Article Categories
» Arts & Entertainment
» Automotive
» Business
» Careers & Jobs
» Education & Reference
» Finance
» Food & Drink
» Health & Fitness
» Home & Family
» Internet & Online Businesses
» Miscellaneous
» Self Improvement
» Shopping
» Society & News
» Sports & Recreation
» Technology
» Travel & Leisure
» Writing & Speaking

  Listed Article

  Category: Articles » Education & Reference » Article
 

Study Hard and Ace Your Test Taking. Still Believe that Rubbish?




By Ian McAllister

-------------------------------------

You Surely Don't Believe You Can Pass Exams
Without Test Taking Strategies

---------------------

Test Taking is Unfair. Make the unfairness
work for you.

----------------------

"...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle
to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise,
nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor
yet favour to men of skill, but time and
chance happen to them all." (Ecclesiastes
9:11)

---------------------------

When Life Hands You A Lemon

---------------------------

Sell lemonade. Life is unfair, so test taking
strategies are a great introduction to life. You
could organise student marches to protest
against test taking, but nobody would take
any notice. So take advantage of test taking
strategies.

Think about it. The alternative could be even
more unfair. Imagine what it would be like if
your teacher could just choose which
students would pass, and which ones would
fail without any test taking strategies to help
you. I know that I would have passed fewer
exams that way!

Do you remember when you were a child
playing games? Did you keep changing the
rules to suit you? When you find a system
that victimises group A and favours group B,
you must twist the rules so that you fit into
group B. Nothing has really changed for test
taking strategies.

-----------

Trivia Quiz

-----------

Have you ever watched a quiz on TV and
thought "Who cares? - What has that got to
do with real life?" That is how I see test
taking strategies. You aim to win with test
taking strategies regardless of the triviality of
the exams.

If you are learning to write computer
programs your exams will ask you for the
dates of the first computer, or when different
computer languages were invented. Does
that show that you are a better programmer?
Of course not.

It is unfair. Just learn the dates and other
trivia to benefit from the unfairness with your
test taking strategies.

-----------------

Essay Test Taking

-----------------

Most exams contain essay questions. These
are heavily biased in favour of journalists. So
what should you do? All together now...
Become a journalist!

You can know ten times as much about your
subject as the winner of the exams. But he
knew all the journalistic tricks for test taking
strategies.

Slow handwriting can severely handicap you.
Choose an efficient style of handwriting as
described in my book about exams. Then
practice taking dictation from the radio. Think
about the words as you write - not about the
letters. Fast writing helps with your test
taking strategies.

Misleading questions: examine each question
thoroughly for double meanings, or specialist
language. I once failed an essay question
that asked me to write about the mechanics
of a plant. I wrote an excellent essay on the
subject, but got only 2 marks out of 20. When
I complained, the professor explained that he
wanted me to write about the mechanical
strengthening of the xylem and phloem. He
admitted that I had answered the question
as he had written it, but wouldn't change his
marks for it.

My book about test taking strategies gives
you two examples of how to answer an
essay question when you don't know
anything about the answer.

---------------

Multiple Choice

---------------

Trick Questions: MC exams are too easy. You
don't have to think of the right answer - only
recognise it when you see it. So examiners
always include several trick questions to
prevent you getting 100% with your test
taking strategies.

Photographic memory for test taking: you can
pass if you remember well, without
understanding anything. Your knowledge will
be completely useless, but you will have
passed.

Chance: if there are 4 alternatives for each
answer, you have a 25% chance of passing
the paper by answering at random.

Using test taking strategies you can push this
chance away up. Remember, you already
know at least something about the subject.
Use the unfairness in your favour.

----------------------------------

I've passed the exam - you haven't

----------------------------------

My university classmates used to love making
lecturers admit that they didn't know
something. Then they would ask "Aren't you
supposed to know?" The lecturer would
always answer "I've passed the exams - you
haven't."

That is the glaring unfairness in test taking.
You will probably never use your knowledge
again. I passed my calculus test taking. Ten
years later I needed to use calculus for the
first time. I had forgotten how, so got a
student to do the job for me. His test taking
was ahead of him!

Yes. Exams are unfair. They are very unfair.
But I like it that way. I've passed my exams
(including ones I didn't deserve to pass) and
you haven't yet.

 
 
About the Author
Ian McAllister's experience has convinced him that writing essays is the best tool for test taking strategies. Get your free report on essay writing for exams.
http://studying-techniques.com/test-taking-strategies.html

Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/12352.html
 
If you wish to add the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the "Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/12352.html" as shown above and make it hyperlinked.



  Some other articles by Ian McAllister
Easy Study Skills for Exams
---------------------- Easy Study Skills for Exams ---------------------- Study skills: do you start reading at one end of your library and try ...

7 Fisherman's Tips to Avoid Losing Money on Your Web Site Design
-------------------------- Web site design to hook a customer is very like fishing. Try these seven tips to make money. -------------------------- Step 1. Research. ---------------------- What - you don't think ...

How to Reach the Top of the Ladder of Success
--------------------------------------------- How To Reach The Top Of The Ladder Of Success --------------------------------------------- First you must get onto the ladder of Success! I can think of three ways: 1. Become ...

Home Study: What Life-enhancing Skill do You Learn?
Home Study: What Life-enhancing Skill do You Learn? You're already doing unofficial home study when you research a project online and write ...

Beat Your Examiners with Exam Techniques
------------------------------------------ Are exam techniques better than knowledge? ------------------------------------------ Half a century ago I learned about exam techniques. At that time ...

Ways for a Kid to Make Money
One of the ways for a kid to make money. Can a kid make money by writing essays? Yes! After 2 years ...

  
  Recent Articles
ProfEssays offers the best custom writing on-line
by Andrew Sandon

Teacher Motivation - Who Teaches The Teachers?
by Charlie Cory

Secret of engineering textbook
by Yube

What is my favourite philosophy books?
by Yube

Through Help for Orphans, Sarah Ehrlich Follows Oprah in Educating African Kids
by Kris Nickerson

Editing department of ProfEssays
by Andrew Sandon

How to Enter Harvard Even if You are Just Average
by Ismael D. Tabije

Death Penalty: the Best Way to Write About It
by Timothy Anderson

How Experienced Essay Writers Work
by Timothy Anderson

Academic Research Paper Writing
by Timothy Anderson

The Problematic Student; How to Handle a Know it All
by PrepMasters

Essay Writing Help: Business Report
by Timothy Anderson

Can't connect to database