Question Types And
Examination Formats
In your college career you
will doubtless encounter several styles of
examinations, ranging from all multiple choice to
short answer and long essays. Regardless of the exam
format, however, to be successful you must be well
prepared and think carefully. Since multiple choice
exams, such as those often given in introductory
science classes, seem to pose a particular problem
for students, let's concentrate on how best to
approach this type of examination.
Because of the large size of most
introductory science classes, exam questions tend to
be predominantly multiple choice in format, although
short answers and essays are also used in some cases.
Despite what you may have heard about multiple choice
questions being “picky” or “too
specific,” professors try very hard to avoid
this problem. In fact, many of the multiple choice
questions on exams can be thought provoking and
thorough in their scope.
For this reason, you must
learn to read and think very carefully while taking
multiple choice tests. There are a number of
strategies for training yourself to be a careful
thinker on exams, and you should feel free to use
whatever method works best for you. One proven method
is to employ this simple three-step technique:
- Read the question completely
and carefully.
- Think about your answer before
looking at the possible choices.
- Evaluate each choice
critically before selecting the best answer.
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