Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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256 CHAPTER 11

they grade exams on what was checked, circled, underlined, or writ-

ten. It is your performance that is evaluated, not your intentions,

beliefs, or test-taking strategies.

Think about the tests you have taken during your school experi-

ence. What type of tests give you some difficulty? Make a list of some

of the characteristics of tests that have irritated you at some time dur-

ing your academic career. What strategies could you use to improve

your performance? It is important to learn from exams. The best way

to accomplish this goal is to review past exams. Although many

instructors will not allow students to keep their exams, they will

review them individually with students. Many students do not take

the opportunity to review exams, because they incorrectly conclude

that they should focus on future rather than past exams. However, by

understanding why errors were made in past exams, students can

improve strategies for taking future exams.

Finally, all the information in this chapter concerning taking exams

also is helpful when writing and answering test questions in prepar-

ing for examinations. For example, the more you practice writing

good essay responses before an exam, the more likely you will be able

to demonstrate the same good responses on actual exams.

After studying this chapter, you will be able to use test-taking strate-

gies to improve performance on objective and essay questions.

Directions: Assess your current test-taking strategies by checking the

appropriate responses to each of the following questions. Think about

why each of the questions is relevant to successful performance on

EXERCISE 11.1: SELF-OBSERVATION: ASSESSING

TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES

exams and write a summary statement about your test-taking strate-

gies in the space provided:

Always Sometimes Never

1. Do you preview your entire
   exams before beginning?


2. Do you allocate time for
   each section of your exams
   before beginning?


3. Do you carefully read the
   directions before beginning?