Bad Test Taker?So I've been trying so hard to do well in my classes since my fail of a freshman year

[CollegeGirl94]

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DAMN THESE TITLES.

So I've been trying so hard to do well in my classes since my fail of a freshman year. However, I find it hard not to plateau.

For example, for my Chemistry class, I was doing average. Something I was not used to. So after I did bad on a quiz, I kicked my ass all of Reading Week and knew that Chemistry book chapter to chapter. I took the final and only got 10 or so points above average (180/220 vs my 190/220). I believe that translated to missing 2-3 harder questions. I ended up with a B- (average).

Or now, I work pretty hard in my Biology course. I am pretty confident in all of the material, but when it comes to our quizzes, I do at/below average. My smart friend would not even do the readings, because this class is mostly concepts applied. I need to do very well on the final.

How is it even possible to be a good test taker? Does all it take is full understanding of the material?

It's so devastating because the summer before I entered my university, I was in an intro program, where a select few Biology majors took 5 weeks (1/2) of the Chemistry, Calculus, and Biology classes. I was the best in the class. I was the student I want to be. This gave me such a false hope.

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Learn the material, not the test. I usually read book, review lecture notes, and do end of chapter problems before the test. One thing can help you is buying the study guide for the textbook. It helped me tremendously in the first two bio course.

 

[dyspareunia]

DAMN THESE TITLES.

So I've been trying so hard to do well in my classes since my fail of a freshman year. However, I find it hard not to plateau.

For example, for my Chemistry class, I was doing average. Something I was not used to. So after I did bad on a quiz, I kicked my ass all of Reading Week and knew that Chemistry book chapter to chapter. I took the final and only got 10 or so points above average (180/220 vs my 190/220). I believe that translated to missing 2-3 harder questions. I ended up with a B- (average).

Or now, I work pretty hard in my Biology course. I am pretty confident in all of the material, but when it comes to our quizzes, I do at/below average. My smart friend would not even do the readings, because this class is mostly concepts applied. I need to do very well on the final.

How is it even possible to be a good test taker? Does all it take is full understanding of the material?

It's so devastating because the summer before I entered my university, I was in an intro program, where a select few Biology majors took 5 weeks (1/2) of the Chemistry, Calculus, and Biology classes. I was the best in the class. I was the student I want to be. This gave me such a false hope.

Being a good test taker requires the ability to recognize a few things:

1. What the question is asking.
2. What knowledge is required to answer the question.
3. How to apply that knowledge.

If it's a simple fact recognition question, you stop at 2. If it's like most test questions you go to 3.
All those things come with experience and solid preparation. Study to understand things, not to memorize them. If you understand everything, memorizing comes very easily.

Using the cell cycle as an example, you can try to memorize a list of things that happen in each of the stages, or you can more wisely spend your time understanding what the purpose of each step is and what must happen in one step before the next step can happen.

 

[amazing tekkers]

Educational psychologist recognize several stages of learning:

Remembering (memorization, basic)
Understanding
Applying (needed for gen chem)
Analyzing
Evaluating
Creating new ideas (high level)

Try to judge where you fall in this hierarchy, and think about how you can progress to the next level. What are you doing for your chem class? Are you just memorizing trivial facts because that won't help you on a test. Try to avoid memorization as it's the most basic form of learning, and it can be the death of you especially in upper level classes such as ochem. Some consider reading the textbook a waste of time but there's no point in spending all that money on it if you don't use it. Instead of reading the textbook in its entirety, try reading before lecture, then read again after lecture--take notes on things that you believe is important, condense those notes and put them in your own words, putting it in your own words will help with understanding.

Do in text problems as well while you read along, remember, it's better to be an active learner than a passive one (avoid highlighting material, too passive), instead of highlighting, outline the text material, writing and rewriting notes can really help with understanding. Make sure to do the practice problems the instructor may assign, if you can't do a problem, don't go straight to the answers key, try going back to chapter in order to get a sense of it. Looking at the problem and then looking at the answer in the Study Guide and saying, "Yeah, OK, I get it!" is passive studying of the worst kind. It not only does no good, it makes you overly optimistic about what you know.

Finally, use all resources that are available which includes office hours, TA, smart friends, tutors, etc.

 

[kreme]

DAMN THESE TITLES.

Totally dyslexia'd this first line.

Anyways, I was in a pretty similar boat with you during my undergrad. One thing I learned that genuinely confirmed if I knew something was if I was able to explain a concept to a friend. Try giving a little mini-lecture on a topic that you guys are studying, or explain a question's answer to one of your friends. If you can walk your friend through a concept, you should have no problem understanding it.

 

[Microglia]

DAMN THESE TITLES.

So I've been trying so hard to do well in my classes since my fail of a freshman year. However, I find it hard not to plateau.

For example, for my Chemistry class, I was doing average. Something I was not used to. So after I did bad on a quiz, I kicked my ass all of Reading Week and knew that Chemistry book chapter to chapter. I took the final and only got 10 or so points above average (180/220 vs my 190/220). I believe that translated to missing 2-3 harder questions. I ended up with a B- (average).

Or now, I work pretty hard in my Biology course. I am pretty confident in all of the material, but when it comes to our quizzes, I do at/below average. My smart friend would not even do the readings, because this class is mostly concepts applied. I need to do very well on the final.

How is it even possible to be a good test taker? Does all it take is full understanding of the material?

It's so devastating because the summer before I entered my university, I was in an intro program, where a select few Biology majors took 5 weeks (1/2) of the Chemistry, Calculus, and Biology classes. I was the best in the class. I was the student I want to be. This gave me such a false hope.

Don't just read and memorize. Apply. Diagram. Chart. Flashcard. I didn't usually do this for undergrad (used mostly group study) but it helps a lot for med school, so I'm sure it would work in undergrad too. Study with people who ace the class, what do they do? Ignore the "I don't even study lawlz" people, usually they're just lying or have a very strong background already.

These people exist in med school too, and often they're just straight up downplaying how much they study.

 

[Goro]

Go to your school's education or learning center and get tips for test success. But overall, it's important that you're learning, not memorizing.

 

[CollegeGirl94]

I am, well I think I am. And I do all of the even problems in the books.

 

[dyspareunia]

I am, well I think I am. And I do all of the even problems in the books.

Whatever you're doing is not working. That much should be clear to you by now. Try something different.

 

[kk123]

Knowing what type of learner you are can be helpful when studying. You can take a test for this online if you aren't sure. Audial learners benefit from listening/talking about the subject. Visual learners learn best from reading, highlighting, writing colorful notes. Kinesthetic learners learn best from doing: taking notes and making flash cards.

For chemistry, what helped me the most was doing the problems. Not only did this help for the mathematical problems on the tests, but it really helped my understanding of the concepts we were learning. I focused on concepts rather than memorization in this class.

Flashcards and study groups got me through my biology classes. Flashcards helped me memorize the material far better than just reading it. Discussing the topics with other students also helped me remember the material better and identify my weak areas.

Knowing how your professor tests is also helpful. Do they focus more on concepts or memorization? Does the test material come from the lecture, book, or a combination? Do the things that the prof emphasizes in class as important reflect what is asked on the test? Does the prof ask trick questions or questions that require a higher form of critical thinking? This will help guide you when studying.

 

[CollegeGirl94]

Knowing what type of learner you are can be helpful when studying. You can take a test for this online if you aren't sure. Audial learners benefit from listening/talking about the subject. Visual learners learn best from reading, highlighting, writing colorful notes. Kinesthetic learners learn best from doing: taking notes and making flash cards.

For chemistry, what helped me the most was doing the problems. Not only did this help for the mathematical problems on the tests, but it really helped my understanding of the concepts we were learning. I focused on concepts rather than memorization in this class.

Flashcards and study groups got me through my biology classes. Flashcards helped me memorize the material far better than just reading it. Discussing the topics with other students also helped me remember the material better and identify my weak areas.

Knowing how your professor tests is also helpful. Do they focus more on concepts or memorization? Does the test material come from the lecture, book, or a combination? Do the things that the prof emphasizes in class as important reflect what is asked on the test? Does the prof ask trick questions or questions that require a higher form of critical thinking? This will help guide you when studying.

I'm definitely an auditory learner but I like to do it all (notes/problems/diagrams).

How do you get through the hardest problems? If you have concepts down?

 

[kk123]

Practice!!!! If I had a really difficult type of problem, I would practice it over and over until it came easily to me. Go through it slowly at first, step by step and understand what you are doing.

 

[CollegeGirl94]

Practice!!!! If I had a really difficult type of problem, I would practice it over and over until it came easily to me. Go through it slowly at first, step by step and understand what you are doing.

I think this is what is holding me back for sure. I NEED to start doing lots of problems from the beginning. In high school, I learned concepts and never did problems.

 

[Mr Roboto]

You're a great student, you just suck at the part where you show the teacher how much you've learned.

I'm not sure how to explain how to be a good test taker. Know as much of the information as possible, be able to access it in your brain rapidly, and become proficient at extrapolating answers from concepts. Lateral thinking is your friend.

Does your school have a testing center? They're normally pretty helpful at identifying and rectifying test taking weaknesses...

 

[CollegeGirl94]

You're a great student, you just suck at the part where you show the teacher how much you've learned.

I'm not sure how to explain how to be a good test taker. Know as much of the information as possible, be able to access it in your brain rapidly, and become proficient at extrapolating answers from concepts. Lateral thinking is your friend.

Does your school have a testing center? They're normally pretty helpful at identifying and rectifying test taking weaknesses...

Sort of, yes. I think I'll see them soon.

 

[kreme]

I'm definitely an auditory learner but I like to do it all (notes/problems/diagrams).

How do you get through the hardest problems? If you have concepts down?

I think you gotta be careful in categorizing yourself as a certain type of learner. It limits how you approach your overall learning schema. You're still relatively young (I'm going off the fact that you were probably born in '94), and if you're not really doing that well in your classes, you probably don't know what kind of learner you are. So don't be afraid to try different techniques and get actual feedback from your classmates and educational centers. One thing I never thought to try was mind-mapping, and it's helped me immensely. I actually first learned about mind-mapping at this ridiculous motivational camp called Supercamp, never used it for 10 or so years, started trying it for physiology, and was amazed at how I was able to create a paper visualization of important physiology concepts.

Totally anecdotal evidence from myself, but hey, if it works for you, it works.

 

[CollegeGirl94]

That's why I try to do it all. :/

 

[Volvulus10]

No disrespect but this made me think of Daniel Tosh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xPKySgWF2Ds#t=209