1. TEST TAKING STRATEGIES
Reading Enhancement and Development, Atkinson & Longman, 2003

2. MOTIVATING AND DISCIPLING YOURSELF
 Take the Lead
 Review class notes
 Preview upcoming chapter
 Create list of words/objectives to
accomplish
 10 minute Workout
 Helps keep focus
 Study Group
 Reward Yourself
 Get Busy
 Check it Out
 Play concentration for 20 minutes. Make a
check mark each time you get distracted.
The goal is to decrease the number of
checks you make within that specified time
(increasing attention span).
Whether you think
you can or think
you can‟t – you are
right.
-Henry Ford
Twentieth century industrialist

3. COPING WITH TEST ANXIETY
Before and After a Test:
 Try exercise.
 Take a class on relaxation techniques, time
management, study skills, and test taking.
 Talk to others.
 Avoid cramming.
 Visualize success.
 Relax.
 Use self-talk.

4. COPING WITH TEST ANXIETY
During a Test:
 Pause and breathe deeply.
 Answer a question you know.
 Ask for information.
 Use self-talk.

5. MNEMONICS: MEMORY TECHNIQUES
 Acronyms and Acrostics
 Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
 Location
 Make an abstract memory map (bones in the
body)
 Word Games, Puns and Parodies
 I before E except after C.
 “Two numismatists getting together for old
„dime‟s‟ sake.”
 Mental and Physical Imagery
 The 21st president was Chester Arthur. Visualize
an author writing „21‟ on a wooden chest.

6. SUGGESTIONS FOR TAKING EXAMS
 Arrive on time.
 Arriving late may make you feel rushed and panic.
 Be alert.
 Understand the directions. Ask questions if you are
unsure of anything.
 Expect mental blocks.
 Return to question later if allowed.
 Find out if you are penalized for guessing.
 If it won‟t hurt your score, never leave blanks.
 Don‟t spend too much time on any one
question.

7. STEPS FOR READING OBJECTIVE TESTS
 Survey the test.
 Prepares you for its contents.
 Read through the whole exam and answer the questions you
know first.
 Gives you confidence.
 Go back to the questions you didn‟t know.
 Try to answer the question in your own words, then look for a
matching response.
 If you do not know the answer, try to figure out what the answer is
not.
 Eliminate the obviously wrong ones.
 Read all choices before answering a multiple choice question.
 For True/False sections, read each question thoroughly.
 Look for key words, always, never, seldom, and frequently.
 Watch for double negatives as you read.
 Two negative terms make the idea positive.