TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

Everyone studies and learns in his/her own way and his/her own pace. You need to find what works best for you. These study and test tips have been found helpful to many students but they can only supplement and not substitute for study.

I. PREPRATION

                 A. Study methods and memory enhancers .                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Read materials you need to remember out loud. This will fix it more     firmly in your memory.

                    2. Anything you have difficulty remembering, like formulas, measurements, words or pneumonic devises, repeat them out

                         loud   over and over. If you can put them to music or to a rhythm that will help.

                    3. Find a fellow student, co-operative family member or co-worker and explain some of the more difficult material to them.

                          Explaining, putting your thoughts into words, forces you to focus your attention and think the material through more

                        carefully then simply reading or memorizing. You must really understand an idea in order to explain it clearly.

                   4. Concentrate on real estate principles as you study and try to apply the principles and facts to real-life situations.

                

                 B. Getting Ready

                   1. You will earn a better score if you are in top physical and mental shape  on the day of the test.

                        a. Get a good night’s sleep. Resting will do more good than staying up all night trying to cram.

                        b. Eat normally, but don’t try to eat a heavy meal before going to the test. It will make you sleepy and less able to

                            concentrate. You need to be prepared, determined and positive.

                        c. Your attitude is at least as important as your physical state. You need to be prepared, determined and positive.

                       d. Try to remain calm before and during the exam. PANIC IS IRRATIONAL AND SELF-DEFEATING!

                       e. At any time during the test that you begin to panic or block, Close your eyes, take several slow, deep breaths, stretch

                          your arms and legs, relax in your seat and rest for a minute or two. A change in activity can break the tension and help

                          prevent mistakes.

                     2. Avoid all excess hassle before the exam.

                        a. Make sure ahead of time that you know exactly how to get to the test center.

                        b. Leave plenty of time to get there, get parked and check in without rushing.

                        c. Make sure that your calculator is in good working order, has fresh batteries and has nothing stuck in the case before you

                            enter the center.

                       d. Make sure you have your confirmation and identification in the car at least in an unmissable spot the night before the test.

                       e. Don't take any of your books to the test center. It is too late by then for the books to help.

 

II. Know the Enemy's Strategy

 

A. Questions are made up of three parts

           1. Stem or lead - provides all of the information necessary to find the answer.  Correct answer - written first

Alternatives or distractors - wrong answers

a. Their purpose is to separate well prepared examinees from those who are trying to wing it without study.

b.      They can be false statements or popular misconceptions.

c.      True statement distractors test your knowledge and judgment. Not all wrong answers are false statements.

d.    The difficulty of a question depends on the quality and plausibility of the distractors.

 

B. Questions are not set up to trick you but they leave you plenty of room to trick yourself. To avoid this, you must read every word of a

        question and every word of each answer choice before you commit to an answer. The first answers may be true but not be the correct 

        answer.

 

C.  Some types of questions may seem to be more difficult These may involve;

1. Superfluous facts- Exam questions frequently throw in extra information,  that is irrelevant, to see if you can identify what is related

       and needed, and what is   irrelevant.

 

2. Reading comprehension- These tend to be long and involved before getting to the  point. You must read the whole thing, not just

        jump to an early conclusion. Farther on the question may veer off onto an entirely different path.

 

3. Multi-step math questions- Be sure you have totally finished all of the steps of a problem before choosing an answer. Interim step

        answers may be given as distractors.

 

4. Value judgments- These are usually long and involved stories requiring a judgment or conclusion.

 

5.   Best answer questions- In these, the ideal answer is not given so you must choose the best answer front the choices you are given.

 

D. Different types of questions test different types of knowledge or skill. Here are some types you may find on the PSI exam:

 

1.       Factual questions- These test your actual knowledge. Logic won't help much, you really have to know the facts.

2. Comprehension questions- These test to see if you understand what you have memorized.

3. Application questions- These are higher level than comprehension. You must apply your knowledge to a new situation.

4. Analysis questions- These test your ability to identify parts of a whole. Do you understand the relationship among the parts?

5.       Evaluation questions- These test your ability to determine the best solution to a problem or to judge value in some manner.

 

III. Plan Your Strategy

 

A. To maintain (or achieve) confidence, poise and a positive mental attitude, you need a game plan for taking an exam.

 

B.  These are some basic steps to analyzing test questions:

1. Read the question carefully and slowly to determine the general subject   it is testing and exactly what it asks of you.

 

2. Reread the question for essential facts, qualifiers and endings. Make notes on your scrap paper to help isolate them.

    Eliminate answers that you know can not be correct.

    Rephrase the question in your own words, but be sure not to change the meaning when you change the wording.

 

3. Determine what knowledge or formula may be necessary to solve the problem.

   Apply relevant information to arrive at the answer. Reread the question, check the answer and move on.

   More simpty stated: Read, reread, think, act, check, Go

 

C.             If math is not your strong point:

1. Try to estimate approximately what the answer is likely to be before you start the work.

 

2.   Write down everything you enter into and get out of the calculator. This can help you to find mistakes more quickly and recheck

       your work more easily.

 

3. It is easier to deal with something you can see, so on geometric problems or land description problems, draw the figure you are to

       consider. On proration  problems draw a calendar of the year or month.

 

4. If you can't decide how to start a particular question, try starting from the answer choices. See which one will work back to the

        starting information. If you   can't get into the front door you don't give up, you go around to the back.

 

5 .   Remember to fill the problem's numbers onto your T

                                              PART

                                           %| WHOLE

 

                    6.    Consider whether the answer you need will logically be larger or    smaller than what you  have. Are you logically looking for more

                             than half or less than half? What is  half?

 

7.  Watch carefully for questions that will require you to give the answer in different units from those given in the original information.

     Watch monthly and. and annual. It may help to identify the proper units for the answer and right away make a note on your scrap   

     eliminating any answer choice not in the prop units.

 

IV. Practical Ways to Eliminate Distractors

 

A. Length of answer choice- Test writers tend to explain the correct answer in greater detail than the others. The correct answer choice

        may be longer than the  others.

 

          B.       Grammatical clues- The correct answer is sometimes more consistent grammatically or in word use with the stem than wrong choices.

                  1.   A or AN in the stem can indicate whether the correct answer starts with a vowel or consonant. This may help you eliminate some

                         choices.

                  2.   A stem may imply whether the correct answer should be singular or plural

                  3.   Awkward phrasing of a choice suggests that it is a distractor.

 

C.    Qualifiers and absolute words

                       1 .     Qualifiers that lessen the strength of a statement are usually found in true

                         or correct answers. More general statements are usually more correct.  

                            Look  for  words like: generally, may, often, should, tend to, usually

 

2. Absolute words are more often found in wrong choices. Very little in real estate is that absolute. Look for words like: Absolutety, all,

        alone, always,  completely, forever, never, only, shall, totally, etc.

 

D.    Repetition of a phrase or words matching in both the stem and a choice.

 1.      Sometimes synonyms for a key word in the stem will appear in the correct answer.

 

2.      More subtle clues are provided by word associations that you make naturally and recognize consciously, like: rate in the stem and  

 percentage in the choice.

 

             Homogeniety of choices- usually the choices are designed to share similar features. If one choice strikes you as odd or different, study

             it carefully. It  may be the right choice.

 

E. Generality of responses- Sometimes the correct answer choice is a more general statement than the distractors.

 

           All or None of the above answer choices- PSI uses None of the above choices usually only in math questions. They avoid All of the above

 

          choices. Try to work back form the other choices. None of the above won't always be the  correct answer. Synonymous distractors-

 

          Whenever two alternatives have the same meaning, you  know that neither is correct. If they are the same,  they can't both be right so

 

neither is. There is only one correct answer.

 

 Opposite distractors- If opposites appear among the choices, one may be the  correct answer choice. Test writers often use the opposite of the

 correct  answer as one of the distractors. This can also be true in proration type problems you may be given both what a seller used and what

 he should receive to see if you know which is which. Overlapping answers- If one choice includes another choice or overlaps another

choice you must realize that either both are true or both are false.  There is only one correct answer.

 

           Vague pronouns- In correct answer choices test writers almost always use the correct noun or pronoun to go with the stem. They are not

           always as careful on the distractors.

 

 

V. Mechanical helps

 

A. Cover the answer choices with your hand or scrap paper as you read the question. You will be less distracted as you read and you may be

        less likely to jump to too early a conclusion.

 

B.      Put your finger on each word on the screen if you find your mind is wandering.

 

C. You can not take crib notes with you into the test but you can write some after you are told you may start the test. Repeat over and over

        the problem areas or formulas and then note them on your scrap paper.

 

D. Ask for a good supply of scrap paper before you start the exam it will save time.

 

E. Look at your surroundings before you start the exam. Find the rate chart on the wall. You may need to refer to it to answer some questions.

        Finding it ahead of time and practicing with it can save time and points later.

 

F .   If you wear bifocals, ask the proctor, before the test, whether and how the screen can be adjusted for your comfort.

 

G. There is a time clock on the screen. Do not fixate on it. Just check from time to time  to see where you stand. Time really isn't

    going as fast as it feels on tests.

 

H. In all but or all except questions, write yes or no on your scrap paper for each choice. Reread the question and see if you are

     looking for a yes or a no.

 

       For questions or answer choices using "ee or or" endings, write the more common word for each on your scrap paper and substitute

   

       those words as you reread the question and choices.

 

 

VI. Last resorts

A. Mental alertness should supplement your real estate knowledge.

B. Do not hesitate to reason your way through difficult items using elimination.

C. Rational guessing relates more to problem solving skills and judgment than dumb luck.

D. It is better to enter your best, most educated guess than to leave any question unanswered.

 

E. If you really have no idea how to approach a particular problem, eliminate the two most extreme choices and choose one of the

    remaining.

 

F. When in doubt, pick C. It is often less likely to be a trick to lure you into a guess before you finish reading.

 

 No one question is so important that it is worth all of your time and energy. If you are totally blocked on a question, take your best

 guess and move on. Even a blind guess has a  25% chance to be right.

 

Do your best! Keep calm! GOOD LUCK!