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Resources - Exam Strategies

At the university level, studying for a multiple choice or essay exam involves more than just memorizing. These tests require thorough comprehension and critical thinking. To ensure retention, try these strategies:

Review regularly Go over material daily, weekly, and throughout the term.
Connect ideas Assemble (synthesize) your knowledge and make broad, deep connections across the material. To do this, consider using a graphic organizer or a conceptual diagram.
Look back Associate new ideas with previously learned material. The more associations you establish, the more deeply the information will be committed to your memory.
Become cerebral Practise active learning. Reviewing and re-reading are not the same as studying, because these activities do not always fully engage the mind. Sit up and pay attention.
Avoid robotic studying Differentiate between comprehension and memorization. Some people make the mistake of assuming that if they can remember something, they must “know” it. Before studying, formulate questions you wish to answer as you study.
Adjust your attitude If you are mentally set to be interested and to learn, this will probably happen. If you think you will be bored, you are likely to be bored and you are less likely to remember or learn. Establishing the right frame of mind is half the battle.
Respect your learning style Use study strategies that suit your learning style. Try graphic organizers, conceptual diagrams, cue cards, teaching, recitation, and writing summaries.
Put it into practice Practice the material in the form in which you are to be tested. If your exam is a written exam, practice writing your answers. If you are being evaluated for an oral presentation, practice by reciting the information aloud.
Capitalize on your intuition Organize predicted answers – essay, multiple choice, etc.

Mastering Different Types of Exams

Multiple Choice Exams ask much more of you than recalling or recognizing the correct answer, and this may make them harder than essay exams. Professors often use multiple choice exams to find out whether students can synthesize and apply information. In other words, this kind of exam requires higher-level thinking, not mere regurgitation of information.

Tips for Dealing with Multiple Choice Questions
1. Read the directions carefully before starting.
2. In an exam with more than just multiple choice questions, do the multiple choice questions first.
3. Read each stem and each answer option carefully before answering.
4. Eliminate wrong answers.
5. Leave questions that can’t be answered immediately, and come back to them.
6. Change answers only if there is good reason to think the first answer is wrong.
7. Beware of double negatives. Add up the negatives you see in the question: if there are two they can be eliminated, as in the following example: “Someone who doesn't’t know how to love can never be truly happy.” However, if there is an odd number of negatives, the question is negative rather than positive. (Note that such prefixes as “un,” “mis” or “de” signal negatives.)
8 . Beware of absolute or superlative words like “never,” “always,” “all,” “none,” “every,” or “only.”
9 . Beware of qualifying words like “usually,” “rarely,” “generally," or “seldom.”
10. Pay attention to “all of the above” or “none of the above.”

Essay Exams Questions are like other essays with a fixed timeline. Plan your answers in the same manner you plan and organize any essay taking time to plot the main ideas and the order in which you will present them.

Tips for Dealing with Essay Exams
(Adapted from Quick Access, Troyka, 2004, pp. 493-496)

1. Read the directions carefully at least twice. Make sure you understand what your professor is asking before you begin.
2. If you have a choice of questions, identify the ones you know the best.
3. Note instructional words (see list below) that indicate the type of answer the professor expects.
4. Plan your time. Consider the value of each question. If a question is worth 20 points, allot 20 percent of the exam time for this answer.
4. Take a minute or two to make an outline for your answer noting major ideas and supporting points.
5. Remember to follow the typical essay format, introduction, body, conclusion, even though you are writing under pressure.
6. Make sure you clearly state the idea or thesis of your answer.
7. Allow time to read and revise what you have written.
8 . If you run out of time, jot down the points from your outline on which you would have elaborated had time permitted.

Instructional Words in Essay Exam Questions

Analyze Discuss why or how something is significant. Show the relationship of the parts to the whole.
Assess or Evaluate Discuss the value of something (by using a standard for making assessments).
Compare and Contrast Demonstrate similarities and differences. When comparing, stress similarities; when contrasting, stress differences.
Define Describe something in terms of its characteristics.
Discuss or Examine Analyze something in terms of its significance.
Enumerate Give points one by one.
Explain Point out the principles -- or steps in a process -- of something.
Identify Name something.
Illustrate Use an example (or picture or diagram) to clarify something.
Outline Discuss something in terms of its main points.
Review or Summarize Condense something into main points.
Prove Provide evidence for the validity of something.
Trace Show the development or progression of something.

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