University of Texas Pan American Department of Social Work

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University of Texas Pan AmericanDepartment of
Social Work

• Social Work License Exam Preparation Workshop
• April 19, 24 26, 2008

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Presenters

• Lydia Arizmendi, J.D., MSW
• Sonja Arredondo, LMSW
• Alonzo Cavazos, Ed.D., LCSW
• Catherine Faver, Ph.D., MSW
• Janis Feldman, Ph.D., LCSW
• Kristina Church, MSSW
• Estela Sosa-Garza, LCSW
• Sharon Pittman, Ph.D.
• Shirley Rombough, Ph.D., MSW

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• Test Taking Strategies
• April 19, 2008
• 900am 1000am
• Alonzo Cavazos, Ed.D., LCSW

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Test Taking Strategies

• General tips
• Strategies for studying for the test
• Strategies for responding to questions
• Other Strategies

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General Tips

• Analyze your past test resultsEach test can
  further prepare you for the next test.If
  available, use old tests to review when preparing
  for an exam.
• Arrive early for testsBring all the materials
  you will need such as pencils and pens, a
  calculator, a dictionary, and a watch (if
  allowed). This helps you focus on the task at
  hand.
• Be comfortable but alertChoose a good spot and
  make sure you have enough room to work, maintain
  comfortable posture but don't "slouch"
• Stay relaxed and think positively (be confident).
  Remind yourself that you are well-prepared and
  are going to do well.  If you find yourself
  anxious, take several slow, deep breaths to
  relax. Don't talk about the test to other
  students just before it anxiety is contagious.

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Strategies for studying for the test

• Find a study partner OR form a study group
• Divide the material to be covered (some content
  areas have more questions on the exam)
• Share notes and information with each other

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Strategies for studying for the test

• Divide you study time among the different areas
• Priority 1 greatest portion of the exam with
  the section that you have the least familiarity.
• Priority 2 -- focus on area that makes up a
  lesser portion of the exam that you know the
  least about.
• Priority 3 focus on greatest portion of the
  exam with which you have the greatest
  familiarity.
• Priority 4 focus on area that makes up a
  lesser portion of the exam that you know the
  most about.

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LMSW Exam Content(section with 7 or greater)

• Direct and Indirect Practice 22
• HBSE 18
• Assessment, Diagnosis Intervention Planning
  11
• Professional Values Ethics 11
• Supervision, Administration, Policy 8
• Diversity 7
• Communication 7

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Direct and Indirect Practice

• Intervention models and methods
• The intervention process
• Intervention techniques
• Intervention with couples and families
• Intervention with groups
• Intervention with communities and larger systems
• Consultation interdisciplinary collaboration

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Strategies for studying for the test(continued)

• Make sure you carefully examine each
  question.watch for qualifying words such as
  best, most, least likely, first step, etc.
• Skip 1st question you dont know move to the
  next question. When you come to the 3rd question
  you need to skip, go back and answer the skipped
  questions.

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Test Simulation encountering first 5 questions

• Know the answer
• Dont know the answer (Skip to next question)
• Dont know the answer (Skip)
• Know the answer
• Dont know (return to number 2 and answer the 3
  questions that you skipped)

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Strategies for studying for the test(continued)

• Most questions will have at least 2 good
  answers. Do not answer a question based solely
  on the practice agency where you work. Questions
  are designed to cover a broad range of practice
  settings.
• Test Question In most states, the vast majority
  of children in placement reside in
• Institutions
• Foster homes
• Group homes
• Detention centers

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Suggestions

• Accept the question at face value (dont read
  anything into question)
• On client related questions the clients safety
  comes first
• Your first considered choice is probably the
  correct response
• Consider what social work principle or theory is
  being tested

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If a question does not have one answer that is
clearly the correct answer, eliminate all but the
two best answers. And then

• If an answer refers specifically to assessment,
  choose this one.
• In general, do not choose an answer that contains
  extreme wording such as always, never, must, etc.
  --- There are a few exceptions (It is never
  appropriate to engage in sexual activity with a
  client.)
• Select the answer that was your initial guess.
• If an answer has more professional wording,
  choose that one.

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Focus on answer that refers specifically to
assessment

• Following an initial visit to an elderly client,
  social worker notifies the client that they will
  meet again in six weeks. The next day and for
  several subsequent days the client continues to
  call the worker. The clients questions seem
  contrived and trivial and do not concern
  significant or pressing issues. The worker
  should.
• Answer the questions and not schedule another
  appointment.
• Reflect to the client that her anxiety is
  causing her to make the calls.
• Ask the client if she would like to schedule an
  earlier visit.
• Transfer the case.

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The correct answer is c ask client if she
wants earlier interview

• Communication includes both manifest and latent
  content. Answering the clients questions
  responds only to the manifest content, not the
  underlying message that there may be a desire for
  more contact.

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Test Question professional wording

• A social worker who uses a behavioral approach to
  assessment and treatment will usually be most
  concerned witha. Applying treatment methods
  that are simple to apply and easily understood
  by the client.
• b. Interventions that are based on empirical
  research and produce observable and measurable
  results.
• c. Rapid progress that encourages further change.
• d. Changing the clients thought patterns through
  repetitive exercises.

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The correct answer is b

• A social worker who uses a behavioral approach to
  assessment and treatment will usually be most
  concerned with interventions that are based on
  empirical research and produce observable and
  measurable results.

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Multiple choice questions usually include a
phrase or stem followed by 3 5 options

• Test strategies
• Read the question (directions) carefully Know if
  each question has one or more correct option.If
  possible, read through the entire test quickly
  and answer the easiest questions first. Mark
  those you think you know in some way that is
  appropriate.
• If possible, read through the test a second time
  and answer more difficult questions.You may pick
  up cues for answers from the first reading, or
  become more comfortable in the testing situation.
  
• If time allows, review both questions and
  answers.It is possible you mis-read questions
  the first time

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Answering optionsImprove your odds, think
critically

• Cover the options, read the stem, and try to
  answerSelect the option that most closely
  matches your answer
• Read the stem with each optionTreat each option
  as a true-false question, and choose the "most
  true"

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Test Question

• In a beginning interview with a client, the
  purpose of asking questions is to
• Probe the clients unconscious feelings.
• Obtain information about the presenting problem.
• Direct and focus the clients conversation on the
  clients personal and family history.
• Find out if the client really wants help.

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The correct answer is b

• b. Obtain information about the presenting
  problem.
• Understanding the presenting problem as the
  client experiences it is the first step in a
  social work intervention.

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Read the stem with each optionTreat each option
as a true-false question

• A clients capacity to enter into a social work
  relationship cannot usually be determined by
• emotional and personality make-up
• age
• judgment
• intelligence

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The Correct Answer is b - Age

• Most human beings, regardless of age, are capable
  of entering into a relationship. Age will more
  accurately reveal how the person may enter into a
  relationship, based on developmental
  expectations, rather than whether they are
  capable of a relationship.

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Strategies to answer difficult questions

• Eliminate options you know to be incorrectIf
  allowed, mark words or alternatives in questions
  that eliminate the option
• Give each option of a question the "true-false
  test"This may reduce your selection to the best
  answer
• Question options that grammatically don't fit
  with the stem
• Question options that are totally unfamiliar to
  you

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Test Question

• An infant showing drug withdrawal symptoms at
  birth is ready for foster care placement
  following medical treatment and court action. To
  prepare the prospective foster parents, the
  social worker should
• Not mention the infants drug background so as
  not to precipitate feelings of bias.
• Inform them of the infants drug background, and
  the treatments provided, and answer any questions
  about the medical issues the child may present.
• Inform them that they baby may have some medical
  problems and give them instructions about how to
  proceed.
• Inform them of biological mothers drug
  addiction, and that they should not worry about
  any potential medical problems.

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The correct answer is b

• b. Inform them of the infants drug background,
  and the treatments provided, and answer any
  questions about the medical issues the child may
  present.
• This is both an ethical and a practice question.
  The foster parents have a right to full
  disclosure of the infants condition. Moreover,
  in order for them to properly care for the child
  they need to have complete information. Holding
  back or minimizing is an ethical breach and is
  poor practice.

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Strategies to answer difficult questions

• Question options that contain negative or
  absolute words.Try substituting a qualified term
  for the absolute one, like frequently for always
  or typical for every to see if you can eliminate
  it
• "All of the above"If you know two of three
  options seem correct, "all of the above" is a
  strong possibility
• Number answerstoss out the high and low and
  consider the middle range numbers

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Question options that contain negative or
absolute words

• When considering Native American customs and
  developing treatment or service plans, social
  workers should understand that
• all Indians have the same culture and that
  tribal differences are minor.
• there are important reasons why Indians never
  integrated into American culture.
• with more than 500 tribal groups, there are
  substantial cultural and social differences among
  Indian groups.
• it is important for Indians to separate from the
  traditional culture if they want to succeed
  economically.

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Correct Answer is c

• c. with more than 500 tribal groups, there are
  substantial cultural and social differences among
  Indian groups.
• There are many similarities among Indian groups,
  but there are important cultural, geographic,
  economic and tribal differences that are
  considered in diagnosis and treatment.

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All of the above"If you know two of three
options seem correct, "all of the above" is a
strong possibility

• Test Question
• Group leaders are expected to protect
  confidentiality of members by
• Clearly defining what confidentiality means.
• Explaining to members why is it important.
• Discussing the difficulties involved in its
  enforcement.
• All of the above.

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The correct answer is d all of the above
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Number Answerstoss out the high low and
consider the middle range numbers

• The optimum span of control by a supervisor
  is
• 1-3 persons
• 10-12 persons
• 5-9 persons
• 11-15 persons

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The Correct Answer is c

• c. 5-9 persons

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Strategies to answer difficult questions

• "Look alike options"probably one is correct
  choose the best, but eliminate choices that mean
  basically the same thing, and thus cancel each
  other out
• Double negativesCreate the equivalent positive
  statement and consider
• Echo optionsIf two options are opposite each
  other, chances are one of them is correct
• Favor options that contain qualifiersThe result
  is longer, more inclusive items that better fill
  the role of the answer
• If two alternatives seem correct,compare them
  for differences, then refer to the stem to find
  your best answer

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Echo optionsIf two options are opposite each
other, chances are one of them is correct

• There are many different types of groups that
  social workers lead. The type of group most
  associated with self-improvement and
  opportunities to expand self-awareness is
• the therapeutic group
• the socialization group
• the growth group
• the recreational group

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The correct answer is c the growth group
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Guessing

• Reject answers that use specific determiners such
  as everyone, always, never, etc.
• Look for grammatical inconsistencies which may
  help eliminate wrong answers.
• Choose the longest, most precise answer.
• Choose the answer that is in the middle.
• Choose answers which use qualifying terms such
  as often, most, etc.
• Choose the answer which first caught your eye.

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When guessing -- choose the longest, most precise
answer

• In treating a client with a narcissistic
  personality disorder, the social worker most
  frequently becomes
• the object of the clients libidinal impulses.
• an object of the clients anger.
• idealized by the client to fulfill functions
  that have remained unfulfilled by the clients
  parents.
• angered by the clients projections.

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The correct answer is c --- idealized by the
client to fulfill functions that have remained
unfulfilled by the clients parents.

• Narcissistic personality disorder develops,
  according to Self Psychology theory, as a result
  of difficulty during a time when the child needs
  to feel invincible and needs to experience the
  parents as perfect. In the relationship with the
  worker, the client will need to transform the
  worker into a parent figure as an audience for
  her grandiosity, or as a perfect parent
  substitute.

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Choose the answer that is in the middle

• Which condition is known to have a genetic
  cause?
• hypoglycemia
• autism
• downs syndrome
• obsessive-compulsive behavior

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Correct Answer is c

• Downs Syndrome can be detected by a pre-natal
  test amniocentesis. In this test, amniotic
  fluid is withdrawn from the uterus and tested for
  genetic abnormalities.

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More on Guessing

• Rely on your first impressions.
• The answer which comes to mind first is often
  correct.
• Nervously reviewing questions and changing
  answers can do more harm than good.

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Answering multiple choice questions A review

• Read the question before you look at the answers.
  
• Come up with the answer in your head before
  looking at the possible answers, this way the
  choices given on the test won't throw you off or
  trick you.
• Eliminate answers you know aren't right.
• Read all the choices before choosing your answer.
  
• In "None of the above" choices, if you are
  certain one of the statements is true don't
  choose "None of the above".
• A positive choice is more likely to be true than
  a negative one.
• Usually the correct answer is the choice with the
  most information.

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Direct Practice test question

• A clients wife calls her husbands social worker
  for information concerning her husbands
  emotional problems. The first thing the social
  worker would most likely say to her would be
• That the relationship is confidential and any
  information would have to come from her husband.
• To probe why she was asking.
• To ask her if anything has created a concern.
• To suggest that she not interfere since it could
  have a detrimental effect.

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Correct answer b

• Why is b the best answer?
• The question stem stresses the first thing
• Focusing on why she is calling enables the
  social worker to deal with relationship and
  formulate an assessment.

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Test Question

• The basic difference between social workers and
  psychiatrists is
• Social workers primarily use verbal methods and
  interpersonal relationships to modify attitudes
  and behavior.
• Use of groups by social workers to facilitate
  change.
• The different patient populations served by each
  profession.
• None of the above.

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Correct answer is a

• Why
• Strategy when none of above is an option, you
  can rule this out if one of the choices is true.
  Social workers use groups.
• Strategy choice b suggests that all social
  workers use groups and than on psychiatrists use
  groups.
• Strategy choice c not true, certainly in
  mental health, the clients are the same for both
  social workers and psychiatrists.