Topics, Objectives, Materials, Terms, To-Do List

Topics

This unit covers the following focus points:

• Strategies for before the test
• Strategies for during the test
• Strategies for after the test
• Handling test anxiety
• Test items (objective questions, short answer questions, essay items, and “educated guessing/selecting” strategies)

NOTE: AFTER THIS UNIT THE TAKE-HOME FINAL PORTFOLIO PROJECT IS DUE.

Objectives

After you have completed this unit you should be able to:

• Understand strategies to help you before you take tests
• Understand strategies to help you during the test
• Understand strategies to help you after the test
• Understand several strategies to help you ease test-taking anxiety
• Understand the basic test items (objective, short answer, essay)
• Understand some common “educated guessing/selecting” strategies in the event you just cannot remember the answer to a given test item despite all of your good efforts at organizing your time, materials, and study blocks.

Materials

• e-book, “How to Learn Like a pro!” (instructor may require some materials to be downloaded)

Terms (These terms also appear in the Glossary of Terms)

Cramming*: The practice of believing that everything you can learn in order to pass a test can be read, studied, memorized, analyzed, adapted, organized, transcribed, and fully comprehended the night before the test while hoping that you will have the mental, physical, and/or emotional stamina and fortitude to pull it all off. And you hope you don’t also get sick (or one of your kids gets sick, if you have kids) or have to go in to work (if you also work), or something like that, too, that very night. In short: DON’T DO IT*. That said, sometimes instructors might announce a “surprise quiz” for the very next day. In that case, here are a few good pointers on how TO cram.

*This definition is based on my own expertise/resources/and maybe even a few bad memories…

To-Do List

• Complete the exercises, as assigned, in each lesson.
• In face-to-face classes, your instructor may include optional additional activities.