I Didn’t Do Well On the Last Exam;

What Can I Do To Improve On the Next Exam?

That is about the most difficult, and most frustrating, question I receive. The problem is that I don't really know why you didn't do as well as you wanted on an exam. Most likely the best answer to your question lies within you—if YOU can figure out why you didn’t do well, you can probably create some strategies to improve.

As a first step, it might help to figure out if the root problem lies with how you studied, or with how you took the exam.

Problems in Exam Preparation

In general, there tend to be three likely sources of problems regarding studying:

1) Not studying "enough." Most people cannot read the material once and do well, especially if that one read is just before the exam. I STRONGLY recommend that you keep up with the readings so you can be actively involved in class, so that the lectures will make more sense, and so that you feel comfortable asking questions when they don’t. That also allows you time to review, rather than read for the first time, prior to the exams.

2) Figuring out how to read/study. Different people do better with different ways of reading the book. For some, highlighting/underlining and then reviewing the highlighted material works. For others, it works much better to take notes while reading. The latter has the advantage that you are actually repeating the material--often in your own words--which SHOULD help it stick in your memory. Be honest with yourself—don’t decide not to take notes just because it takes more time than highlighting (or just reading).

3) Figuring out what to focus on. This is probably the most challenging question for many students. Given that the reading load for the course is fairly light, I think a reasonable strategy is pretty much to "know it all." But aside from that, I've noticed two trends:

• Those who focus so much on all the details that they lose sight of the bigger picture. This often shows up as being able to answer multiple choice questions—especially those involving rote memorization—but not doing as well on more “integrative” multiple choice questions, or the essay questions. If you fall in this group, you might try this strategy. When you finish reading a chapter, force yourself (it won’t be easy!) to stop and summarize the key points--maybe try to summarize the chapter in a paragraph or two. If you can't do that without referring back to the material, you probably didn't get the big picture.
• More common is not having a sufficient grasp of the (right) information. Often this occurs with students who believe that a general understanding of the material will be sufficient. This may be true for some class discussion (or for simply “lurking” in class), but on exams it often shows up as being unable to give detailed answers or to choose among multiple, plausible options on a multiple choice question. If this sounds like you, one potential solution is simply to spend more time with the material. Very few people can simply read the material (especially once) and do well on my exams (see point 2 above). If you’re doing all that but still not doing well, you may need to think more strategically about how you read. That is, think about what’s most likely to be on an exam and focus the last part of your studying on these areas. (Warning: this works only if you first have a good understanding of all of the material!) Try writing sample exam questions as part of your study process; that may you understand the strategy for most of my questions. For example, multiple choice questions require 3 or 4 options--thus they are best suited for situations where it's easy to establish a correct option and 2 or 3 plausible alternatives (e.g., “Computing correlations between predictors and job performance is the core of what type of validation strategy?”). Identification questions focus on key terms--can you make a list of the key terms in each chapter and concisely define them (without referring back to the material)? Keep in mind that I prefer to ask Identification questions about concepts that are easily confused (e.g., correlations and statistical significance), since that’s a better way to see how much you know. And Short Answer questions often involve comparisons between somewhat related concepts (e.g., content vs. construct validation). Basically, try to get into my head and figure out what kinds of questions are highly likely to occur....

Problems while Taking the Exam

Others go into an exam with all the information they need, and then run into problems. Ask yourself if any of the following apply:

1. Panic. If test anxiety is a common problem for you, you’d be well advised to talk to some of the professionals, such as at the Multi-Cultural Counseling Center, about test anxiety strategies. But sometimes students who normally do fine will experience panic with a particular exam. Sometimes this occurs because you read the first question, and realize you don’t have a clue what the answer is. Then you go on to the second, and have a similar reaction. Your breath gets short, your heart starts pounding and suddenly ALL the questions start to look confusing--and the panic builds on itself. If that occurs, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and relax. Lay your head down on the desk for a minute if that helps. Then scan through the questions until you find one that you know--and answer it. Then find some more that you know. The sense of panic will be replaced with a growing sense of confidence, and you can then go back and deal with the ones you're less sure of. Most of the time, they won't look so hard at that point.

2. Not reading all the alternatives carefully enough on multiple choice questions. Often this occurs when you choose the first attractive alternative. Remember that you have plenty of time for the exam, so relax and work your way through the alternatives. Many people find that it helps to eliminate the ones you're sure are wrong so as to simplify your task. If you find yourself torn between two alternatives, use the option to explain your answer.

3. Misunderstanding the question. If you don't understand the question, feel free to raise your hand or come to me at the front and ask. I may not be able to answer your question, but it never hurts to ask. Once again, you can also use the option of explaining your answer (“If the question means X, my answer is Y. But if the question is A, then my answer is B.”) Also, resist the temptation to over-interpret the question. I really try to avoid “trick” or picky questions, so generally speaking, what you see is what you get. (Just make sure you read them through carefully and not jump to conclusions about what you expected me to ask rather than what I actually asked.)

4. Incomplete answers to short answer questions. You should have plenty of time, so use it to first think through your answer. Use the back of one of the test booklet pages to outline your answer (especially if it's a longer question), or to draft your answer. Also be sure you read the question carefully to see exactly what I'm asking, and then make sure your answer is fully responsive. Again, realize that in many cases I'm interested--implicitly or explicitly--in whether you can distinguish a particular concept from others, so ask yourself if this is relevant to a particular question, and if you've met that criterion.

Study Groups

Some people hate them, others find study groups helpful. I suspect how well they work depends somewhat on who’s in them, and a lot more on how they’re run. I think they can work particularly well to counter the illusion that you know the material well. Especially if the group writes sample questions to ask each other, quizzing each other can quickly highlight what you don't really know.