In the class session following feedback regarding their scores on multiple-choice exams, undergraduate students in a large human development course rated the strength of possible contributors to their exam performance. Students rated items related to their personal effort in preparing for the exam (identified as student effort in the paper), their…

Online practice tests and quizzes are commonly available to higher education students. The extent of student use of such study tools and the relationship of use to achievement, however, have not been fully investigated. One hundred twelve college students were encouraged to use optional online quizzes in preparation for proctored examinations.…

A study was conducted to determine to what extent college teacher-made multiple-choice tests contain test-wiseness clues that can be used to identify correct answers. A sample of 43 undergraduate teacher-made examinations was obtained from two colleges and three universities. The sample included midterm and final examinations and quizzes. The…

Grade A undergraduate psychology students used different test-taking strategies on a multiple-choice exam than did C or F students. In general, the strategies of the best students were characterized by a more thorough consideration of the alternative answers for each question. (RM)

The impact of answer changing on the test scores of students studying educational statistics is investigated. The results show that students who make changes in their original responses significantly improve their overall test performance, and high-scoring students make a greater number of changes than low-scoring students. (Author/GSK)

This paper looked at the experience that college students have when taking exams. The sample population was made up of students completing their first exam of the semester. The study was designed to offer research-based support on how to help students improve their performance on multiple-choice exams. Student perceptions of the number of items…

Results lend support to the notion that test-wiseness is not a general trait, but rather is clue-specific. (Authors)

Effects of Test-Wiseness (TW) training and level of TW on multiple-choice item type performance, on standardized and teacher-made examinations in undergraduate medical education were considered. Conditions inherent in standardized tests must be present before a susceptibility to the extraneous source of variance of TW is evidenced. (Author/GK)

Multiple-choice tests are commonly used in educational settings but with unknown effects on students' knowledge. The authors examined the consequences of taking a multiple-choice test on a later general knowledge test in which students were warned not to guess. A large positive testing effect was obtained: Prior testing of facts aided final…

A study examined the effect of headings and adjunct questions embedded in an expository test on the delayed multiple-choice test performance of 88 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses. The subject of the passage read by the students was the settling of Anglo America; the subheadings in the passage listed names of major subtopics…

Techniques to enable high school students to improve their test performance are briefly outlined. The techniques cover pre-test preparation, strategies for use during test administration, and special skills for multiple-choice and essay tests. An advantage of students practicing their test-taking skills is that it will help them manage the anxiety…

A total of 50 college students enrolled in different sections of a language arts methodology course served as treatment and control groups to investigate the effects of student-generated questions on test performance. Periodically throughout the course, students in the treatment group received instruction in effective questioning techniques by…

The general purpose of this study was to determine the effects of similarities between stems and keyed choices on test difficulty. Unlike previous investigations of this undesirable characteristic of some multiple-choice items, the present study employed items that were unintentionally faulty and samples of examinees who were highly experienced…

Evaluates the practice of providing feedback to students in a college psychology course. Findings indicated that reviewing test items improves subsequent scores on identical items, but not when the items appear in a rewritten format. (Author/DB)