Nut's Academic Tip of the Week

[NutBrnHair]

Tips for Taking Multiple Choice Tests

FIRST ANSWERS ARE USUALLY CORRECT

Don't speed through the items with the idea of going back to change answers you are unsure of. If you take time to think through each question, your initial answer will usually be the correct one. Although there are always exceptions to this rule, the best approach in most cases is to carefully answer each question the first time you go through the exam, and change only those answers that are clearly mistakes.

WHAT TO DO IF MORE THAN ONE ANSWER SEEMS CORRECT

If you're utterly stumped by a question, here are some strategies to help you narrow the field and select the correct answer:
Ask yourself whether the answer you're considering completely addresses the question. If the test answer is only partly true or is true only under certain narrow conditions, then it's probably not the right answer. If you have to make a significant assumption in order for the answer to be true, ask yourself whether this assumption is obvious enough that the instructor would expect everyone to make it. If not, dump the answer overboard.

If you think an item is a trick question, think again. Very few instructors would ever write a question intended to be deceptive. If you suspect that a question is a trick item, make sure you're not reading too much into the question, and try to avoid imagining detailed scenarios in which the answer could be true. In most cases, "trick questions" are only tricky because they're not taken at face value.

If, after your very best effort, you cannot choose between two alternatives, try vividly imagining each one as the correct answer. If you are like most people, you will often "feel" that one of the answers is wrong. Trust this feeling -- research suggests that feelings are frequently accessible even when recall is poor (e.g., we can still know how we feel about a person even if we can't remember the person's name). Although this tip is not infallible, many students find it useful.







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