Can you improve your multiple choice test results with sudoku?

Really?

Actually, yes. The biggest challenge most students face with the multiple choice format is the logic skills required. Multiple choice tests are fundamentally about the process of elimination – your goal is just as much to discard the wrong answers as it is to find the right ones.

Sudoku, if you pay attention, is a similar process. It’s a logic puzzle, which in it’s simplest form is a 9×9 grid in which each row, column and 3×3 sub-grid contains all of the numbers from 1-9, but only once in each. In order to complete the puzzle, you need to use a simple set of logic skills similar to that used in finding the correct answer for multiple choice questions.

Using Sudoku for Your Next Multiple Choice Test

There are two ways you can use these puzzle for multiple choice tests. The first is to use it during your test prep. Try doing a few puzzles before tackling a practice test, and see if you notice a difference. The second is to do a few puzzles immediately before an exam to get the right logic parts of your brain fired up. In my opinion, that not only helps you get through an exam faster, it also reduces multiple choice test anxiety.

Give it a shot – after all, how often do you get test prep advice that tells you to procrastinate by playing games online?

- S.M.

Sudoku Tests Online:

• Web Sudoku
• Daily Sudoku
• sudoku.com.au

Let’s get straight to the point: one of the greatest challenges facing you on your next multiple choice test is not the questions. It’s how you feel about the test.

If that sounds a little flaky, hang on. Test anxiety is a crushing force when it comes to multiple choice test-taking. In fact, research shows that students with high levels of test anxiety score 15 points lower in math and English. Make no mistake – test anxiety is very real, and has a very real impact on your grades. (And, FYI, it also affects women up to twice as frequently as men.)

Conventional wisdom tells us that the better prepared we are for an exam, the lower our anxiety. The reality, however, is that for those students who are worried about the multiple choice test format, not the content, extra studying doesn’t make the fear go away. If you suffer from multiple choice test anxiety, you know first hand that weeks and weeks of test prep can go out the window in an instant when you’re faced with that first confusing multiple choice question.

We’ve offered up multiple choice test anxiety tips before, but we’re going to back up a stage in the process this time. Instead of tackling MCQ anxiety by the brute force of studying harder or longer, let’s try something different: examine why multiple choice tests are in fact easier.

Why Should They Be Easy?

Multiple choice test anxiety isn’t about content. You might pass a written test with flying colors, but put that same test in multiple choice format and you crash and burn.  The issue isn’t the knowledge. It’s being scared shirt-less about the format.

Think about it: if you actually believed that multiple choice exams were easier than other test formats, how would that change your anxiety level?

But here’s the good news. Multiple choice exams are easier. Honestly – they really are. They offer a clear advantage to the test-taker, provided they’ve learned the test format.

To start our new optimistic outlook, here are five reasons why the phrase “multiple choice” should be music to your ears:

1. The Answer Is Given To You – That’s right.  Somewhere in the list of responses is the right answer.  What could be easier?
2. You Can Guess – You may hear that you shouldn’t guess.  I’m telling you right now it’s not true.  (The Mastering Multiple Choice system teaches you how to guess properly.)
3. Basic Brainwork – Many multiple choice exams tend to emphasize basic definitions or simple comparisons, rather than asking students to analyze new information or apply theories to new situations.  In other words, they’re often easier.
4. More Questions – What!  I thought more questions made it harder! That may be true, but more questions means each question is worth less overall.  That lowers your risk on each question.
5. Grammar Don’t Count – You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write multiple choice.  At the most you just have to neatly color in circles.  So you don’t have to be Picasso either.

Still freaked? If you feel like your test anxiety is related to the test style, not the content – that is, you’re more freaked out by multiple choice questions than, say, anatomy or statistics – then try Mastering Multiple Choice. It works, and it’s guaranteed. - S.M.

Multiple choice testing has changed dramatically over time. The earliest tests were marked by hand, question by question. Then came answer keys – templates that test markers could place over the tests to identify which bubbles were filled correctly. Later, computers were able to score the bubbles.

Over the years, however, computer based tests (CBT) or computer based exams (CBE) have become more popular. In these tests, students use computers to input their answers to the multiple choice questions. This has evolved into two main styles of computer-based testing, and a need for some specific strategies for taking the tests.

CBT/CET Multiple Choice Tests: Like Paper, Only Not…Paper
The first type of computer based test is the simplest, where the test is turned from paper to digital format, and the rules stay pretty much the same. Instead of filling bubbles to answer the multiple choice questions, you’re clicking a mouse or using a keyboard. You can work your way forwards or backwards through the test, in sequence, just like you would on a standard paper multiple choice test.

CAT Multiple Choice Tests: A Different Beast Altogether
Computer Adaptive Tests, or CAT’s, are tests that change based on how well you perform. Each question you answer impacts the next question. Answer incorrectly, and your next MCQ will be at the same difficult level. Answer correctly, and the test will, in theory, select a harder question for you to answer next.

This leads to some unique characteristics for computer adaptive multiple choice questions:

• Each test-taker will get different MCQ’s
• The questions will be in a different order
• You can’t go backward and review your answers, or return to a previous question to change it
• Unusual scoring algorithms, that take into account how long you take to answer a question or how many questions you skipped

Strategies for Computer Based Tests
Although the content and questions may be more or less the same, here are a few tips that will make a difference if your exam is computer-based:

• Use scratch paper: because the MCQ’s are going to be presented on a screen, you may not be able to see all the information on screen at one time. Having and using scratch paper will allow you to jot down details, formulas, etc. while you look at other areas of the screen. This is going to save you a lot of up and down scrolling.

• Try a Sample: Some exams, like the GMAT, will have a tutorial so that you become familiar with the test interface. If you can give this a shot before the exam, you can focus on the questions instead of the format during the exam itself.

• Watch Your Time: This is particularly important. On paper, it’s easy to cycle through questions over and over again. On screen, it can be slow and awkward. You’ll need more time for cycling. On CAT’s, it’s not allowed, so you’ll need to structure your time even more. You won’t be able to skip the hard stuff, or get hung up on one question for too long.

• Practice with a Ticking Clock: Some MCQ tests, like the GRE, have an actual clock on screen that counts down. This can cause some serious anxiety if you’ve never taken a test with a clock counting down in your face all the time. Try a few practice runs using a clock or watch.

• Get The First Ones Right (CAT): Some CAT tests, like the GRE, will place more scoring emphasis on the first ten questions. That means you need to do your best to nail those ones, so you’ll want to allocate more time to them.

• Know the Rules Up Front: Don’t be complacent about the format. Just take the few minutes to find out the scoring system and any details you can about the multiple choice question format, and how the computer handles it. It’s one less thing to worry about on test day.

You’ve likely heard the adage, “Don’t change your answer.  Your first guess on a multiple choice question is usually right.”

This advice is based on the notion that your brain knows the true answer before your consciousness, and once you start thinking about a problem, you may be led astray from the true answer. While this may be true, research also shows that if you have a good reason to change your answer, then change it.

A study published in The Teaching of Psychology (Ludy T. Benjamin, et. al., 1984) found that students more often change their answers from wrong to right, not the other way around. In fact, according to their analysis of many separate studies:

• % of students changing from Wrong to Right — 57.8%
• % of students changing from Right to Wrong — 20.2%
• % of students changing from Wrong to Wrong — 22.8%

According to the data, you’re nearly three times more likely to switch from a wrong response to a correct one!

Your first guess is only as good as the logic and facts you have to back it up. If you can make a case for changing your answer, go for it – the odds are in your favor. If you’re changing your answer because you’re second guessing yourself, though, or are having trouble with multiple choice test anxiety, you’re best to just leave your answer as it is.

One of the reasons multiple choice questions are so difficult is that they’re often designed to be intentionally misleading. On a multiple choice test you may have to decipher complicated statements just to understand the question before you even start trying to find the correct response.

An overuse of negatives is one way that test designers try to trip up students. Single, double, even triple negatives are often used to complicate the meaning of the question.  And misreading just one negative means the whole meaning of the statement is reversed!

An Example

To start, let’s go to the extreme with a simple-but-complicated negative statement:

There’s nothing less worse than not answering a question incorrectly.

Does that make sense to you?  At first glance, this sentence is basically gibberish.  But it does have a meaning. Your job is to decipher it.

Identify the Negatives and Rewrite

The key to negatives is to rewrite the question in a way that keeps the original meaning, but is in plain English. Let’s take a look at the above phrase again, and identify the negatives by underlining them.

There’s nothing less worse than not answering a question incorrectly.

Let’s start with less worse.  What does less worse mean?  If something is less worse, it must be “better”.

So less worse=better.

Now our sentence reads: There’s nothing less worse better than not answering a question incorrectly.

Not bad, but not great either. What about not and the prefix in?  The great thing about multiple negatives is that they cancel each other out.  We can get rid of one negative from a sentence as long as we get rid of another one to keep the balance.  As long as we do this in pairs, the meaning of the sentence stays the same.

So, stroke out not and in, and we get:

There’s nothing less worse better than not answering a question incorrectly.

What does our sentence say now?

There’s nothing better than answering a question correctly.

Simple, and easy to understand!

Here are some negative prefixes to keep an eye out for on your next multiple choice test.  In each case, the negative prefix changes the meaning of the word to its opposite.

Negative prefixes

• Im - Impossible means not possible.
• Ir - Irresponsible means not responsible.
• Un – Unnecessary means not necessary.
• Dis – Disabled means not able.
• Non – Nonalcoholic means not alcoholic.
• In – Inappropriate means not appropriate
• Il – Illegal means not legal.

Now if we come back to our question of multiple negatives, what happens when we combine a negative prefix word, with another negative, like “not”?  Let’s have a look:

Double Negatives

• Not unnecesary = necessary
• Not nonalcoholic = alcoholic
• Not inappropriate = appropriate
• Not impossible = possible
• Not illegal = legal
• Not irresponsible = responsible
• Not disabled = able

The principle here, as mentioned above, is that double negatives cancel each other out. Once you spy the negatives in the multiple choice question, you can rewrite the sentence into something that makes sense and is easier to answer.

In multiple choice test jargon, the incorrect options on the test are called distractors, and they’re aptly named because they do just that: distract you from the correct answer.

Distractors are tough. They lead to second-guessing, and increased test anxiety. Good multiple choice test-taking, on the other hand, is all about focus, and distractors don’t make the job of staying focused any easier. To decrease the power of distractors, try this simple trick.

Using a blank sheet of paper, a ruler or even your hand, cover up all the response options for the question.  Just read the stem. Make sure the distractors are invisible. This allows you to:

• Focus solely on the wording of the question
• Not be distracted or misled by some of the possible answers (remember, test-makers can be out to trick you)
• Stay calm and work the test, instead of the test working you

Make sure you get the options covered completely before you even start reading the question. Even a quick glimpse and your eye will pick up some of the options before you have a chance to look away.

If there’s one complaint I hear more often than any other from students about their multiple choice exams, it’s that they can’t seem to finish them on time.  And it’s a reasonable complaint. Nothing’s more frustrating than leaving pages of unfilled bubbles – particularly on exams that don’t penalize for guessing.

Not finishing on time is not fundamentally a time-management problem. Yes, you need to keep an eye on the clock, but no, you don’t need to allocate a specific amount of time for each answer. Those approaches don’t work on multiple choice questions because they don’t take into account how much harder (and therefore more time consuming) some questions are.

Finishing every multiple choice test on time is a test-taking skill, not a time management one. To finish on time, every time, you need to use the cycle method of writing your exam. Take multiple passes through the exam, and don’t waste much time on questions that you can’t answer in short order.

In addition to a host of other benefits, the cycle or multi-pass technique does wonders for time management.  It allows you to be constantly aware of how much you have to do in the time remaining. When you work through multiple choice exam from start to finish, in order, you have no idea how much time you’re going to need to get through the rest of the exam – just because you’re on question 50 out of 100 at the midpoint, doesn’t mean the next 50 questions are going to take the same amount of time. When you use multiple passes, you have a much better grasp of how much time you need to finish, Stick to it and you’ll finish on time, every time.

Here are a few “commandments” for taking multiple choice question exams – these simple tips can make a great difference your results:

1. Use real multiple choice questions to study
2. Don’t lock yourself to a fixed study schedule
3. Structure your material
4. Focus on learning, understanding, and context – not straight memorization
5. Cycle through the test – don’t answer in sequence
6. Answer the easiest questions first
7. Don’t linger on something you don’t know, or can’t figure out quickly
8. If you’re easily confused, cover the answers while reading the questions and try to answer without looking
9. Adopt an “I’ll answer that later”, as opposed to an “I don’t know that” attitude – trust that the answer will come
10. Remember that multiple choice test-taking is a skill

1. Use multiple choice questions to study

Multiple choice questions are more than a test format – they’re a skill. That means that answering them is something that can be learned and improved upon.  Old tests and exams, sample questions and even”home made ” multiple choice questions can help you simply improve your level of skill. Remember: you’re being tested on your ability to deal with the test format, not just the course content!

2. Don’t lock yourself into a fixed study schedule

Inflexible study schedules aren’t effective. They don’t allow for learning speed, material difficulty, and other factors. They also don’t allow you to practice the mental flexibility required to do well on multiple choice questions. Multiple choice questions require you to be flexible and nimble in your approach; you need to be able to jump from question to question rapidly, and without anxiety.  Fixed study schedules don’t help.

3. Structure your material

Multiple choice questions are highly structured and condensed blocks of information. Your study notes should be, too. If you continue to study from your original source material – text books, etc. – you’re missing a valuable opportunity to put your brain in multiple choice test mode. Try to condense your material, and rewrite it in hierarchical fashion.  For example:

1. Topic

• • Subtopic
    • Content
    • More content

4. Focus on learning, understanding, and context – not straight memorization

Memorizing large quantities of material is hard work.  The better you structure your material and understand it, the easier it will be to recall during multiple choice exams.  If you truly understand the material, you’ll also find it easier to apply to new problems you haven’t seen before.

5. Cycle through your multiple choice test – don’t answer in sequence

Make multiple passes through the exam. It’ll help you finish on time, get your brain “in gear”, and you may even find the answer to earlier multiple choice questions later in the exam.

6. Answer the easiest questions first

Why not? Move fast, get the easy grades, and get in the groove.  Answering the easy multiple choice questions first makes the harder questions easier!

7. Don’t linger on something you don’t know, or can’t figure out quickly

If you don’t know the answer to a multiple choice question, or can’t figure it out quickly, move to the next one, and come back later.

8. Cover the answers while reading the questions and try to answer without looking

Studies show this can be extremely helpful for people who have trouble with the multiple choice test format.

9. Adopt an “I’ll answer that later”, as opposed to an “I don’t know that” attitude – trust that the answer will come

Test anxiety is high in the initial stages of a multiple choice test. If you don’t know an answer, don’t worry.  Just assume that you’ll answer it on your next pass.

10.  Remember that multiple choice test-taking is a skill

Remember that for best results, you need to improve at the test format itself, not just the course content. In addition to prepping for the SAT, for example, you also need to practice the multiple choice question format.

The standard mindset for any kind of testing is to come up with the right answer. Right? Well, that’s certainly a valid approach. After all, if you come up with all the right answers, then you’ll get a perfect score. What could be easier?

Welcome to reality. In the real world, people don’t know all the right answers. You may not even know most of the right answers. However, we do know that in multiple choice questions, the answer is there somewhere. You just have to find it. That’s the real advantage of multiple choice tests: the answer is already there.

The problem, though, is that finding the right answer can be like trying to remember something that’s on the tip of your tongue. The more you think about it the more elusive it can be. Sometimes, to remember things, you need to come at them…well, sort of sideways.

The equivalent process to this for multiple choice questions is called Process of Elimination, or POE. Using POE is simple. Instead of trying to find the right answer, simply try to find and eliminate the wrong ones. What’s left must be correct.

This isn’t just fluffy advice, but a fundamental way in which you look at the questions on your next exam. When you can’t think of the right one, stop trying to. Focus instead on finding wrong responses – the answers you simply know can’t be right. With each on you find, the odds of guessing correctly increase dramatically. At the same time, your test anxiety drops, and your confidence skyrockets.

Remember: Multiple choice questions aren’t necessarily about finding right answers.

How you take your multiple choice test can affect your marks more than any other factor. The cycle method is one of the single best steps you can take to improve your grades. Best of all, you can implement it right away.

It works like this: instead of completing the multiple choice questions in numerical order, or in a linear fashion, you work through the entire test numerous times. It’s as simple as can be, but many people resist this approach. Don’t. Allow yourself to be flexible. Give it a try on some practice exams.

The cycle approach to multiple choice testing is extremely beneficial for a number of reasons:

• It makes maximum use of your time
• It boosts confidence, and reduces test anxiety
• It helps with information recall
• It ensures you won’t get caught short by the clock
• Information found in later multiple choice questions can help you with earlier problemsÂ

The 4 Passes of the Cycle Method

1. Scan – This is the quickest cycle through your multiple choice test, during which you do NOT answer any questions. Take 3-5 minutes to skim the test, observing the structure, the question styles, the number of options, and the overall length. Do NOT omit this pass – it’s here that you’ll create the entire foundation of your approach to the exam.
2. Easy Questions- This can be the most encouraging or most terrifying pass of the exam, but it’s crucial. The idea during this second pass is to answer all the questions that you know the answer to almost immediately. In other words, don’t spend any longer than the moment it takes to read the question and options. Don’t be concerned if it feels like you’re only answering a handful of questions – there’s a good reason for this technique.
   Hint: mark all the unanswered questions with a pencil so you don’t have to waste valuable time on your next passes through comparing the answer key with the question page.
3. Harder Questions – Once you’ve completed the easy pass, return to the start of the test. Start working your way through the remaining question. You’ll be surprised at how many answers seem more obvious on this pass. As with the Easy pass, don’t be afraid to skip any questions that you just can’t pin down. Remember that the Cycle system creates plenty of time to come back to them. The key is to focus on the marks you can get first, and save the rest for later.
4. Final - The final phase is where two things happen. First, you build on the momentum, knowledge and mindset of the previous steps, and answer any final questions. The other things that happens during this stage is that you guess. That’s right – when all else fails, guess. (Guessing wisely is one of more than 50 techniques you can learn in Mastering Multiple Choice. You’ll even learn when to guess on tests with that deduct marks for incorrect answers.)

Modifying the Cycle System
Don’t be afraid to add more cycles. You might pass through the test a dozen times, answering a few questions each time, letting your brain work, and looking for answers elsewhere in the test. Just don’t add fewer cycles – you’ll end up back in the same old rut of running out of time.