"Routine" for successful test taking

As happens every semester, last September, several students in my Introduction to Bioengineering  course came to see me after the first test lamenting their performance and stating that it did not reflect how well they understood the material.  In such situations I try to be supportive, tell them that (any) grade can still be achieved, ask them how they prepared and make some suggestions -- most often telling them to come to see me if they don't understand the lectures or homework and then allow them to do a make up problem set that mitigates most of the downside of the test.

However, I always think that there has to me more that I could tell them -- perhaps to prevent or at reduce the number of such occurrences in future semesters.  Here is my shot are some further ideas, that could be worth considering, if you are worried about your test performance or have had problems in the past.

My thoughts on this subject start with two (famous) people: Luciano Pavarotti and Ken Griffey Jr.  For the few of you reading who even know who both of these people are, perhaps you think I will extol the transcendent talent that they possessed.  But, of course, if this were so, then how could this help those of you are somewhat "closer to mortal" and are students in my classes.  Perhaps it could be the complete dedication to their (one) craft that I should point out, but again, they had one thing on which to focus and you have to balance many different demands.

However, there are at least two things beyond talent and overall dedication that allowed Pavarotti and Griffey to reach the highest levels of greatness.  These would be their attention to detail and complete preparation for the event at hand -- even as they were "performing" and practicing exactly what you need to do at a "performance".  Adoption of these activities could help novice test takers.

Let us first consider Luciano Pavarotti.  I had the great fortune to hear a recital that gave at the University of Illinois in the winter 1982 (+/-1 yr.).  He sounded wonderful and was musically everything one could expect in one of the great tenors of the (last) century.  But there was one thing that struck me.  I thought it peculiar that held a handkerchief which he "waved" while he was singing.  Perhaps he was sweating and just wanted to wipe his brow.  But I have seen other video of him and again the handkerchief was present -- even when heat did not seem to be an issue.  Finally at some point, I read an interview and he was asked about the handkerchief.  He responded that it reminded him to breath!  Wow, as a member of a species that is fully-evolved to take advantage of the great energetic advantage of oxygen reactions, not to mention a singer who makes his living breathing, and then expelling, one would expect that breathing was second nature and never a concern.  But no, to sing the way he wanted, he knew that he had to make sure he breathed most efficiently!  This one detail was essential to his success  and he made sure he did it!  Further, he would not perform even a single Aria, let alone a full opera, unless he had diligently sung through every note in practice (and as a soloist), memorized all of the notes and words.

How does our second character, Ken Griffey Jr., figure in this (already too long) saga.  If you take a look at this video, or this one, neither Griffey, nor the pitchers, get set to hit/pitch until they have gone through their routines and are fully ready.  These people are professionals, and in the case of Griffey, an all-time great, but before they do the thing that they have done thousands of times, they follow a specific routine to make sure they are ready to do their best!  As with Pavarotti, Griffey spent many hours working on the motion of his swing, doing reaction drills and, of course, hitting both machine and human pitching.  Much of this time trying to replicate the exact situation he would face in a game.

So perhaps your mind has had plenty of time, while reading, to wander and then come back to figure out the point I wish to make:  Griffey and Pavarotti tell us that we need a strategy for getting ready to take engineering tests,  we need to implement it ultimately practicing exactly what we will be doing and then learn to make sure that while we are doing it, we stay at peak performance.

It goes without saying that while taking a class, you should (a) attend the lectures and recitation sessions, (b) read the text, (c) do the homework -- preferably by putting some solitary effort and then some group discussion and then (d) take time for reflection about the major concepts.  It is this last task, which I think could lead to a better strategy for students.  By the time of the test, a student could (or should) have made a list of the 3-7 most important ideas/issues/problems that are contained in the requisite time period of the class.  When I do the review lecture for each test, I am doing this, with commentary and exposition (as just reciting list makes for a really dry session!)  Ideally, a student should have already made such a list and could certainly consult with the Professor about the content before this last minute review class.  In any case, once it becomes available, it is essential that any lack of understanding be addressed immediately through reading of notes/book and if necessary consultation with the Professor.

The test prep step of next importance is to redo, from scratch, as many of the homework problems as you have time for.  This serves the dual purpose of practicing the exact calculational task that you will be performing at the test as well as giving you a chance to make sure that you understand the material.  While you could seek completely new problems, you really don't need to.  Just make sure that you understand all of the steps to a solution.  I'll bet that if you did not understand something the first time, you can't reproduce it from memory after 3 weeks or so.  Thus either you can now figure it out (and could do it again on a test) or you know what you need to work on.  During at least some of this practice you will want to be alone and working with time constraints.  Further when you get stuck, review your problem approach steps (see below) and note if a specific action helps you see a way forward.

A final test prep step is get physically ready so that you can think best.  Perhaps this is getting sleep, or drinking more caffeine or actually eating food.  I doubt that staying up all night, starving and just sipping some apple juice will work best, but do what works for you.  If you need to "clear your mind" to focus on solving test questions and the 15 minutes between classes is not enough time, perhaps you should sneak out of the previous class early or skip it entirely.  In this last-minute prep you need a plan for what you think will help -- thinking through a specific problem or reviewing the approach to all of the major topics could be what to do.  If you find something that works, do it again.  If you try something that doesn't work, try something else next time.

At the test, you should have a plan for approaching engineering problems that you have practiced many times!  I always do a sketch, write down (hopefully) relevant information (e.g., steady state, closed system, isothermal, etc.) from the problem statement and then write down the pertinent fundamental equations (e.g., conservation of energy or mass) and valid constitutive equations (e.g., ideal gas law).  Then from my sketch I try to isolate the specific "system" or control volume that is key to solving the problem.  Crossing out terms that I know are "0" in the balance equations is often a useful step -- even if rather obvious.  At some point, you may see a path through to a solution, or perhaps get stuck -- waiting for a moment of grand insight -- but in any case you will have given yourself the best chance.

Because grades for most engineering classes are determined primarily by tests, you will want to give yourself the best chance to do well.  I suggest that this can be accomplished by identifying the most important topics or problems (well.. dah..), but then developing a specific problem solving approach that works for you, practicing this approach under realistic conditions and following a last minute preparation routine that gets you into the best frame of mind.

Hopefully, you found some other interesting videos on You Tube when you clicked on the linked, but if you want to see one more that fits with the season (and is well up on my list of 50 greatest cartoons) try this link.