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Part 2: Gathering data

So you’ve gotten a poor grade and suffered a shock, but you’ve pulled yourself together and decided to make this a learning experience. The first thing you want to do is look at the test and review the problems you missed.

Do you recognize the correct answers now that you know them? If so, that’s good data: you know the information. Was it a multiple choice question? Were you confused by the options? Was it a short answer problem? Did you just have a mental blank and couldn’t come up with the right answer? Was it an essay problem and you couldn’t remember all the details you needed?

·         Students often say they prefer multiple choice problems but then complain that multiple choice problems are “tricky”. Remember that if the instructor is literally giving you the correct answer in a list of incorrect answer, you have to know your topic well enough to pick out that correct answer. You can do this by process of elimination (crossing out answers you immediately know to not be true) or by stating the correct answer in your head without looking at the options provided and then finding the match in the list.

·         Short answer questions are only tricky because either you know it or you don’t. If you haven’t studied, there’s no possibility to pick the correct answer out of a lineup of multiple choice responses – short answer requires you to know the material. The only possibility would be to search through the test itself for clues or find where that term you’re looking for (that’s lost in your brain) has been written elsewhere and may jar your memory.

·         Essay questions are a whole other ballgame. Not only do you need to know the material you’re studying, you need to be able to discuss it in a level of detail that meets the instructor’s requirements. Often in college essay questions aren’t just rote memory questions, rather they will require you to show that you can apply the topics you learned to a situation. For example, instead of asking what the difference between potential and kinetic energy is, your instructor may ask you to explain how and when a bicyclist uses potential and kinetic energy on their ride to school.

What happens when you come across test questions you missed that you legitimately do not know the answers to or that you don’t understand? You should probably just give up because if you don’t know at this point you never will and you’re pretty much a failure – no!!! Your next stop is to the instructor! Ask the instructor to discuss the questions you don’t understand with you and show you where that material is in the textbook (if you don’t know already). Talking these things through with your instructor will likely give you a better overall understanding of the topics you didn’t understand and help you stay straight for that upcoming cumulative final.

Let’s assume you took a look at your test and you understand why you missed half the questions you missed, but the other half you just aren’t getting. You take the test to your instructor who begins to explain the topics to you, but you still don’t understand. This does happen; you are not alone and you are not stupid. The emotional shock of receiving your grade may still be overwhelming your brain. Rather than frustrating yourself further, take what the instructor has already told you and table it until the next class. Once you get home, or perhaps the next day, try doing a YouTube search on the topic. Sometimes learning things in a different mode and setting is helpful. You can always meet your instructor during office hours or before the next class meeting to review again.

In my next blog post, we’ll talk about general strategies for studying that may help you be more successful taking tests. Remember that you can take or leave any ideas I give you – some things that work well for a handful of students don’t work at all for others. Every student is different and learns in a different way; until you find something that works for you, keep looking! And even after you find something that works for you, keep looking! Better ideas could be just beyond the horizon!

Kelley

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