By Jonathan Martinez /reporter
A student’s confidence level has a direct impact on how well he or she does on test day, a NE Campus academic adviser told students earlier this month.
During the Successful Testing seminar, Kimberly Eason gave students tips on studying and preparing for the types of tests they encounter most often.
A major concern of many students is math tests, Eason said, because they lack the confidence they need to tackle the subject.
“The number one reason students don’t do well in math is because of a negative mentality,” she said.
Self-confidence is important when it comes to taking a test in any subject because it puts students in the right mindset to pass the test, Eason said.
“If you don’t think you’re going to pass, you aren’t going to pass,” she said.
Eason also talked about good test-taking study habits. She suggested students join study groups and write summaries of class reading material.
“Class notes and textbook notes should be studied together,” she said.
Eason also mentioned other strategies to deal with test-taking anxiety, such as studying to be well-prepared, showing up early, not having an empty stomach, reading all the questions and looking through the test before beginning to answer and looking for keywords in multiple choice and true/false questions that might indicate clues to the answers.
Much of the information Eason presented was material some students said they’d heard before. Still, they said the tips were helpful reminders.
“It was beneficial although I already knew most of the information,” said NE Campus student Kimberly Asanza.
Justin McIlvain, another NE Campus student, considered some of the most important things to be to “look the test over and don’t go on an empty stomach.”
At the end of her speech, Eason surprised students who attended by giving a short test on the material covered in her presentation. The impromptu test included true/false, multiple choice and essay questions.
Even though it was over material none of students in the seminar had prepared for, it provided practice in applying some of the techniques Eason had just taught, said Glendena Burrows, a NE Campus student who attended the seminar.
“I like how at the end she gave me a test to see what I comprehended,” Burrows said.
