Last night I had my first test....
...and I don't think it could have gone better.
If you have been a reader for awhile now you know that I get terrible test anxiety. I am NOT a good test taker. I have to study very hard to do well on tests. I can really know the information and for some reason I just kind of... bomb the test. I tend to get distracted by noises around me, distracted by other students finishing first and almost always debate b/w multiple choice answers.
This was absolutely the case in undergraduate school and high school, and even though I ended up with great grade point averages I had to work very hard to do so. In fact, my first semester of my freshman year of college I did so bad (mostly due to partying adjusting to living on my own) that I was on academic probation in my sorority. Luckily, I think it was the slap in the face that I really needed. At the time I was devastated and embarrassed but looking back now I know I needed it.
The past few days I have been squeezing in studying whenever I could. I didn't see Nick from Saturday night until after my test last night and I'm pretty sure he was getting nervous that I was tired of him! (Which I'm not by the way!)
The test was in Educational Psychology, which so far has been extremely interesting to me and I love the prof! She's also my advisor and I'm loving her more and more each time class meets. Now, I love psychology but I do not love comparing and contrasting theorists. I don't know why but it just bores me to tears. We spent about an hour of classtime on Piaget and Vygotsky and I was so worried an essay question was going to be on them. I'm sure I could have bull-sh****d my way through it and answered the question correctly considering the time I spent comparing the two, but I was very glad to see that questions on them were all multiple choice and T/F. Whew!
I hope I'm not jinxing myself here, but I honestly think that test was pretty easy. I don't know if it's because I'm older and taking studying more seriously or what, but I'm very grateful! I can't wait to find out what I actually got on it, hopefully it's an A! It's 10% of my final grade in the class and I need a minimum of a C to qualify for my teaching degree by Iowa standards.
Are you a good test taker or do you have to study really hard to make a good grade? What are your favorite ways to prepare for a test?
8 comments:
Yay! So glad you did so well!
I am... an OK test taker. Ha! Guess it depends how hard I studied. I don't usually study TOO hard though. I will say I'm a FAST test taker. I'm almost always within the first 5 people done taking a test! Usually the first or second person. I don't spend a lot of time on questions but just whip through and get it done!
So glad your test went well :) I always hated studying for tests! I always wished I was like my old roomie who could just skim over her notes and make As on everything!
I'm a SLOW test taker on multiple choice! I flunked that math test a couple months ago and must start studying again. It was 4 hours for 125 questions and 3 hours in I had only confidently answered about 60 of them. Ahhhhhhh
I think I only failed by 4 or 5 questions in the end so maybe it will be a blessing to get a higher score on the retake?!
I'm the same as you! I can find the course content extremely interesting, remember facts to tell friends or family, but come test time, it can all just slip my mind if I don't study hard.
When I prepped for a test, I'd lock myself in my room and just cram the night before. It's the only method that seemed to work for me.
I am glad your first test went well! Good for you for buckling down and studying and not seeing Nick - I bet that was tough, but it's good to sort of set the tone now and make school a priority. Not that he isn't a priority, because of course he is, but it's just good to sort of get into the habit of clearing your schedule when you need to study for a big test...
I would say that I am a test taker. I woudl rather take a test than write a paper. I do better w/ tests that require the application of concepts v. memorization, though. That's why I really liked being a math major - as long as you understand the concepts, you could do well on the test....
I was never good at studying but tended to be good at test taking. I have a really good memory so as long as it was something that involved a lot of memorising, I was fine.
Things like chemistry etc though . . . I failed dismally, even WITH studying.
That's great that you feel you did pretty well on it! I hate taking tests and would always dread them!!!
Woo hoo!
I am a really good outline maker/note taker/studier, but I get so nervous when it comes to test time. I am about to start studying for the GMAT and I am freaking out
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