Multiple choice Test Taking Tips – Your Keys to a Better Grade

Multiple choice Test Taking Tips – Your Keys to a Better Grade

There really are poor test takers. Usually, it is because they have anxiety over tests in general, but they have particular stress over being given choices for some reason. They continue to second-guess themselves throughout the test, go back, re-read questions and answers, and change their responses over and over. This only creates more anxiety. When high anxiety levels are reached, logical thought goes out the window, and they are not even able to guess intelligently. So for you who “clutch,” here are some basic and some not-so-basic tips for how to take multiple choice tests.

Getting Prepared

Let’s assume you have studied and that you believe you know the material pretty well. Now you just need to lower the anxiety level so you can think logically and clearly. Here are some things to do:

1. Getting a decent night’s sleep before you take the test will help.
2. If the test is online and you have a window of time to take it, choose the best time of day or night for you. Everyone has a different biological clock and you know when you are most alert.
3. Make sure that you are in a comfortable physical position for the test. Again, everyone is different – you know how you work and think best.
4. The lovely thing about online tests is that you can have snacks or drinks while you take them. If this help you to relax, do it.
5. Many tests are timed, and that can make you pretty nervous. Look at the amount of time you have and divide the test questions into fourths. Set a timer or keep track of the time with your phone so that you only spend the time allotted on each section.
6. Take several deep breaths and close your eyes as you do so. This will lower your anxiety levels.

Taking the Test

There are lot of multiple choice test strategies that you have probably heard before. But it does not hurt to review them, and this list will also include some things you may not have heard before.

1. You may have heard that “none” or “all” in an answer is kind of a red flag. Actually, there has been some recent research that looked at all types of tests – those made by humans for courses and standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT. These types of answers are right 52% of the time, so you may want to re-think the strategy of never going with them.
2. Skip the questions you don’t know and come back to them at the end. Getting all of the other questions answered may spark a memory that gives you a clue to the answers of those you skipped.
3. Pay attention to every detail of the question – it too can spark a memory of something you reviewed.
4. Patterns of letters in answers. This has been a pretty controversial issue. Are there patterns that people just normally use? The most recent research says “yes.” So, if #10 was “A,” and #12 was “D,” then you have a better than 60% chance that #11 is “B” or “C.”
5. Read the question, don’t look at the answers, and try to answer it without any prompts from the choices. You may be able to make the right choice even if you don’t absolutely know the correct answer.
6. If you are not penalized for wrong answers, answer every question; if you are penalized, skip only those that you absolutely have no clue about.

So now you have them – the latest multiple choice test-taking tips, based on the latest research and what psychologists say about your mental state when you take them. Use these tips and try to make your multiple choice exam experiences better than they have been.