Test taking strategies

For many of you, you are either in the midst of final exams or close to it.

Quite a few students know that performance on an exam has a lot to do with how well you understand the concepts. Duh-uh!

But did you that there are other factors, too?

Here are some factors that can impact the performance on a test:

1. Wellness. Whether you are ill or healthy, whether you are tired or well-rested, whether you have eaten well or not, and so on, can have big effects on how well you do.
2. Test-taking skills. Yep . . . there are certain methods to use when taking a test that help you increase your chances of doing well. For example, managing your time properly helps you respond to all the items on an exam (rather than running out of time and missing out on part of the exam).
3. Test-preparation strategies. What you do before the exam can have a big effect on how well you do. Last-minute cramming, depending on how you do that, may actually decrease your performance on an exam . . . especially if it causes you to lose critical sleep time.

So . . . what are the particular strategies to use? Glad you asked!

Just go to the Lion Den Taking Tests page for specific, student-tested advice . . . and links to other sources!