Hello my Socratica Friends! We’re here to help you be a GREAT STUDENT.
Which of the following is TRUE for you? You are an excellent test taker
You are afraid of multiple choice Tests All of the above
None of the above Some of the above?
You may hate multiple choice questions, but if you want to be a GREAT STUDENT, you HAVE
to learn how to handle them. You may FEEL like you can better show your understanding
by writing an essay or doing some kind of demonstration. That may be true, but there
are some kinds of understanding that multiple choice questions are really the best tool
to measure. Namely, can you make fine, logical distinctions between closely related ideas?
Or are you easily fooled by the wording of a question? This means your understanding
is not as good as you thought it was. If this is true, STEP ONE in getting better is admitting
to yourself - you need to improve. Don’t blame the test. Don’t blame your instructor.
This is about YOU. Today we’ll talk about how to improve your understanding so you can
do well, EVEN on a multiple choice test.
Before you take the test, you must PREPARE to take the test. Now, of course, our standard
advice for test-taking applies - NO cramming. Give yourself at least several days, and preferably
a week - to spread out your studying for the test. If you need advice about studying for
tests IN GENERAL, we have a video about that - see the link in the description below. In
this video, we’re just going to focus on how to prepare for MULTIPLE CHOICE tests.
If there are ANY practice multiple choice tests you can take, you NEED to take them.
A practice multiple choice test is SUCH a gift. Don’t waste this opportunity. Here’s
how to use it: Take the practice test all the way through, and answer every question.
Don’t rush, but don’t agonize over any of the questions, either. You’re just checking
what you know, and what you DON’T know. Score your test, and then ONLY study the questions
you missed! Don’t keep studying the questions you got right, even though that feels nice.
You have limited time here, and that’s not going to improve your score. Study what you
DON’T know. Look up the correct information in your textbook and class notes. Then, RE-TEST
yourself - but only on the questions you missed the first time. This may feel strange, but
honestly, it’s the most efficient use of your time.
What if your instructor or your textbook has not provided a practice test? You could look
online, but it’s hard to find a test that exactly matches the material you’ve been
studying. In this situation, we recommend you make your own practice test. You may find
it quite challenging to write your own multiple choice questions - they can’t be too obvious,
or it’s not a good test question. When was the War of 1812 - ehh..not a great question.
They can’t be impossible, either: What was George Washington’s horse’s name? It’s
really unlikely that your instructor would expect you to know EVERY piece of trivia.
Focus on MAJOR pieces of information. Look for bold vocabulary terms in your textbook
and anything your instructor defined in class. Here’s where teaming up with a classmate
can really help. It can be easy to fool yourself into thinking you know more than you do. Find
a friend who also wants to be a great student, and help each other prepare. Come up with
a list of closely related information, and test to make sure you can draw distinctions
between them. Names of generals, dates of battles. Facts.
Are you ready? Let’s go into the test room. Bring a couple of sharpened pencils and a
good eraser. Are you allowed to use a calculator? Don’t bring in anything that will get you
into trouble - it’s not worth it. You’ve worked hard - now’s your chance to show
how much you know. Don’t do anything that will jeopardize that. So show up on time and
follow instructions.
Now remember - the multiple choice test is ONE way to measure how much you know, especially
in terms of topics that are commonly confused. This is different from writing essays, where
you have more room to expound on ideas. Keep to this mindset as you go into the test. Your
job is to think clearly and logically. Don’t get lost in answers that make you think “maybe...sometimes…I
could possibly argue...” uh-uh. If you want to go off on tangents,
there’s a LITTLE room to do that in an essay, but NO room for that in a multiple choice
test. Your job is to choose the most logical answer, the BEST answer, and move on. Don’t
second guess yourself.
Our general strategy is to make 2 passes all the way through the test. Carefully read the
instructions, and make a note of how much time you have to take the test, and set aside
about half the time for your first pass. The first time through the test, you’ll answer
the most obvious questions, and skip the questions you’re less sure about. Make a mark on the
questions you skip, so you know which ones to come back to.
Now let’s talk about the specifics of answering multiple choice questions. How do you do it.
First, and I know this seems obvious, but I have to say it - READ the Question. Read
it carefully. Tell me if you’ve seen this happen: a student will raise their hand during
a test, and ask for clarification of a question. By the time the student re-reads the question
to their instructor, they say “Oh, I get it.” That’s a sign they haven’t read
the question carefully enough. That’s your job. Read each question very carefully. Now
is NOT the time to skim.
Look for important words like NOT or EXCEPT. These will change your answer!
Some questions allow for more than one possible answer. Again, read the question carefully!
Try to answer the question mentally, quickly, before looking at the answers. Now, this may
not be possible, but if an answer pops into your head, perfect. That’s ideal. Look for
the answer in the multiple choice options. If your answer is there, and you are confident
about it, pick it and move on.
Continue this process, going all the way through the test once. When you get to the end, take
a moment to compose yourself - take a drink of water, rest your eyes. Now. Second Pass.
Turn back to the start of the test, and ONLY look at the questions you skipped - the ones
you made a note to come back to. Do NOT waste your time re-reading the questions you’ve
already answered. Not until you’ve answered all the skipped questions you can.
What if you come to a question where you have absolutely no idea? Should you guess? I’m
allergic to leaving a question blank. If you get a point for every question you get right,
and it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, go ahead and guess. BUT. IF there is a guessing
penalty, and you CAN’T eliminate ANY of the possible answers, you should skip the
question.
On a lot of standardized tests, there is a minus one-quarter point penalty for a wrong
answer. This is, essentially, a guessing penalty, because the odds of your guessing the right
answer out of 5 is less likely (one-fifth). So for every 5 questions answered at random,
you’ll get one of those right. But if you can eliminate one answer, you have even odds
(¼). If you can eliminate 2 answers, now it’s more likely that you will guess the
right answer (⅓). If you get down to 2 answers, you should probably guess. Which of the two
answers looks stronger? Which “feels” right. Don’t argue with yourself.
So now, let’s talk about some strategies to use when you’re not sure about your answer.
Can you eliminate some of the possibilities, and give yourself better odds?
Read all of the multiple choice answers. One of them might be your initial gut answer.
That’s probably right. But check to make sure there isn’t another answer that is
essentially identical. If you think the answer is A) Teddy Roosevelt, and another one of
the options is C) the 26th President of the United States, you know you’re wrong. In
fact, this is one way to narrow down options. If there are 2 identical answers, they can’t
both be right...unless all the answers are synonymous, in which case, the answer should
be E) all of the above.
What about that “all of the above” option? Is there a way to eliminate it?
If you see two answers that are incompatible with each other, then “all of the above”
cannot be true. For example: The melting point of Aluminum is A) the temperature at which
Aluminum changes to gas B) 660 degrees Celsius C) 840 degrees Celsius D) 1000 degrees Fahrenheit
E) All of the above There’s no way the melting point can be all 3 of these temperatures,
so E) is DEFINITELY not the answer.
Here’s another thought that might help, for those questions where you have to guess.
Remember that a human being wrote your test. It wasn’t generated by a computer. Probably.
That means the answer to THIS question is probably not the same as the answer to the
question immediately before or after.
Here’s another hint: “None of the above” is a surprisingly appealing answer for a test-writer.
OK. You’ve made it all the way through your test, TWICE. If you have any time left over,
don’t hand in your test! Use this time wisely! Reread ALL your answers. Check your math.
Double check the questions you skipped the first time. See if there are any questions
that you were able to answer that shed new light on some questions you were not sure
about.
DON’T go back and change your answer unless you REALLY know you made a mistake. Don’t
change it just because you’re second-guessing yourself. Studies show that your first answer
tends to be correct. Well. SOME studies show that. And from personal experience, we believe
it.
You think you’re done now, right? But you’re not. There’s one more step you HAVE to do,
if you’re going to be a GREAT Student. When you get back your corrected test, carefully
re-read the questions you missed. Many times I would say OF COURSE, how could I miss that!
It’s because I was either careless answering the question, or I just hadn’t really learned
that piece of information. Sometimes it only really sank in weeks later. That happens.
But if there are questions you still don’t understand, you need to do a little work here.
Ask your instructor or your classmates to explain. Find the correct information in your
notes or your textbook. That question you missed isn’t going away. Fix your knowledge
gap NOW, while it’s still fresh in your mind. Otherwise, you could easily make this
mistake again - on a future assignment, or the final.
Now, move on. Don’t overstress this one test. Ideally, a multiple choice test is a
fair assessment of your understanding on THIS day. That in no way says that you are stuck
with that grade forever. Make it your mission in life to always improve your knowledge.
It’s all part of being a GREAT STUDENT.
{reading test paper} Which of the following helps Socratica make more videos?
A) Liking
B) Sharing
C) Subscribing
D) Becoming our Patron on Patreon
E) All of the Above. Oooh...I know this one...
Thank you for watching!