9. How To Become A More Effective Student SERIES Part 4: Test Preparation & Test-Taking Skills

9. How To Become A More Effective Student Series Part 4: 
Test Preparation & Test-Taking Skills.

Friends, welcome to Intervention, an outreach of VISION BUILDERS designed to help undergraduates contact divine intervention for academic victories. Intervention brings you inspirational messages and Study Tips to enable you be your best academically! Through this message, we believe that God is set to bless you by removing every barrier against your academic success and fulfillment.

‘How To Become A More Effective Student’ Series offers practical tips you can apply to develop better study habits to achieve academic success. Parts 1-3 are already on this blog. Do ensure you go through them once you’re done with this topic. You don’t want to miss out on any part of this series.

You will agree with me that Test Preparation and Test-Taking Skills are key issues that determine the quality of your academic life. God has a blessing especially for you today. He has promised me He will do amazing things in your life.

A Skill is an ability that has been acquired by training.

You develop Test Preparation Skills by training yourself in them. Developing effective test preparation skills will help give you a better understanding of your subject material, help lower your anxiety, and help you produce better scores on your exams.

A critical question to ask is - How Should You Prepare for Tests?

The following Test-taking Tips will get you better prepared for Test-taking situations:

1. Find out what will be covered on the test and the kinds of questions you will be asked.

2. Review your class notes to ensure that they are complete. If necessary, see your instructor or your classmates to update your lecture notes.

3. Attend class review sessions if they are available.

4. Avoid a "cramming" situation. Use your time management skills and plan several daily study sessions. Reviewing class material frequently, over a several-day period, increases the chances of information moving from short- to long-term memory.

5. Choose your study location carefully. Be honest with yourself and admit that certain environments are not conducive to effective studying.

6. Engage in "active" studying, which involves testing yourself on the assigned material. For example, you might use flashcards (i.e., question on one side and answer on the other) to test your knowledge of important concepts and definitions. Active studying is more likely to commit information to long-term memory. Also, this approach reveals the material that requires greater study.

7. Use several of your senses during active studying. That is, in answering one of your study questions, "say it aloud," "write it down," and "visualize it."

8. Be willing to "over-learn" the material. For example, if you are able to recite the definitions that you are trying to learn, it is likely that you will easily recognize them on a multiple-choice test.

9. Anticipate test questions while you study.

Let’s look closely at the four most important things you need to know so you can successfully Take the Test

1. Read the directions carefully.

2. Know how much time you have to take the test.

3. Take a minute to review the test to help you budget your time. Allow more time for questions that are worth more points.

4. If you have time, use it to check your answers before submitting your test.

Throughout your undergraduate program, you will have to take different types of tests such as multiple choice tests, true or false tests or essay tests. I want to share some valuable tips that will help you succeed in each type of test.

7 Tips For Taking Multiple Choice Tests

1.   Answer the questions you know first.

2.   Mark questions you are unsure of and come back to them.

3.   Eliminate the obviously wrong answers to a question.

4.   After reading the question and before looking at the responses, see if you can come up with the answer on your own. See if your answer closely matches one of the responses given.

5.   Be sure to read all of the response options before making your choice.

6.   Be careful with negatively worded questions. If necessary, re-phrase/translate it into positive terms.

7.   Be aware if you will be penalized for guessing. If you are not penalized make sure you respond to every question.

4 Tips For Taking True / False Questions Tests

1.   Pay attention to qualifiers. Statements that imply extremes such as "always" and "never" are often false. On the other hand, qualifiers such as "sometimes" and "generally" are often true. But then you still need to master your topics since you cannot determine or decide exactly how the questions will be worded.

2.   Remember that every part of the sentence must be true for the statement to be true.

3.   Re-phrase negatively worded questions in positive terms to clarify the sentence.

4.   Always answer true/false questions. You have a 50% chance of answering correctly.

5 keys for handling essay questions and tests

1.   If you are asked to respond to more than one essay question be sure to budget your time accordingly.

2.   Read the directions carefully. For example, are the directions asking you to compare and contrast, analyze, or describe something? Underline the key words in the essay question to help you follow the directions.

3.   Before you begin, jot down outline points you have memorized to help you structure your answer.

4.   Periodically check to make sure you are answering the question correctly.

5.   Introduce the main idea in your first paragraph. Provide support for your idea(s) in the following paragraphs with examples. Use transition statements to connect the introduction, body of the essay and conclusion. Avoid making definitive statements (e.g., "this proves…"). The conclusion of your essay should provide a summary of the main ideas and argument(s) in the paper.

Now I have an impromptu ‘Test’ I’d like you to take right now. And the question I need you to answer is this: DO YOU KNOW THE LORD JESUS? He cares about how well your academic life moves. He wants to work in your life and academics. Did you know that he said in John 10:10, that His purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.

Wouldn’t you like a rich and satisfying life? You can start to enjoy it RIGHT NOW…if you will simply invite Him in to your life. Why not say this simple prayer with me right now and ask Him to come into your life?

Lord Jesus I ask you into my heart today. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. Forgive all my sins today and make me your child. Fill me with your Holy Spirit right now and bring stability into my life. Thank you for coming. Amen.

I perceive that some of you reading this blog have very specific requests to ask God. I encourage you to take a minute aside. Tell God what you desire in your own words. Go ahead. Don’t let anything or anyone distract you.

Now you’re okay with that, I also want to pray with you for God’s Intervention in any area of your life and academics you may need it. if you’ve been on this blog a number of times, you will have probably noticed that it’s been my practice, and I want you to expect a definite answer. There is someone on this blog right now and you are wondering if you will get any different result from all the prayers you’ve made to Buddha. Jesus Christ is the God above all other gods. HE will handle what Buddha or your native idols and gods cannot. So talk to him right now. The bible already assures in Matthew 18:19 us that the prayer of agreement will get answers. So let us agree across the internet right now, about all what you have already presented to God:

Father in heaven, I pray that You will give my dear Reader an undeniable miracle in their academic work. Give each Reader an encouraging act from you, through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Continue to expect the best from yourself and continue to maintain a great attitude regardless whatever happens.

I’ll be glad to hear from you. Kindly send your testimonies, questions and prayer requests as responses on this blog. If you’d like your friends, class mates and room-mates to be helped by Intervention messages and Study Tips, kindly share this message with them.

Thank you for joining me. I remain your host Tope Banjo and this is Intervention. God bless you mightily!

You will succeed. You will make it!

Contact:

Email: buildyourvisions@gmail.com 

Tel: +234 817 2239 319, Lagos-Nigeria.

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