Let’s face reality, no one enjoys taking tests. It is a nerve racking experience. If I am to be honest, I am truly happy that for the most part my test taking days are over.
However, if you are a student, the painful fact is that test taking comes with the package. Now, whereas we get nervous about taking tests in general, for most of us a math test ranks higher on the ‘nerves scale.’
Part of the problem is that, for math, the answer is usually either right or wrong. There is little ‘arguing’ or ‘discussion’ involved. Students become overwhelmed by the fact that they have to produce the correct answer.
The first step one has to take in order to reduce their level of nervousness is to be prepared. It has been said, ‘if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail’. This blog is loaded with information regarding math test preparation and will not be discussed here, except for the fact that you need to read over your notes and practice answering exercises and problems. Once you have put in the work, your confidence will grow and you will feel more ready to take on the task at hand.
However preparation is just part of the battle, there are strategies that can be employed during the test taking process to ensure that your nerves do not get the better of you. Inevitably, regardless of how well you are prepared, you will from time to time buck up on questions that you find difficult to solve.
When you encounter a question that is difficult, the first thing to do is to remind yourself that you have prepared and the question is not beyond you. What may be needed is the employment of a few problem solving strategies.
Here are three strategies that usually do the trick:
- Ask appropriate questions about the problem
Do this by slowly reading over the question and asking yourself primary questions such as, ‘what is this question asking me to do?’ ‘what are the key pieces of information?’
After asking these primary questions ask yourself secondary questions such as ‘what content could I pull on to solve this question?’ What is it similar to? ‘What makes it different from the other questions that I have practiced?’
The idea here is that by asking the questions, you begin to demystify the problem and get a clearer picture of what is required of you. Actually all the strategies that will be discussed serve the same purpose of demystification
2. Move from words to symbols
This is actually a very useful strategy because students spend more time practicing exercises than solving problems. When you move from words to symbols the question no longer looks like a problem, but an exercise item to which the mechanics of mathematics can be applied. It demystifies the problem by revealing the hidden mathematics that is required to solve the problem. One of the most basic examples of this is moving from words to an actual equation involving symbols.
3. When in doubt draw it out.
It is widely known that a picture says a thousand words. This strategy is particularly helpful with geometry, trigonometry and measurement questions. By carefully reading the question and drawing a diagram to represent the information, you again demystify the problem by revealing central components of it by way of a diagram. Also, the diagram serves as a tangible object that can be manipulated (written upon etc.) to aid you in the problem solving process.
Now here is the thing. You may or may not solve the problem even after employing these strategies, but the key is not to let that derail you. Keep calm and accumulate as many marks as possible from the questions that you know how to solve. Sometimes we have to cut our losses and settle for the B+ instead of the A. But we will be comforted by the fact that we gave it our best shot given the circumstances.
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