Test-Taking Strategies & Stress Management

Stress Management

We all live stressful lives.

The end of the semester or right before a big test can be an especially stressful time.

Learning how to deal with stress is very important for our bodies and minds.

This video will give you some ways to reduce stress in your life.

Best Practices for Taking Tests

Test taking is something that everyone has to do as part of the education process.

Being successful at it often equates with having good grades.

We will look at some of the common practices that many people find useful.

Active Recall

What do we do that's uneffective? Rereading the book and notes, highlighting, etc.

These are all passive ways of learning. Basically, you are just practicing your reading skills, not learning.

Active recall involves trying to recall the information you've learned from your brain. This sounds obvious, but some students get into the habit of relying on passive learning.

In a nutshell, active recall is "quizzing yourself". This can take the form of:

Flashcards (enhanced by using the Leitner system)
Writing questions or summarizing your notes (like Cornell notes)
Using practice questions
Teaching someone else (Feynman Technique)
Mind Maps and Memory Palaces

2. Space Repetition

What do we do that's uneffective? Cramming

Spaced repetition is a method of study based on the work of Ebbinghaus and his Forgetting Curve.

He found that as time goes on, we tend to forget more and more information.

Luckily, forgetting is good for you. When you struggle to remember it again, it has a better chance of remembering (work = strength).

Spaced repetition involves revisiting the information we want to learn and spaced intervals.

The trick is to review a while after we've learned it, but not before we've forgotten it completely.

The more that we remember, the more you can space out the intervals.

3. Interleaving

What do we do that's ineffective? Studying something too much until we are bored or overwhelmed.

One way to keep focus is to use interleaving.

This involves studying a subject for a while, then switching to another subject.

It may seem like you would only confuse yourself, but it actually works.

It forces the brain to work harder (work = strength) and helps students recognize the similarities and differences between different subjects. They have to decide what methods of learning to use for the subject they are studying. It creates some spacing in the learning as well.

Interleaving doesn't mean that you have to switch from one class to another. You can study for a single class, but break the information down into smaller topics (chunking).

4. Get Organized

Use these resources from Purdue University for taking regular tests and finals:

There are some handouts you can use for studying under the "Create Your Finals Game Plan" & "Enhance Your Study Skills" sections.

Tips For Standardized Tests

In your education career you will take plenty of tests. These tests will be in a variety of forms and require different skills to master. The SAT is a Standardized test that you will take as a junior. And when you do, you will want to get a good result.

Here are some tips for doing well on standardized MATH tests and READING tests. (and these tips can be used on other types of tests as well)

Tips for Math Tests

⌚ TIME 1 – Manage your time, so that you have time to do all of the problems, including harder ones that may require more time.

⌚ TIME 2 – If you have time left over at the end, use it to recheck your answers and find mistakes.

⌚ TIME 3 – Don’t be hasty. If you rush and don’t read the problems (and answers) carefully, you’ll make easy mistakes.

📘 READ THE PROBLEM 1 – Read problems carefully without skipping over any part.

📘 READ THE PROBLEM 2 – Read EACH answer and try to figure out how they’re different.

📘 READ THE PROBLEM 3 – Figure out what EXACTLY the question is asking. Jumping quickly to a conclusion seems like you’re saving time, but not if you get the problem wrong.

📑 VOCABULARY 1 – Know what standard math words mean, so you understand what the question is saying.

📑 VOCABULARY 2 – Translate problems into words that make more sense to you.

🏫 MATH BASICS – Know your math basics: properties of numbers, common formulas, basic shapes, etc.

🐠 RED HERRINGS 1 – Watch out for information that is given in a problem, but is completely unnecessary to solve it.

🚫 BAD ANSWERS 1– Watch out for answers that are too far from the real answer that they don’t even make sense.

🚫 BAD ANSWERS 2 – Watch out for answers that are very close to the real answer, but have some small thing wrong with them.

📐 VISUAL LEARNERS – When in doubt, draw a picture.

📱 CALCULATOR – If you can use one on a test, have one and know how to use it.

🔮 CREATIVE SOLVING 1 – Nothing beats knowing your stuff and solving it the approved way.

🔮 CREATIVE SOLVING 2 – If you can’t, try guessing an answer and work backwards with it to see if solves the problem.

🔮 CREATIVE SOLVING 3 – If something is complex and you’re not sure if you’re solving it right, make “your own example” by replacing variables with numbers and working it out.

🔮 CREATIVE SOLVING 4 – When all else fails, guess. But try to eliminate as many wrong choices as you can.

Sample Math Problems