Page 207 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

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test taking

e’ve mentioned it earlier, but it’s worth repeating, in bold letters: Testing
W is itself an extraordinarily powerful learning experience. This means
that the effort you put into test taking, including the preliminary mini-tests of
your recall and your ability to problem-solve during your preparation, is of

fundamental importance. If you compare how much you learn by spending one
hour studying versus one hour taking a test on that same material, you will retain
and learn far more as a result of the hour you spent taking a test. Testing, it
seems, has a wonderful way of concentrating the mind.
Virtually everything we’ve talked about in this book has been designed to
help make the testing process seem straightforward and natural—simply an

extension of the normal procedures you use to learn the material. So it’s time
now to cut directly to one of the central features of this chapter and the entire
book—a checklist you can use to see whether your preparation for test taking is
on target.

TEST PREPARATION CHECKLIST

Professor Richard Felder is a legend among engineering educators—he has arguably done as
much as or more than any educator in this century to help students worldwide to excel in math
1
and science. One of the simplest and perhaps most effective techniques Dr. Felder has used to
help students is laid out in a memo he wrote to students who have been disappointed with their
test grades. 2

“Many of you have told your instructor that you understood the course material much better than
your last test grade showed, and some of you asked what you should do to keep the same thing
from happening on the next test.
“Let me ask you some questions about how you prepared for the test. Answer them as honestly
as you can. If you answer ‘No’ to many of them, your disappointing test grade should not be too