Whatever your feelings about multiple choice, you'll
encounter this format often at university, especially in first- and second-year
courses. Keep reading this handout for extensive information to help you with
many aspects of multiple choice, from study strategies through ways to untangle
difficult wording.
Preparation Strategies
Since multiple choice exams are common in courses which
cover a lot of factual information, the most important planning strategy is to
stay on top of your coursework. If you keep up with readings and assignments,
attend lectures and take thorough notes, and set aside time to integrate and
summarize your text and lecture notes on a regular basis, you'll be well on
your way to preparing effectively for multiple choice exams. Weekly review
right from the beginning of the semester can drastically reduce the amount of
time you'll need to spend relearning old material before the exam. We recommend
that you begin each study session with a quick review of the material you've
studied previously, so the previous material stays fresh. Attending Supported
Learning Group sessions regularly is another good way to ensure you're
processing and keeping up with course content.
If you make the time to review weekly, you'll avoid
having to cram at the last minute. When you cram, the information you've
studied stays in your memory for a limited time. That means that you'll
probably forget most or all of the information as soon as you've finished the
midterm or exam. While cramming might seem like a time saver at first, it
usually ends up costing you in later semesters, when you'll have to relearn
information from previous courses. By incorporating regular review into your
study schedule, you'll make a difference in your exam performance now and in
the future. For ideas and suggestions about how to fit weekly review into your
schedule, check out our time management
resources.
Find Your Approach to Studying
If you ask experienced, successful students for their
advice on how to prepare for multiple choice exams, you would probably find that
there are two different approaches. Some students advocate an emphasis on
factual detail, terms, and definitions. They memorize as much material as
possible and make note of small but interesting details. Other students
concentrate on understanding the course ideas and concepts which knit the facts
and details together. They emphasize the relationships, similarities, and
differences between concepts.
Since many multiple choice exams test for both the recall
of facts and an understanding of concepts, the approach you take to studying
for multiple choice tests must be based on a thoughtful analysis of your course
and your instructor's approach to the material. You'll be better prepared for
major exams if you look at each test during the semester as an indication of
not only how much of the course material you know, but also what type of
knowledge (factual details, conceptual understanding, or a combination) the
instructor expects you to have. The safest approach to studying for multiple
choice exams is to acquire a thorough knowledge of the facts, as well as an
understanding of the concepts and ideas underlying them.
Monitor Your Study Effectiveness
A common error students make when preparing for multiple
choice exams is to study only to the point where they can recognize the correct
answer ("after all, the right answer is on the page in front of you
..."). However, multiple choice exams test not only your ability to
recognize information, but also your ability to apply facts and concepts in new
contexts.
To ensure that you can do more than just recognize the
right answer, test yourself periodically as you're studying:
·
Once you're done
reviewing a section of your notes, put them away and try to summarize the
information, on paper or orally.
·
Try explaining
the concepts to friends and study partners.
·
Draw a diagram
to summarize the information, using boxes for main concepts and arrows to show
how they're related. This is called "Concept Mapping". Learn more
about creating effective Concept Maps.
Strategies like these can be used to test your ability to
recall the material and to re-organize and transform it into a new format.
Since very few multiple choice exams repeat course information in the same way
that it was covered in class, you'll need to prepare for exams by studying the
course material in a variety of ways. You'll become better prepared for exam
questions which apply or present material in new ways that weren't discussed in
class or in the text.
Write Your Own Multiple Choice Questions
Since multiple choice exams demand that you deal with the
course material in a specific format, your preparation should include practice
in both writing and answering multiple choice questions. Writing multiple
choice questions enables you to see the information from your notes and text
translated into the multiple choice format before the exam itself. Try these
ideas when creating questions:
·
Turn the
headings and subheadings in your textbook into questions
·
Turn key
concepts from lecture notes into questions
·
Look at the
first midterm, or other ones written by the same instructor, to get a sense of
the style of the questions
·
Write practice
questions with a study partner or
group, with each of
you preparing questions on a section of a chapter, then trading and answering
each other's questions
Practise Answering "Real" Questions
You'll also need to practise answering "real"
multiple choice questions. There are a number of places where you might find
practice questions:
·
Textbooks and
lab manuals often have multiple choice questions, though some students find
that these are much easier than the ones on the exam
·
Many textbooks
have CDs or Web sites; check these out for possible review questions
·
Look for old
midterms and exams; some instructors place old exams on file in their
department or on course reserve in the Library.
You can also ask your instructor or TA for an old exam if there aren't any on
file
· Find Your Approach to Studying
If you ask experienced, successful students for their
advice on how to prepare for multiple choice exams, you would probably find that
there are two different approaches. Some students advocate an emphasis on
factual detail, terms, and definitions. They memorize as much material as
possible and make note of small but interesting details. Other students
concentrate on understanding the course ideas and concepts which knit the facts
and details together. They emphasize the relationships, similarities, and
differences between concepts.
Since many multiple choice exams test for both the recall
of facts and an understanding of concepts, the approach you take to studying
for multiple choice tests must be based on a thoughtful analysis of your course
and your instructor's approach to the material. You'll be better prepared for
major exams if you look at each test during the semester as an indication of
not only how much of the course material you know, but also what type of
knowledge (factual details, conceptual understanding, or a combination) the
instructor expects you to have. The safest approach to studying for multiple
choice exams is to acquire a thorough knowledge of the facts, as well as an
understanding of the concepts and ideas underlying them.
Monitor Your Study Effectiveness
A common error students make when preparing for multiple
choice exams is to study only to the point where they can recognize the correct
answer ("after all, the right answer is on the page in front of you
..."). However, multiple choice exams test not only your ability to
recognize information, but also your ability to apply facts and concepts in new
contexts.
To ensure that you can do more than just recognize the
right answer, test yourself periodically as you're studying:
·
Once you're done
reviewing a section of your notes, put them away and try to summarize the
information, on paper or orally.
·
Try explaining
the concepts to friends and study partners.
·
Draw a diagram
to summarize the information, using boxes for main concepts and arrows to show
how they're related. This is called "Concept Mapping". Learn more
about creating effective Concept Maps.
Strategies like these can be used to test your ability to
recall the material and to re-organize and transform it into a new format.
Since very few multiple choice exams repeat course information in the same way
that it was covered in class, you'll need to prepare for exams by studying the
course material in a variety of ways. You'll become better prepared for exam
questions which apply or present material in new ways that weren't discussed in
class or in the text.
Write Your Own Multiple Choice Questions
Since multiple choice exams demand that you deal with the
course material in a specific format, your preparation should include practice
in both writing and answering multiple choice questions. Writing multiple
choice questions enables you to see the information from your notes and text
translated into the multiple choice format before the exam itself. Try these
ideas when creating questions:
·
Turn the
headings and subheadings in your textbook into questions
·
Turn key
concepts from lecture notes into questions
·
Look at the
first midterm, or other ones written by the same instructor, to get a sense of
the style of the questions
·
Write practice
questions with a study partner or
group, with each of
you preparing questions on a section of a chapter, then trading and answering
each other's questions
Practise Answering "Real" Questions
You'll also need to practise answering "real"
multiple choice questions. There are a number of places where you might find
practice questions:
·
Textbooks and
lab manuals often have multiple choice questions, though some students find
that these are much easier than the ones on the exam
·
Many textbooks
have CDs or Web sites; check these out for possible review questions
·
Look for old
midterms and exams; some instructors place old exams on file in their
department or on course reserve in the Library.
You can also ask your instructor or TA for an old exam if there aren't any on
file
·
Many instructors
post practice questions on CourseLink
·
Different
textbooks on the same subject can also be good sources of practice questions
Wherever you get practice questions, it's important to
limit the time you give yourself to write the practice exam (because you won't
have endless amounts of time during the exam) and to correct your answers.
If Your Exam is Online
Find out as much as you can about the exam well in
advance so you'll have time to prepare appropriately. You should be able to
answer these questions about your exam:
·
Is the exam open
book?
·
Will I see one
question at a time, or can I scroll through the entire exam?
·
Will I have to
answer each question before going on to the next?
·
Can I go back to
unanswered questions?
·
Can I change an
answer?
·
Can I print out
the exam, complete it on paper, and then type my answers into the computer?
If your exam is open book, study and prepare for it in
much the same way you would for a regular exam; don't assume that you'll have
time to look up answers while you're writing the exam. However, it may be
worthwhile to tab the important pages in your notes and text so you can
reference them quickly. An alternative is to create your own crib sheet — a one
page sheet which contains all of the essential information about the course
material.
If your exam restricts you from changing your answers,
skipping questions, or reading ahead, keep in mind that these restrictions may
place additional stress on you. Depending upon how you react to such stress,
you may need to prepare even more thoroughly for online exams than you would
for paper-based exams. If possible, use sample questions or practice quizzes on
CourseLink or in your textbook's CD to prepare yourself as much as possible for
reading and responding to online questions within a limited timeframe.
Writing Strategies
Watch Your Time
For every exam, it's important to calculate the amount of
time you can spend on each section or question according to the number of marks
it's worth. Do the easy questions or sections first - this is helpful for
calming nerves and establishing your concentration. It is also important to
work at a fairly quick pace; multiple choice exams are notorious for being
long.
Answer Questions Systematically
Careless mistakes are often made when students rush
through the "stem," or first part of the question, and miss important
information. Try this approach to make sure you read each question thoroughly.
1. Cover up the
alternatives before you read the stem (the first part of the question)
2. Read the stem
carefully
3. Process the
stem:
o Underline key
words
o Translate the
question into your own words
o Watch for small
but important words, such as not or always
4. Predict an
answer
5. Uncover the
alternatives and read all of them carefully, even if the first choice seems
correct
6. Identify the
best response
Skip Difficult Questions
If you've followed the steps above and you're still not
sure of an answer, it's tempting to keep rereading and reworking the question
until you select one. However, you may be wasting valuable time as you
"worry through" these questions. If you're unsure of an answer, skip
the question and keep going. If you run out of time, it's better to have
answered all of the easier questions than to have missed some of them because
of your attempts to answer the more difficult ones.
Decode Difficult Questions
The language of multiple choice questions can sometimes
lead to confusion about what the question is really asking. Try these
techniques when you encounter a question with difficult or confusing wording:
·
Pay attention to
absolute terms, such as never, always or none. They often
(but not always) indicate that the statement is false
·
Pay attention to
the use of negatives, such as not, unless or none. Some students
find it helpful to rephrase stems with two negatives in positive terms
·
Look for
distractors — extraneous bits of information that might distract you from the
real purpose of the question. As you read the stem, cross out the distractors
and underline the key points to help you maintain focus
·
Rephrase a stem
in your own words; for example, try changing a question to a statement. Be
careful, however, not to lose sight of the original meaning of the stem
·
Treat each
alternative as a true-false statement, and search for the one true statement
amid the alternatives
·
If you're
debating between two similar answers, try identifying which is the worse
answer, rather than which is the better one. Looking at the question from a
different perspective can sometimes help to clarify the underlying purpose of
the question
Keep in mind that these techniques will not work for all
questions, and that they can be time-consuming. If some of these techniques
seem helpful, make sure you familiarize yourself with them in a practice exam
well before the midterm or exam.
Guess Strategically
If you've tried the strategies above and you still don't
know the answer:
1. Cross off any
alternatives that you know are wrong
2. Skip the
question and come back to it later — a question further along may trigger your
memory
3. Reread the
question carefully when you come back to it; you might have missed something
the first time
4. Guess if you
still don't know the answer and if there is no penalty for wrong answers
Don't Change Your Answers
In general, when reviewing answers, you should only
change an answer if you have a specific reason for doing so (for example, you
remembered a new piece of information). Even if you're not entirely sure that
your answer is correct, it's usually better to keep it than to switch to
another answer at the last minute.
If Your Exam is Online
·
Prepare your
testing space
If you're writing a quiz or exam at home or in residence, make sure you have ideal
conditions. Turn off the ringers for your phones, put up a large "Do Not
Disturb — Writing an Exam" sign, shut down nonessential programs on
your computer, and set up your desk with your exam tools (calculator, scrap
paper, pens, water bottle).
·
Adapt strategies
for the online environment
For multiple choice questions, follow the same steps we recommend for
paper-based exams. You may need to make some adaptations, such as using your
hand or a piece of paper to cover up alternatives before you read the question
stem. In some cases, it may be helpful to write out your answer on scrap paper
before considering alternatives.
If your exam won't let you go back to difficult
questions, then make sure you answer each question before going on to the next.
You will need to monitor your time very carefully to ensure that you have
enough time to complete all of the questions. Deciding on a certain time limit
for each question before you begin the exam (i.e., "If I can't decide on
an answer within X minutes, then I will quickly choose from my remaining
alternatives and go on to the next question") can help prevent you from
taking too much time on a few difficult questions.
If it's possible, print off the quiz or exam right after
you have written it. You'll have a good source of material to help you prepare
for the final.
Post-Exam Strategies
Review Your Marked Exam
When they don't do as well on midterms or exams as they
would have liked, some students simply don't think about the exams again, other
than to say, "I'll do better next time." Resist the temptation to
forget about exams when they're over, and make an effort to review them
thoroughly. Especially if you didn't perform as well as you wanted to, you'll
need to determine why your performance wasn't as expected so you can adjust
your studying and exam-writing strategies for improved performance in the
future.
If your instructor doesn't return your midterms or exams,
you'll need to make a special effort to review them. Email your instructor or
visit him or her during office hours and request to see your exam, ideally
within a few days of when marks were posted. You may not be able to take notes
while reviewing your exam, but instructors are usually very willing to let you
read through your exam.
Once you have the exam in front of you, try to determine
why you chose an incorrect answer by asking yourself these questions:
·
Did I misread
the question?
·
Did I make
careless mistakes, such as reversing numbers?
·
Did I simply not
know the answer because I missed a class, didn't read the chapter, or didn't
have enough time to review?
·
Did I know the
general concepts, but not at the appropriate level of detail?
·
Did I run out of
time?
Each of these examples calls for a different kind of
correction strategy, rather than simply increasing the time spent studying.
Some strategies are briefly discussed below. If you can't figure out why your
answer was wrong, see your instructor or TA for help. Understanding why you've
made an error is critical to preventing that error from happening again.
Misreading the
Question or Making Careless Errors
·
Slow down while
writing the exam
·
Cover up the alternatives
to ensure that you read the stem carefully, without glancing down at the
alternatives
·
Leave time at
the end of the exam to check your answers
Not Knowing
Answers Due to Missed Lectures or a Lack of Review Time
·
Good time
management skills are the key for improving on these types of errors. Visit the
Library and Learning Commons' time management
resources for more ideas on how you can balance studying with your
other commitments
Not Knowing
Details
·
Incorporate
regular weekly review sessions to give yourself more time to absorb the
information
·
Use practice
exams or explain concepts aloud to your study partner to ensure mastery of the
important details
Running Out of
Time
·
You may need to
study the material in more depth so that the answers come quickly as you're
writing the exam
·
If anxiety gets
in the way of your efficient use of time, contact the Stress
Management and High Performance Clinic or Counselling
Services
·
Different
textbooks on the same subject can also be good sources of practice questions
Wherever you get practice questions, it's important to
limit the time you give yourself to write the practice exam (because you won't
have endless amounts of time during the exam) and to correct your answers.
If Your Exam is Online
Find out as much as you can about the exam well in
advance so you'll have time to prepare appropriately. You should be able to
answer these questions about your exam:
·
Is the exam open
book?
·
Will I see one
question at a time, or can I scroll through the entire exam?
·
Will I have to
answer each question before going on to the next?
·
Can I go back to
unanswered questions?
·
Can I change an
answer?
·
Can I print out
the exam, complete it on paper, and then type my answers into the computer?
If your exam is open book, study and prepare for it in
much the same way you would for a regular exam; don't assume that you'll have
time to look up answers while you're writing the exam. However, it may be
worthwhile to tab the important pages in your notes and text so you can
reference them quickly. An alternative is to create your own crib sheet — a one
page sheet which contains all of the essential information about the course
material.
If your exam restricts you from changing your answers,
skipping questions, or reading ahead, keep in mind that these restrictions may
place additional stress on you. Depending upon how you react to such stress,
you may need to prepare even more thoroughly for online exams than you would
for paper-based exams. If possible, use sample questions or practice quizzes on
CourseLink or in your textbook's CD to prepare yourself as much as possible for
reading and responding to online questions within a limited timeframe.
Writing Strategies
Watch Your Time
For every exam, it's important to calculate the amount of
time you can spend on each section or question according to the number of marks
it's worth. Do the easy questions or sections first - this is helpful for
calming nerves and establishing your concentration. It is also important to
work at a fairly quick pace; multiple choice exams are notorious for being
long.
Answer Questions Systematically
Careless mistakes are often made when students rush
through the "stem," or first part of the question, and miss important
information. Try this approach to make sure you read each question thoroughly.
1. Cover up the
alternatives before you read the stem (the first part of the question)
2. Read the stem
carefully
3. Process the
stem:
o Underline key
words
o Translate the
question into your own words
o Watch for small
but important words, such as not or always
4. Predict an
answer
5. Uncover the
alternatives and read all of them carefully, even if the first choice seems
correct
6. Identify the
best response
Skip Difficult Questions
If you've followed the steps above and you're still not
sure of an answer, it's tempting to keep rereading and reworking the question
until you select one. However, you may be wasting valuable time as you
"worry through" these questions. If you're unsure of an answer, skip
the question and keep going. If you run out of time, it's better to have
answered all of the easier questions than to have missed some of them because
of your attempts to answer the more difficult ones.
Decode Difficult Questions
The language of multiple choice questions can sometimes
lead to confusion about what the question is really asking. Try these
techniques when you encounter a question with difficult or confusing wording:
·
Pay attention to
absolute terms, such as never, always or none. They often
(but not always) indicate that the statement is false
·
Pay attention to
the use of negatives, such as not, unless or none. Some students
find it helpful to rephrase stems with two negatives in positive terms
·
Look for
distractors — extraneous bits of information that might distract you from the
real purpose of the question. As you read the stem, cross out the distractors
and underline the key points to help you maintain focus
·
Rephrase a stem
in your own words; for example, try changing a question to a statement. Be
careful, however, not to lose sight of the original meaning of the stem
·
Treat each
alternative as a true-false statement, and search for the one true statement
amid the alternatives
·
If you're
debating between two similar answers, try identifying which is the worse
answer, rather than which is the better one. Looking at the question from a
different perspective can sometimes help to clarify the underlying purpose of
the question
Keep in mind that these techniques will not work for all
questions, and that they can be time-consuming. If some of these techniques
seem helpful, make sure you familiarize yourself with them in a practice exam
well before the midterm or exam.
Guess Strategically
If you've tried the strategies above and you still don't
know the answer:
1. Cross off any
alternatives that you know are wrong
2. Skip the
question and come back to it later — a question further along may trigger your
memory
3. Reread the
question carefully when you come back to it; you might have missed something
the first time
4. Guess if you
still don't know the answer and if there is no penalty for wrong answers
Don't Change Your Answers
In general, when reviewing answers, you should only
change an answer if you have a specific reason for doing so (for example, you
remembered a new piece of information). Even if you're not entirely sure that
your answer is correct, it's usually better to keep it than to switch to
another answer at the last minute.
If Your Exam is Online
·
Prepare your
testing space
If you're writing a quiz or exam at home or in residence, make sure you have ideal
conditions. Turn off the ringers for your phones, put up a large "Do Not
Disturb — Writing an Exam" sign, shut down nonessential programs on
your computer, and set up your desk with your exam tools (calculator, scrap
paper, pens, water bottle).
·
Adapt strategies
for the online environment
For multiple choice questions, follow the same steps we recommend for
paper-based exams. You may need to make some adaptations, such as using your
hand or a piece of paper to cover up alternatives before you read the question
stem. In some cases, it may be helpful to write out your answer on scrap paper
before considering alternatives.
If your exam won't let you go back to difficult
questions, then make sure you answer each question before going on to the next.
You will need to monitor your time very carefully to ensure that you have
enough time to complete all of the questions. Deciding on a certain time limit
for each question before you begin the exam (i.e., "If I can't decide on
an answer within X minutes, then I will quickly choose from my remaining
alternatives and go on to the next question") can help prevent you from
taking too much time on a few difficult questions.
If it's possible, print off the quiz or exam right after
you have written it. You'll have a good source of material to help you prepare
for the final.
Post-Exam Strategies
Review Your Marked Exam
When they don't do as well on midterms or exams as they
would have liked, some students simply don't think about the exams again, other
than to say, "I'll do better next time." Resist the temptation to
forget about exams when they're over, and make an effort to review them
thoroughly. Especially if you didn't perform as well as you wanted to, you'll
need to determine why your performance wasn't as expected so you can adjust
your studying and exam-writing strategies for improved performance in the
future.
If your instructor doesn't return your midterms or exams,
you'll need to make a special effort to review them. Email your instructor or
visit him or her during office hours and request to see your exam, ideally
within a few days of when marks were posted. You may not be able to take notes
while reviewing your exam, but instructors are usually very willing to let you
read through your exam.
Once you have the exam in front of you, try to determine
why you chose an incorrect answer by asking yourself these questions:
·
Did I misread
the question?
·
Did I make
careless mistakes, such as reversing numbers?
·
Did I simply not
know the answer because I missed a class, didn't read the chapter, or didn't
have enough time to review?
·
Did I know the
general concepts, but not at the appropriate level of detail?
·
Did I run out of
time?
Each of these examples calls for a different kind of
correction strategy, rather than simply increasing the time spent studying.
Some strategies are briefly discussed below. If you can't figure out why your
answer was wrong, see your instructor or TA for help. Understanding why you've
made an error is critical to preventing that error from happening again.
Misreading the
Question or Making Careless Errors
·
Slow down while
writing the exam
·
Cover up the alternatives
to ensure that you read the stem carefully, without glancing down at the
alternatives
·
Leave time at
the end of the exam to check your answers
Not Knowing
Answers Due to Missed Lectures or a Lack of Review Time
·
Good time
management skills are the key for improving on these types of errors. Visit the
Library and Learning Commons' time management
resources for more ideas on how you can balance studying with your
other commitments
Not Knowing
Details
·
Incorporate
regular weekly review sessions to give yourself more time to absorb the
information
·
Use practice
exams or explain concepts aloud to your study partner to ensure mastery of the
important details
Running Out of
Time
·
You may need to
study the material in more depth so that the answers come quickly as you're
writing the exam
·
If anxiety gets
in the way of your efficient use of time, contact the Stress
Management and High Performance Clinic or Counselling
Services
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