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Kelly Roell
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This Week in Test Dates

Sunday January 29, 2012

Pin on calendar What's going on this week, January 29 - February 4?

There are no registration deadlines, test administrations or score releases this week. However, there are some important dates looming in the future. Check these out:

The TOEIC, ACT and LSAT are coming up on February 11
The next SAT administration is on March 10
How to study for the LSAT
How to study for the ACT
How to study for any test

How Often Should You Look At Material To Learn It?

Thursday January 26, 2012

Studying in Library If you want to learn something, how often do you really need to take a look at the material in order to embed it into your brain? Students have struggled with this question for who knows how many years. Probably since the invention of written words. Teachers have banged their heads against countless numbers of desks trying to solve the problem, too. i.e. Johnny can learn the Periodic Table of the Elements but Jack can't seem to get it even though I've been over it for two straight weeks.

Tim Novikoff, a Cornell grad student in applied mathematics, developed a model aimed to answer this question and solve the dilemma of review time. Given a set of parameters based on an individual student, this model can determine the best schedule for the introduction of new material and the best time frame for the review of the material to maximize learning. In other words, if Johnny and Jack both need to learn those Periodic Tables, then the model (if applied to this problem) would show that Johnny can learn it with one introduction and seven reviews, but Jack, on the other hand, will take one introduction and nineteen reviews. Ahhhh. I need more than two weeks with Jack or I need to send more reviews home for him.

Obviously, educational software companies will be leaping at the chance to weave this model into their programs; if a mathematical algorithm can help a kid learn, then why not use it?

It surely beats throwing an arbitrary learning schedule at the wall and hoping it sticks.

Here's to hoping the model works as it's proclaimed, and to hoping that educational designers will use it to its maximum potential.

New In Test Prep:

Multiple-Choice Test Tips

Tuesday January 24, 2012

rocket It isn't rocket science, right? It's just a test. A multiple-choice one, sure, but it's just a test. So, why are you struggling with it?

Your teacher isn't out to get you (more than likely), but he or she is out to test your knowledge of the subject matter. So, again, why do you struggle so much with multiple-choice tests?

Perhaps, you've never learned a few of the secrets to taking a multiple-choice test. Gasp! What? Secrets? Yes. Secrets. There are ways to get an answer correct on one of these bad boys, without second-guessing yourself or relying on cheating, cramming or random guessing.

Here are a few:

Secret 1: Take a stab at the answer with the answer choices covered. Yep. Put your hand over the "A, B, C, D, E" while you read the question and answer it in your head with the most logical answer you can think of. Reasoning: Your brain may have taken in that particular fact during a random lecture and you may not have even known it. Chances are if you can come up with an answer off the top of your head, you're probably correct. Uncover the answer choices and see if you have a match!

Secret 2: Cross of answer choices with your pencil that are obviously wrong. Reasoning: When you're browsing back through the test to make sure you've answered every question, you won't be tempted to rethink answer choice C if you have crossed it off already.

Secret 3: If you're deciding between two answers, circle the question and come back to it. Reasoning: You don't want to waste time debating a question that you may get wrong; there are probably easier questions later on in the test. Get those ones correct and come back to a tough one.

Need more? Check out some more multiple-choice test tips here!