Going over incorrect answers?

[sdsweetie]

How important is it to go over important answer choices when doing practice problems?

My friend took the BR course and as part of the homework they say that not only should you go over answer choices that you got wrong but also, "write a detailed explanation of how you eliminated wrong answers and/or zeroed in on the best answer. Once you have completed the passages, grade each question using the answer key following the last question (using the answer letters at the start of each answer explanation at the end of the corresponding chapters), marking incorrect questions using blue ink. Repeat any questions you got incorrect using blue ink. Grade them once again using the answer key, marking incorrect questions using red ink. Read the detailed answer and using red ink, write out how you should have answered the questions. This is very time consuming, but it presents a color-coded view of what you know well (pencil only), what you need to review a little (pencil and blue ink), and what you need to restudy (pencil, blue ink, and red ink)."


How helpful do you think this is?


Thanks

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[matth87]

the best possible advice.

 

[0Complications]

If you have tons of time then that would be a great approach. If you, like myself, are putting yourself on a short study timeframe, then just review all your answer and think about the logic you were using.

Writing down why I got an answer wrong doesn't help me, but thinking about it does. The writing part I feel like is a wast of time. That's just me though.

If I had it to do over again and I had given myself ~2-3 months of dedicated study time I would absolutely do the color coding though. That's a no brainer.

I also might start a key with 1-20 that are reasons I missed a question, then I would also write the number from that key next to the problem. That way it would eliminate all the wasted time actually writing. The important part is the cognitive step - thinking, not regurgitating.

 

[pandoraaj009]

Wow-i didn't know BR recommended that, but it what I do anyways.
My variation: I bought huge, ultra sticky post it's.
I do the tbr passage and grade it as normal, usually timed, then I paraphrase the explanations in my own words.

I also circle the answers super lightly-to facilitate erasing and retaking it later🙂
The second time I do the passage, I explain the logic of the answer choices to myself.
Sometimes I write them down, but sometimes I just do it in my head.
It's important that you spend the time to reason thru your answers.
I noticed it helped me so much. What I found was that it helped for those questions where one answer FEELS right,
but when I actually thought beyond my first impulse, it didn't make sense based on the passage.
I guess it's the most helpful for when I've eliminated 2 choices.
I used to pick the wrong answer almost all the time, just bc my intuition hadn't been developed.

Whether you use colors or not, developing intuition and reasoning has been the best thing for me.
🙂

 

[KCurt]

I'm having the same problem now. I realize that it's not so much content but test taking skills. I've been going over the test and reviewing I got wrong but something isn't sticking! So for example, with the AAMC prac tests, you think I should write down my reasoning for each answer and that will help me improve on the skill?

 

[vandyam]

I think it is worth a try, Kcurt. I don't personally write down why I got stuff wrong for time reasons (my test is 5 weeks away) but I try to go over my exam either the same day or the next day. I think about why I missed it (why I thought it was the right answer the first time... sometimes I read it wrong.. sometimes a random guess... etc) and determine if it was a content review problem. However, if you think writing it down would help, I definitely would. Perhaps you will start to see a trend of the type of problems you are missing.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

The general idea is great. Especially on FL's - your review of the test should take at least the amount of time it took to TAKE the test. Read every answer choice and their explanations. You'll learn a ton this way.

As far as retaking and retaking, most people simply don't have the time. But DO NOT skip out on the FL reviews. The most important part, IMHO.

 

[Vihsadas]

How important is it to go over important answer choices when doing practice problems?

My friend took the BR course and as part of the homework they say that not only should you go over answer choices that you got wrong but also, "write a detailed explanation of how you eliminated wrong answers and/or zeroed in on the best answer. Once you have completed the passages, grade each question using the answer key following the last question (using the answer letters at the start of each answer explanation at the end of the corresponding chapters), marking incorrect questions using blue ink. Repeat any questions you got incorrect using blue ink. Grade them once again using the answer key, marking incorrect questions using red ink. Read the detailed answer and using red ink, write out how you should have answered the questions. This is very time consuming, but it presents a color-coded view of what you know well (pencil only), what you need to review a little (pencil and blue ink), and what you need to restudy (pencil, blue ink, and red ink)."


How helpful do you think this is?


Thanks

In a nutshell, they are just saying "Be as thorough as you possibly can, and don't assume that you know exactly why you got a problem wrong OR right until you analyze your thought process and the approach by which you tackled it".

It's pretty much along the same lines as what myself, and others on this forum did to achieve success on the beast.

 

[shishicd]

yikes, this seems a little like overkill.
what i did during practise FLs was circle questions i was unsure of as i took the exam, then after finishing and grading i would go over both my incorrect answers and the circled ones (whether they were right or wrong), and note down the reason i missed the question (ie stupid mistake vs actually didn't know) and use this to gauge which areas i needed more content review in.

 

[0Complications]

yikes, this seems a little like overkill.
what i did during practise FLs was circle questions i was unsure of as i took the exam, then after finishing and grading i would go over both my incorrect answers and the circled ones (whether they were right or wrong), and note down the reason i missed the question (ie stupid mistake vs actually didn't know) and use this to gauge which areas i needed more content review in.

This way you might miss reviewing some answers where your logic was wrong/incorrect, but it just happened to work out under the circumstances of the question.


There is no doubt, reviewing all of the questions is the best way to review. If this is working for you, that's great, but I would never suggest to others to do that. I honestly would suggest that you review the other ones as well. It's worth the extra time.

 

[capn jazz]

You definitely need to review every answer, even the ones you got right. I often find that I got a problem right using totally wrong reasoning. It's lucky if you got it right that one time, but in all likelihood if you don't understand why it's right you won't get it right next time.