BASIC RULES FOR TAKING A MULTIPLECHOICE TEST

Student Handout 1995, Robert Runt Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge 1. Read the question and try to answer it BEFORE looking at the answers. 1. The capital of Alberta is Read the question. You know the answer is "Edmonton". Start by looking for "Edmonton" among the answers. By thinking of the answer first, you are less likely to be fooled by a wrong answer.

1. The capital of Alberta is

A) Ottawa B) Calgary C) Edmonton D) Lethbridge But make sure you look at all the answers before choosing:

1. Edmonton can be described as Alberta's

A) capital city B) largest city C) gateway to the north D) all of the above Even though (A) is true, (D) is the correct answer. It is important to read all the answers, and not just take the first correct answer you see.

2. Do not spend too much time on any one question. Sometimes the question will seem to have no right answer:

1. The capital of Alberta is

A) Red Deer B) Calgary C) Taber D) Lethbridge

Your teacher may have made a mistake. There may not be a right answer. It is important not to waste too much time trying to answer an impossible question. Choose an answer at random, but circle the question number so you can come back to it later if you have extra time. Go on to the next question. Similarly, if a question is too hard, or you just do not know the answer, choose an answer at random and come back when you have completed all the questions you do know. Use whatever time is left over at the end of the test to tackle these very difficult questions.

3. If the question asks you something you do not know, see if you can cross out any of the wrong answers before you guess:

1. The capital of Alabama is

A) Montgomery B) Birmingham C) Edmonton D) Ottawa You may not know anything about Alabama. But you do know that Edmonton and Ottawa are Canadian cities. So (C) and (D) must be wrong answers for this question. By crossing out Edmonton and Ottawa, you only have to guess between (A) or (B). That means you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right, just by guessing. By carefully eliminating answers you know must be wrong, you can increase your chances of guessing correctly. Imagine that you only know the answers to half the questions on a multiple-choice test. Normally, your score would be 50%. But if you can eliminate one wrong answer for each question you are unsure about, you could bring your score up to 67%. If you can eliminate two wrong answers for each question you are unsure about, you could raise your score to 75%. [The answer to question 3 is (A). Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama, but Montgomery is the capital.]

4. Do not keep changing your answer. Sometimes the question will seem to have two right answers:

1. Which of the following is a capital city?

A) Ottawa B) Calgary C) Edmonton D) Lethbridge

Choose the answer that seems best to you (Ottawa?) and move on to the next question. Do

not keep changing your mind. Research shows that your first choice was probably the right one. Most people who change their answers will change from a correct one to a wrong one. Only change your answer if you are absolutely sure you made a mistake. (For example, if another question on the test reminds you of the right answer.)

5. After you have finished the test, go back to those questions you circled as being too hard or as having no right answer. See if you can answer them now. Take as much time as you have. Never leave a test early, unless you are sure you have answered every question correctly. If you still cannot answer the question, then guess. You have a 25% chance of getting it right anyway; more if you can eliminate one or more of the wrong answers. Never leave a blank on a multiple-choice test.

TEST WISE TRICKS Student Handout 1995, Robert Runt Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge

WARNING: THESE TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON MOST PROVINCIAL TESTS OR OTHER WELL WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS

The best way to do well on a test is to know the answers. However, when faced with a question you cannot answer, these tricks will sometimes work on poorly written multiple choice tests. Only use them if you do not know the answer and have to guess anyway.

1. If you have absolutely no idea what the answer is, choose (C). Teachers often try to "hide" the correct answer in the middle of the wrong answers. So they choose (C) for the correct answer more often than any other letter.

2. When you have to complete a sentence, see if one of the answers fits better grammatically than the others . 1. A dog is an A) animal B) machine C) mineral D) vegetable In this question, the "an" gives you a clue to the right answer, because you know the correct answer has to start with a vowel. "An animal" works, but it would have to be "a machine" or "amineral" or "a vegetable" to be a correct sentence. Since the question says "a dog is an " rather than "a dog is a", the answer has to be "animal" -- because "animal" is the only one that fits with the "an" in the question.

3. Look to see if any of the answers repeats key words from the question.

1. An example of a nuclear reaction is

A) hydration B) combustion C) sublimination D) nuclear fission

Even if you do not know what the question means, the answer is probably (D) because it repeats a form of the word "nuclear", which is a key word in the question.

4. Look to see if any of the answers is much longer than the others. The person making the test wants the right answer to be completely true. To make it completely true, they sometimes add more details to the correct answer, making it much longer than the others.

1. The freezing point of water is

A) 32 degrees Kelvin B) 32 degrees centigrade C) 0 degrees Fahrenheit D) 0 degrees centigrade for pure water at sea level (D) is probably the correct answer.

5. See if one of the answers sticks out as the "odd one out". Since there is only one correct answer to a question, that answer has to be different from the other answers. So if you see two or three answers that all mean the same thing, they must be thewrong answers. A) Boy B) Girl C) Son D) Lad

Since "Boy", "Son", and "Lad" all mean roughly the same thing, chances are the answer is "Girl", even if we do not know what the question was. This trick is dangerous, however. Sometimes the "odd one out" can fool you. Maybe the answer was "Son" because it is the only answer about family relationships. But this trick might help if you are guessing blind anyway.

6. If you have to guess, and spot a typing error in one of the answers, choose one of the other answers. Sometimes the teacher making a multiple-choice test will proofread it by reading the question, looking at the right answer, and going on to the next question. They forget to proof the wrong answers. So if there is an error, it is more likely to be a wrong answer. (This does not work as often since teachers started using computers and spell-checkers, but you can still check for homonyms.)

Multiple Choice Test Taking Tips

Tips on answering multiple choice questions

Read the question before you look at the answer. Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers, this way the choices given on the test won't throw you off or trick you. Eliminate answers you know aren't right. Read all the choices before choosing your answer. If there is no guessing penalty, always take an educated guess and select an answer. Don't keep on changing your answer, usually your first choice is the right one, unless you misread the question. In "All of the above" and "None of the above" choices, if you are certain one of the statements is true don't choose "None of the above" or one of the statements are false don't choose "All of the above". In a question with an "All of the above" choice, if you see that at least two correct statements, then "All of the above" is probably the answer. A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one. Usually the correct answer is the choice with the most information.

Multiple-Choice Test Taking Tips

Multiple-choice questions are often comprised of phrases or stems which are followed by 3 to 5 options for students to choose from. Ideally, these consist of the correct answer and some distracters which are equally tempting options to select.
How are Multiple Tests constructed?
There are some basic rules which have to be followed when constructing multiple-tests. For starters, they are almost always written before the options. The following rules are used to govern how the stems get formulated. First, the point that will be tested by the stem has must be tested. This means that it should only pose one problem though this does not necessarily mean that one step is needed to solve it. The stem should be constructed either as an incomplete statement or alternatively as direct questions. Stereotype phrases should be avoided. Non-functional words should not be included and especially, if they dont contribute to the basis used to select the right answers. The stem should have enough information while the options should have minimal information. The stem should not have any negatives because this means that answer should be false statements. Most students are searching for truthful statements and this presents a bias.

How to Prepare for the Test

In order to perform well in these tests, it is imperative to learn the material and review the same beforehand. There are several techniques used to meet this end.

Learning
During lectures, take accurate notes After class, review the notes Before attending the next class review the notes again At the end of every week, set aside time to review the notes more in-depth.

Reviewing
Organize the notes in accordance to what is expected in the test. Come up with a schedule for study Use the material to test how much you understand Come up with an estimate of the duration it will take to review the material.

Tips and Tactics for Succeeding

Read instructions keenly and know if the question has more than one correct option. Also learn if there are any penalties for guessing and the duration set aside for the test. Before starting, take time to preview the test. Start by answering the easy questions. Go through the test a second time. You might get some answers that you initially missed out. If possible and there is time, review the answers and the questions since it is possible to mis-read the first time.

Answering Options
You have to improve your odds by thinking critically. Cover all the options by reading the stem carefully. Try to answer and pick an option that is close to your answer With every option, read the stem again and treat each option as a true or false question. Finally, choose the one that has the most weight of truth. There are also strategies for answering difficult questions such as eliminating those options that are incorrect, echoing options and dealing with options that look alike with a critical eye.