Learning how to take in-class tests

[Night Elf]

My son is enrolled in Keystone classes and all of their quizzes and tests are open notes/book. I am working on having him study before the test and not rely on notes. The area I'm having trouble with is how much of a test can be done in a class period. I need him used to completing a test in a class period so he will be prepared for in-class tests at college. I have no idea how to approach this. I don't know if the Keystone tests are even designed to be done in one class period. He always takes at least 2 days to complete a test. Is there a way to help him improve in this area?

[regentrude]

You can not really prepare him for "completing a test in the class period" in college, because it will depend entirely on the class what is on the test, what format is the test (Multiple choice, open ended problems, essays), how long they have for the test (50 minutes? 120 minutes?), how hard it will be to complete the test during the allotted time, and whether extensions are given (some classes give extra time, others do not).

A college instructor who gives test during class time will have designed the test so that it can be completed by the majority of the students if they are prepared. Many instructors make samples of previous exams available so that students have an idea what to expect and how to prepare. But again, this depends totally on the individual class.

The only way I see to prepare a high schooler is to make sure he follows directions, reads instructions carefully, works without dawdling. But other than that, I do not believe it is possible to train for "test taking in college".

 

ETA: The reason I am not recommending giving him timed tests and cutting off after that time is that it is very hard for an inexperienced instructor to accurately judge what should be an adequate time for a given amount of test. It takes much experience to design a good exam that tests what you want to test in a way that it can be completed within the allotted time. Inexperienced test designers tend to make tests too long so that they can not be finished. If you want to use timed tests at home, you need to make sure they are designed by an expert AND you are told how much time the student should have. For home designed tests, I recommend no time limit, because most likely you will not be able to judge how doable your test is.

[G5052]

You might want to ask Keystone what their expectations are. I have to say that I'm uncomfortable allowing unlimited time on every exam in high school. Some, maybe, but not all.

 

I had take-home exams in graduate school that took that long, but they involved very long problems and mathematical proofs that wouldn't fit into the normal exam period. Before that, most college exams were 4 hours maximum for semester exams, and the normal class time for the others. I allow 2 hours each for the two exams in my college class, with no extensions unless I have a learning accommodation letter in hand that I have verified with Student Records. That is based on over a decade of experience teaching approximately the same material with tests that I tweek and reuse. Giving them more than two hours isn't productive for my subject and the type of tests I give.

 

For comparison, my oldest takes two online high school classes that have essay/short answer questions at the end of each semester that I proctor. He gets five hours in one sitting for each one, but they allow the clock to stop for two short breaks. Another online class allows 1 1/2 hours for periodic tests and 2 hours for semester exams with no break. For Saxon exams, I allow a maximum of 90 minutes for Algebra 2 and up, and an hour for the levels below that. I use the provided tests, and got that timing from someone with many years of experience.

[Lanny]

@Night Elf I believe you are very wise, to be interested in this topic and to want to better prepare your son for taking examinations and the stress involved. This is a subject I am very interested in, because my daughter will be taking two (2) Final Examinations (semester), tomorrow, for TTUISD. Their rules permit a maximum of three (3) hours, for each Final examination, under the supervision of an “Approved Proctorâ€. In the information I copied from the TTU web site, (included at the bottom of this post), this test format is what they call “Limited time, limited materialsâ€. The exams my DD will take tomorrow will be 25% of her grades for the semester. All TTUISD Final exams are in the ““Limited time, limited materials†format.

 

One of her examinations is for Math and the other is for English. I’d told her to assume that there would be an Essay required, for the English examination, and we now know there will be 100 questions (multiple choice as I recall) and an Essay. I told her they may limit the time spent on the Essay, as is the case of the SAT exam, which I believe allows a maximum of 30 minutes for the Essay.

 

So, it’s not only when your son is in college/university, but when he takes the SAT/ACT tests, that these test taking skills become extremely important.

 

Good luck on helping your son improve his test taking skills!

 

 

Below is copied from the TTU web site, regarding Distance Learning students, in the College of Engineering. I suspect the same is done, in other Colleges of the university.

 

How will I take exams?

There are three methods by which professors give exams. The method(s) used in specific courses depend upon the professor's preference as well as objectives of the course. Exams are given in the following ways:

 

- Limited time, limited materials: In this scenario, a proctor would be used. Typically students use proctors at their local library, a local public school, or in the Human Resource department at their places of employment.

- Limited time, unlimited materials: For this scenario, the exam is typically posted online or emailed to a student, and the student has a limited amount of time (for example, 1 to 3 hours) to complete and submit the exam.

- Unlimited time, unlimited materials: This typically references a "take-home" exam, where the exam is made available to the student and the student has a certain amount of time (for example, 1 week) to submit the exam.