Objective test questions require you to choose from two or more answers. They include multiple choice questions, true/false questions, and matching questions. You only have to recognize accurate information, so you’ll probably find them easier than subjective questions that ask you to produce information. You still must carefully prepare for them, however, and use good test taking strategies.

Here are some hints to help you with these kinds of questions:

1. Pay attention to key words in the question.

One of my students recently gave me a great example of the importance of this. Here is a test question that he answered incorrectly:

The respiratory center in the brainstem is NOT significantly affected by which situation?

A. high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood
B. high levels of hydrogen ions in the blood
C. low levels of oxygen molecules in the blood

The correct answer was C, but this student chose B. After I graded and returned the exams, he brought his textbook to me and showed me where it said that the brainstem is very sensitive to high levels of hydrogen ions in the blood. He totally missed the word NOT, even though it was capitalized.

It will help if you slow yourself down a little and underline, circle, or highlight key words in the question. If my student had done so, and circled the word NOT, he probably would have answered this question correctly. Some professors don’t let you write on an exam as they use them again and want to save paper. That, of course, knocks that strategy out. If that’s the case, you might want to rewrite a difficult question on scratch paper, underlining or circling its key words.

2. Read all the choices and eliminate the ones you know can’t be correct.

Here’s an example of this:

What is a waste product that is normally excreted in urine?

A. excess glucose
B. excess protein
C. red blood cells
D. urea

If you already know that glucose, protein, and red blood cells shouldn’t be in urine, you can be sure that urea is the correct choice even if you don’t remember anything about that substance.

3. Use your common sense.

You can often reason your way through an answer. Take a look at the question below.

What is a common consequence of aging on the digestive system?

A. The liver tends to get larger.
B. Peristalsis tends to speed up.
C. Peptic ulcers become more common.
D. The liver metabolizes drugs and alcohol more quickly.

You know that aging usually brings negative changes to the body. The only choice that’s clearly negative is C, since it’s never a good thing to have an ulcer. So, even though you might not know the answer to this question, guessing that C is correct would be reasonable. It is, in fact, the correct choice.

4. When a question overwhelms you, ask yourself, “What do I know about this topic?”

Here is a more difficult question that can be answered using that technique.

When the amount of salt in the blood increases, what happens to the amount of water in the blood and how does this affect blood pressure?

A. Both the amount of water in the blood and blood pressure increase.
B. Both the amount of water in the blood and blood pressure decrease.
C. The amount of water in blood increases and blood pressure decreases.
D. The amount of water in the blood decreases and blood pressure increases.

This question has two parts, so it’s tricky. However, a student in a physiology course probably knows that where salt goes, water follows, so he can figure out that the amount of water in the blood increases if the amount of salt does. He also probably knows that adding more water to a blood vessel increases its blood pressure. Thus, the correct answer is A. To unlock that knowledge, though, the question, “What do I know about this topic?” can really help.

5. In true/false questions, know that the entire statement must be true for an answer to be true.

If just one word in the statement is false, then the whole question is false. Absolute words like “all”, “never,” “only,” “always,” and “none” often mean the answer is false because of exceptions to a rule. Words like “some, “may”, “might”, and “can,” often mean the answer is true because exceptions to a statement that is usually false might be possible.

Here are two examples of what I mean:

All males have one X and one Y chromosome in their 23rd set of chromosomes. T or F

This question is False because, although it is rare, some males have two X’s and one Y in their 23rd set of chromosomes, resulting in a condition called Kleinfelter syndrome. It’s False because of the word “All”.

Some females do not have two X’s in their 23rd set of chromosomes. T or F

This question is true because, although it is rare, some females have only one X chromosome instead of two in their 23rd set of chromosomes. It’s true because of the word “Some”.

6. For matching questions, work from the side with the most words and first mark the answers you know for sure.

It will be faster for you if you have fewer words to scan when looking for the correct answer. You’ll also increase your speed if you eliminate the choices you know for sure. Mark through them so they don’t distract you as you make the more difficult choices.

7. Unless you’ll lose points for wrong answers, which is unlikely, make educated guesses for those questions you don’t know.

Your guess is more likely to be correct if you’ve eliminated obviously wrong answers. Also, ask yourself the question, “Does my answer make sense?” Just talking to yourself this way can help you make logical choices. Remember, if you don’t answer a question, you’ll get it wrong for sure.

8. Check your answers if you have time, but don’t change them unless you have a very good reason.

If someone gave me a dollar for every time a student told me, “I had the correct answer, but I changed it,” I’d have a nice sum of money. It’s okay to change your answer if you know why your first choice was incorrect, but if you are just guessing, it’s usually best to trust your first instinct.

This post is a sample from my book, “College Success Now!”

Holly Trimble, MS, LPT

One of my students asked me to write about the challenges of dealing with a terrible professor.  That got me to think about all the professors I’ve had over the years.  I’ve probably taken well over a hundred college courses.  Out of all the college courses I’ve taken, I’ve only had two terrible professors.  (Most ranged from good to fantastic.)  Here’s what I learned from those experiences.

The first professor seemed to be just fine.  I enjoyed his course, and I did well in it.  It was an important prerequisite for physical therapy school, and I knew I needed to earn an A.  I was confident that I had earned one, so I was shocked when I got my grade, and it was a B.  I looked at all my grades for the course, and I was sure I had an A average.  I decided to go to an administrator since I was unable to contact my professor.

I presented my grades and was told, “You aren’t the first person to come here with this issue.  This professor was fired and, to cause problems, it seems that he gave many of his students a grade lower than they earned.”  My grade was changed because I could prove my actual course average.  So, keep track of your grades!  It hardly ever happens, but once in a while a professor records the wrong one.  It can be an honest mistake–it doesn’t have to be a situation as bad as the one I just described.  But, certainly this was a terrible professor, because he deliberately did something that hurt his students.

The second terrible professor I had created a tremendous amount of stress.  He gave us incorrect solutions on practice problems, he didn’t answer emails, many answers on test questions were wrong, and some test questions didn’t have anything to do with the material we studied.  His lectures lasted about fifteen minutes, barely touching on a topic, and he seemed totally disinterested in his students.  We felt like we just irritated him.

Once I was well into the course, I checked the comments about him on the site, Rate My Professors, and his reviews were terrible.  As a professor myself, I have mixed feelings about this site.  A disgruntled student can leave a nasty review, really hurting the reputation of a professor.  However, if every single review is negative, that should be a warning to prospective students.  Unfortunately he was the only professor who was teaching the course I needed, so I had to take him.  If I had read his reviews prior to enrolling, though, I would have been more prepared for the experience.

I learned a few things that should help you if you ever find yourself in similar circumstances.  First, get a “study buddy”–one who is serious about doing well.   I made friends with a fellow student, and we helped each other cope.  If I thought something was wrong with an answer in a solution set, I checked with my friend, and together we looked at it.  If one of us thought an answer to a test question was incorrect, we discussed it before contacting the professor.  We talked about difficult concepts until we understood them, and when we got discouraged, we kept each others’ spirits up.

I also learned that sometimes an administrator should hear how bad things are in a classroom.  I didn’t complain about this professor, but some of the other students did, and the dean of the department got involved.  The professor was forced to make some changes, and the course did improve quite a bit.

I learned, too, that sometimes you have to rely on the textbook instead of the professor.  Since his lectures were so short, the textbook became the primary tool for learning the material, especially since his tests might cover anything in the textbook, even if he never mentioned the topic in a lecture.  It certainly wasn’t an ideal situation, but I did learn a great deal in the course because it required so much effort.

So, keep track of your grades, avoid terrible professors if you can, find another serious student to work with, go to an administrator if necessary, and spend your energy on learning the material in alternative ways.

I hope that helps!

Copyright 2013, Holly Trimble, MS, LPT

Today I’m going to talk about the importance of making yourself a study schedule, particularly if you’re taking a course that requires a lot of memorization.  I learned how to do this when I was in physical therapy school.  We were required to take more than 20 credits per quarter and had multiple tests per week.  To make life even more challenging, we were in the classroom 36 hours every week.  I did poorly on my first exam and quickly realized that I had to figure out a way to learn a great deal of material as efficiently as possible.

I decided to plan exactly what I would study each day for every subject.  That way I knew what I had to do each day and when I was done for the day.  I also focused on smaller amounts of material at a time, making it much more likely that the material made it into my long term memory.

I thought I would prepare schedules for the first two exams in the human anatomy and physiology course that I teach at a community college to show you what I mean.  Let’s first look at how I would prepare for the lecture exam on blood and the cardiovascular system.

1.  Print out the study guides for the units on blood and the cardiovascular system.  (If you don’t have a study guide, make your own based on your professor’s reading assignments and lectures.)

2.  Add up how many items there are on the two study guides.  There are 59.

3.  Figure out how many days there are before the first lecture exam.  There are 23.

4.  Divide 59 by 22 (give yourself a day at the end to review).  The answer to that is 2.68, so round up to 3.

5.  Focus on three items per day and indicate which items you’ll study per day on a calendar or on your study guide.  Write out the responses to the study guide items; then go over and over the material until you know it.  If there’s something you just don’t understand, make a note to ask another classmate or your professor about it, either via email or during the next class.  Quiz yourself with flashcards or your study guide and, if possible, ask someone else to quiz you as well.  Some students find rewriting material several times really helps them remember it.

6.  Decide how you want to prepare for the three possible essay questions.  Practice writing the responses down until you can do so from memory.  Schedule that practice so that you are including it during several days of your study time.

Now let’s look at how to study for the first lab exam.  My students have to learn the location of 176 terms.  The procedure is very similar.

1.  Print out the lab list.

2.  Count how many terms you have to learn.  There are 176.

3.  Figure out how many days there are before the first lab exam.  There are 29.

4.  Divide 176 by 28.  The answer to that is 6.28; round that number up to 7.

5.  Focus on seven items per day.  This time, take your lab list and make lines under each seven items, and number each section Day 1, Day 2, etc.  To study each item, make sure you can identify models, slides, and pictures of that item so that you will recognize it no matter how it is presented on the exam.  If you have to reproduce the names of each structure from memory, practice writing them down several times until you can do so automatically.

This type of planning can be used for any course that you take.  Yes, it takes some time to sit down and make yourself a schedule like this.  I promise you, though, it will be worth it and save you time and energy in the long run.  Also, if you can’t study one day for any reason, you’ll know what you need to do to catch up.   It’s a system that works, and I hope you’ll give it a try!

Holly Trimble, MS, LPT
Please feel free to share this blog!

Class starts on Monday at the community college where I teach.  I always feel a little nervous before the first day of class.  I remind myself that my students are probably more scared of me than I am of them, since Human Anatomy and Physiology is a notoriously difficult, time consuming course.

Students, though, have a great deal of control over their success.  Here is what I wish all my students would do on the first day of class:

1 Come!  I admit it. Part of my reason for that plea is to make it easier for me.  I give my students a lot of information about how the class will be structured, how to access material posted online, what is expected, links to important Web sites, exams and assignments, and so on.  It’s hard to go over it all again with students who show up on Day 2 or Day 3.  Many professors simply won’t do it, so if their students miss the first day, those students are already seriously behind.

2 Come prepared!  Bring a copy of your syllabus, a notebook, a pencil, your textbooks, and your lecture outline and study guide if your professor provides them.

3 Come with the right attitude!  Pay attention, take good notes, ask questions, and promise yourself you will do all you can to succeed.  Try to foster a feeling of excitement about all the interesting information you will learn and skills you will master.

4 Come with your cell phone turned off!  Believe me, unless it is a very large class, professors notice when students are checking their phones and/or texting while the professor is talking.  It’s very distracting and will not endear you to your professor.  If you must leave your phone on for a crucial phone call, let your professor know if you can, put it on vibrate, and place it where you can feel it go off.

After class, go over your notes, jot down any questions about the syllabus that weren’t cleared up in class, and make a study plan for yourself.  I strongly suggest that you decide how much material you’re going to study each day, so that you know when you’ve studied enough.  Your brain can only handle so much information at one time, and a schedule will keep you from having to cram at the last minute.  Resolve to do all you can to stay on schedule so that you don’t end up overwhelmed and falling more and more behind.

I hope you have a great semester!

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