10 Ways to Improve your test-taking ability and your grades

One of the interesting things about Fridays is sitting under the smoking canopy and watching the students come out from their exams all stressed and bleary-eyed. They mumble about the teachers. They complain about the questions that were different from what they had studied. But mostly, the students sit around kicking themselves in the rear for all the questions they knew but somehow forgot when the test was in front of them. I know. I do understand. I was once a poor test-taker too. And, like most students, the harder I studied and the more I wanted to do well, the more frustrated I usually was with my performance.

So having been through this a few times, here are a few little things that I have found to help relieve that performance anxiety and actually improve test-taking skills between 10% and 20%.

1) Read the whole test before trying to answer any of the questions. An athlete needs to stretch and warm-up before competing on the field, you need to do the same with your mind. By reading the entire test, without worrying whether or not you know the answers, you will often see words, phrases, and hints that serve as triggers to other answers. As a teacher, I find it difficult to write a thorough examination that does not include a question that serves as an answer to other questions.

2) Answer the questions you know first and then go back and either figure out or guess at the rest. Part of what causes stress and frustration is a lack of confidence. If an instructor puts the easy questions first, the class will score significantly better than if the teacher places the difficult questions first. When you let doubt enter into your mind, even the easiest questions can become difficult because you start to doubt your own knowledge and preparation. Answer the ones you know first and you will get the easy ones right and will be in a better mental state to tackle the challenging ones.

3) Once the test starts you cannot change what you know and you cannot change what is on the test. Relax, do your best, and don’t worry about the results. When you worry, your body produces more adrenaline. Adrenaline causes your blood vessels to contract, which restricts the flow of blood to parts of your body, including your brain. Blood delivers the Oxygen that your brain needs to properly function. So when you stress about the test you actually deprive your body of the Oxygen it needs to perform well. This is what causes those lovely “mental farts” we all experience from time to time.

One thing that I found that helped me let go of my stress was that whenever I was faced with a test, I would close my eyes, grasp the cross I always wear around my neck and say the following prayer: “God help me remember what I know, and help me guess really well at the rest of this stuff.” Whether it was divine intervention or shifting responsibility for the results to someone else, it caused my average test score to increase by 15%.

4) If you are a smoker, consider chewing a piece of Nicorette. There are studies that show that nicotine dependant people have better memory recall when they are given access to Nicotine. Chances are that when you were studying you allowed yourself to smoke. To pull that information back out effectively you need to try and place your body in a similar condition to what is was like when you were studying. (BTW- stick with the 2mg version because the 4 mg version will probably make you anxious and jumpy.)

5) While on the mental conditioning thing, place a few drops of the essential oils of Rosemary and Peppermint in your room as you study. Rosemary helps with memory and recall while Peppermint helps with mental alertness. As few drops in a diffuser is all it takes. To enhance the effects and trigger your recently acquired knowledge, make a small sachet with Peppermint and Rosemary essential oils. A slight exposure to the aroma will help trigger your memory. The human body and mind react to smells at a level 400 times below the level of being conscious of those smells. It doesn’t take much and no one else will probably notice the slight fragrance.

6) Drink half a beer before you take the test. This is again based upon the relaxation principles above. Half a beer should be enough to help you relax so you can access the information easier while not being enough to significantly impair your ability to function. More beer does not help!

7) Accept the fact that everything you’ve everything you’ve ever read, seen, heard, or thought has been recorded by your brain. In fact information is recorded by your brain at a rate equivalent to about 3 times the recording speed of your camcorder (approx. 80 -90 frames per second). Once you know the information is somewhere in your brain, it is only a matter of recalling it instead of worrying if you can actually remember it. Confidence leads to better performance in almost every area of our lives.

8) Do not change your answers. If your brain knows the answers, quit letting fear and doubt make you second-guess it. I have tracked students for 10 years and 80% of changed answers are changed from right answers to wrong answers. Trust your mind and trust your instincts. That is how the brain communicates to us.

9) Bring your teacher Oatmeal-raisin cookies! Subjective tests, especially where partial credit may be awarded is based upon the teacher’s mood much more than most of us would like to admit. I remember grading papers about 8 years ago and being frustrated at the answers some of my students were giving me. As I placed a big, red X by an answer, I thought that perhaps I had given a similar answer by another student partial credit. I stopped what I was doing, double-checked and discovered that I had in fact done so. I now always grade subjective tests at least twice to make sure my mood does not influence my ability to be consistent and impartial in my grading. So, although cookies will not influence how I grade your paper, they may help keep me in a good mood.

10)Your test score only shows how well you were at taking a particular test. It has nothing to do with how intelligent or capable you are, nor does it affect your value as a human being. I know your teachers, parents, and peers may have used your test-taking abilities as means of judging and condemning you, but if that’s what they want to do, they will always find some way to do so. Your test score only represents how well you did at a particular time in your life on a particular test. Don’t let a bad past experience condemn your efforts now. Grades are merely numbers; your true intelligence and education will be revealed in your ability to apply the knowledge you’ve obtained in creative, useful, and practical ways. Education is about growth not about grades, so take a deep breathe and remember, in the words of John Belushi,  that in the long-run, “It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!”.