FTCE Testtaking Strategies

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FTCE Test-taking Strategies

• Bill Gaudelli, UCF

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Control Test Anxiety

• Exercise
• Plan
• Controlled breathing
• Meditation

• Over-preparation
• Prepare a bit each day
• Positive thinking
• Partner planning

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Pre-planning for test

• Brainstorm questions that you think are likely to
  be asked
• Carefully review the study guide
• Develop your own test based on the content areas
  noted in guide

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Pre-planning for Test

• Reread notes from content area courses and skim
  textbooks to review
• Keep a test notebook to prepare
• Work with others in a study group (even a short
  time)

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Night before and morning of dos and donts

• DO
• Sleep a full 7-10 hours
• Skim your notes to review
• Eat a normal portioned protein rich breakfast
  (I.e., egg whites)
• Have a regular dose of caffeine (not too much ?)

• DO NOT
• Party (save it for the next evening ?)
• Cram
• Read notes going into the room/while waiting
• Psych yourself out by ratcheting up the pressure

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During the Test

• Arrive ahead of time and orient yourself to the
  room and location
• Get a comfortable seat in an area of the room
  where you feel you can work best
• Read test directions CAREFULLY!
• Overview the test
• Quickly plan at the outset how much time you will
  spend on each section
• Stay calm, no matter what (deep breathing,
  countdowns, 30 second breaks, daydream, doodle)

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Test Triage

• Do test triage
• Sort questions as you go, answering only easiest
  that you are sure of (rationale-build confidence
  and sense of accomplishment)
• Return to moderate difficulty items
• Complete test with most difficult items

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Multiple Choice-Outliers

• Use a process of elimination in multiple choice
  items to limit the possible correct responses
• EXAMPLES
• In what year did the Bill of Rights become
  legally binding?
• A. 1776
• B. 1788
• C. 1791
• D. 1960
• Which was ratified first, the US Constitution
  or Bill of Rights?
• A. Bill of Rights
• B. US Constitution
• C. Neither was ratified still pending
• D. Simultaneous ratification

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Multiple Choice-Using Test Information

• Use information from easier items to answer
  more difficult ones.
• As in previous example, the second question
  (order) helps answer the first (date) if you
  eliminated the two obvious wrong dates (1776
  1960)
• Remembertest triage helps you sort through and
  borrow information from other items

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Multiple Choice-Extreme Modifiers

• When you are uncertain of a correct answer in
  multiple choice
• Search for extreme modifier choices (e.g., all
  of the above, all the time, always) as these
  are usually INCORRECT

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Multiple Choice-Extreme Numbers

• Example-
• How many nations hold seats on the UN Security
  Council?
• a. 172
• b. 2
• c. 18
• d. 10

• As a general rule, when a set of numbers is
  offered as a choice, the extremes are FALSE
  choices.

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Multiple Choice-True False Strategy

• Example
• How many nations are in Africa?
• 57
• 41
• 12
• 54
• REPHRASE
• a. T or F- There are 57 nations in Africa, etc.

• Take difficult multiple choice questions and make
  those into 4-5 true false questions. This may
  help in clarifying what you are being asked and
  trigger the outliers to stand out.

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Multiple Choice-Proximity Strategy

• Example- Which country uses the most geothermal
  energy?
• Iceland
• Greenland
• Italy
• Australia

• As a general rule, when two similar answers are
  offered, the correct answer is usually one of
  these.

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Multiple Choice-Unfamiliar Terms

• Test writers typically use unfamiliar terminology
  as distracters/FALSE items
• have concomitant exigencies
• fear an incursion of iconoclastic
  anthropocentricities
• permutations on a presumptive social order
• KEY- if it sounds false, it probably is false!

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Post-test

• Review all difficult items before submitting
• Be sure you have properly marked identification
  info (name, etc.)
• Celebrateyou gave it your best effort!

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Sources

• Gall, M.D. (1985). Study for success. Eugene, OR
  Damien Publishers.
• Sheperd, D.F. (1998). College study skills (6th
  Ed.). New York Houghton-Mifflin.