent answers incorrect. Ask for clarification when needed. There's no harm in asking. For more advice on taking exams, visit the Learning Center, take the Science of Learning course offered by the School of Education, and consider reading the books listed in the relevant and recommended resources section.