Test-taking Strategies

Content Mastery¹ 

• Reflect on your learning style and what works best for you to learn effectively.
• Adjust the content and teaching modality to fit your learning style and needs.
• Identify your strengths of knowledge.
• Identify your areas of content weakness.
• Integrate theory into practice with critical thinking and judgment.¹ 
• Practice computerized NBCOT® Exam-style questions in different settings, e.g., home, library, and public.

Metacognitive Strategies² 

• Plan, e.g., ” I develop a plan for the question before I begin”
• Monitor (Check self), e.g., “I keep track of my progress during the exam”
• Approach, e.g., “Depending on the test question, I will use a different approach to solve that problem”

Test-taking Skills² 

• Eliminate alternatives, “I rule out choices that contradict the question”
• Avoid errors, e.g., Use scratch paper when necessary.
• Students who develop poor pacing or rapid guessing test-taking strategies may omit test items.¹ 
• Self-governing functions such as confidence, persistence, test wiseness, test anxiety, and cognitive or personal characteristics may explain examinee test-taking behaviors when taking a test.³ 
• Use hints (look for hints in the question).
• Time tracking, “I work as rapidly as possible with reasonable assurance of accuracy”.

Anatomy of a Multiple-Choice Question

1. Scenario – provides a description of the situation that the OT is in.
2. Stem – A question is asked or a problem is posed to the OT.
3. Options – Possible answers to the stem are provided.
4. Keyed response – only 1 answer is correct (or best).
5. Distractors – the remaining choices are incorrect.

When answering MC questions, it is important to factor all 5 elements. Of course, you will not know #4, the keyed response, but your job is to use the other 4 elements to help you figure it out.

Tip: distractors often are similar. They may be the same approach, type of assessment, type of intervention, setting, etc.

Look for the following information (if available):

• The location or setting that things take place in or at.
• The available resources that were mentioned or provided.
• The patient: client factors, diagnosis, caregivers, goals, etc.
• Objective data: vital signs, ROM scores, etc.
• Subjective information: signs and symptoms

While some things may be distractors, most of the information is likely provided for a reason. Look for a relationship between these elements to help you answer the question.

• Look for the best option, not the correct one – there may be more than 1 “correct” answer based on the circumstances of the question asked.
• If you get stuck, look for the “wrong answer” instead of the “right answer”.
• Some questions provide answer choices that are grouped as general vs. specific. Eliminate the one that does not belong, either general or specific.
• Eliminate incorrect answer choices.
• Eliminate duplicate answer choices.
• When there are opposites, either 1 of them is incorrect OR the opposite pair (both of them) is incorrect.
• Avoid impulsively selecting an answer choice that may seem correct – it must still answer the question being asked.
• KISS – the simplest solution may be the correct answer.
• Make educated guesses (instead of wild guesses).
• Read and consider all of the options before selecting an answer.
• In questions in which there is an emergency situation, you usually should act first for the client’s safety.

Key Words or Phrases

Look for these words or key phrases and analyze how it may affect the question or answer:

• acceptable, after, always, avoid, before, best, contraindicated, every, except, First, frequently, indicated, initially, least, may, most, never, next, none, only, priority, probably, safest, seldom, unacceptable, usually

These may influence the answer “polarity” and which answer is correct.

“not” is a popular word that most students are aware of.

Big Picture Tips

• Key factors to success include practice questions, practice tests (sessions), reviewing materials, and making a test preparation plan.⁴ 
• Manage your time. Practice this ahead of time.
• Use an evidence-based approach.³ 
• Meet the physiological needs of clients first (Maslow).
• Consider the client, family, team, and other relevant stakeholders in the process.
• Remember to focus on the client and avoid other distracting “persons”.
• Answer choices that deny the client’s emotions, concerns, or needs are likely to be incorrect.
• Respect their culture, values, and beliefs. Do not be judgmental.
• Safety is always a priority.
• Follow the code of ethics, infection prevention protocols, HIPAA, and other professional behaviors expected of a generalist occupational therapy practitioner.

Bookmark

1. Thomas, M. H., & Baker, S. S. (2011). NCLEX-RN success: Evidence-based strategies. Nurse educator, 36(6), 246-249.[↩][↩][↩]
2. Peng, Y., Hong, E., & Mason, E. (2014). Motivational and cognitive test-taking strategies and their influence on test performance in mathematics. Educational Research and Evaluation, 20(5), 366-385.[↩][↩]
3. Martinez M. Cognition and the question of test item format. Educ Psychol. 1999;34:207-218.[↩][↩]
4. Bonis, S., Taft, L., & Wendler, M. C. (2007). Strategies to promote success on the NCLEX-RN®: an evidence-based approach using the ACE Star model of knowledge transformation. Nursing education perspectives, 28(2), 82-87.[↩]