Entry 6. My Test Taking Strategies.

Test Taking Strategies.

 Background Information on Test Taking Testing is probably the primary means of evaluating student performance in school. It also pervades other aspects of our lives: getting a driver's license, applying for a job, or gaining certification for a skill. Testing is also one of the primary causes of stress among students. One reason for this is inaccurate conceptions of what to expect on a test and how to prepare for an exam. In addition, many tests are less than perfect and don't always give an accurate assessment of student ability. Despite this, exams will probably continue to be the main method of student evaluation because they are relatively efficient and objective measures of student performance Tests may be scored in one of two ways Most students are familiar with scores based on how well one meets the requirements of explicit criteria. In this case, one's score has nothing to do with how well other students did on the test. Instead, one's score is based on his/her fulfillment of minimum requirements set forth by the grader. The grader will look for certain pieces of information, and perhaps how the information is organized, in the test answers; the test score is based on how many of these pieces of information the student put in his/her answer. An example of this type of scoring is driver's license tests. The second approach is based on norms, in which one's score depends on how other students did on the exam. Standardized tests are usually scored on this basis. Exam scores graded "on a curve" also fall into this category