The study explored the application of closed-book, open-book and cheat-sheet exams in an undergraduate cost and management accounting course at a university in Ghana. 198 students participated in an exploratory study examining how the different exam types impact on exam scores, pre-exam anxiety and knowledge retention. The study improves on the…

Instructors commonly use exam reviews to help students prepare for exams and to increase student success. The current study compared the effects of traditional, trivia, and practice test-based exam reviews on actual exam scores, as well as students' attitudes toward each review. Findings suggested that students' exam scores were significantly…

The main purpose of this study was to compare the strategies used by Chinese-speaking students when confronted with familiar versus unfamiliar topics in a multiple-choice format reading comprehension test. The focus was on describing what students do when they are taking reading comprehension tests by asking students to verbalize their thoughts.…

Despite their current popularity, many still view coaching schools for college admissions as somehow vaguely unethical, as a form of "teaching to the test." But "coaching" as an instructional exercise only crosses some ethical line of propriety when instructors have access to and in fact teach the actual items that will appear…

One continuing concern associated with online courses is assessment of student performance. One option for online assessment is the use of open book tests. This study investigated the impact of training in open book test-taking strategies on student test performance in online, timed, unproctored, open book tests. When the tutorial was required…

This investigation sought to determine if supplementing lectures using Microsoft PowerPoint slides with handouts of the slides enhanced test-taking performance in an undergraduate Human Development course. In the first study, one section of the course (N = 50) was given handouts for one exam and a final; the other (N = 50) received handouts only…

Teachers can do something to help ensure students will do better on tests. They can actively teach test-taking skills so pupils will be better armed in the battle to acquire knowledge. The author challenges teachers to use the suggestions provided in this article in the classroom, and to share them with their students. Test-taking strategies will…

The majority of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students are not attaining the ACT scores they are aiming for, which they need to qualify for scholarships and college acceptance. This report looks at the reasons behind students' low performance and what matters for doing well on this test. CPS students are highly motivated to do well on the ACT, and…

What can teachers do in their classrooms to help students prepare for a high-stakes, standardized, multiple-choice reading test without sacrificing what they know to be best practice? Decreasing class sizes or other solutions that require substantial changes in school finance are not usually realistic options. This article outlines five…

With his 10th book, Improving Test Scores: A Practical Approach for Teachers and Administrators, Scott Mandel outlines steps educators can take to boost achievement on standardized exams while maintaining the integrity of their day-to-day teaching. Mandel, who holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from USC, teaches history and English at…

Many teachers look at standardized tests as something to be dreaded. This author and teacher looks at standardized-test scores and sees a tool to bring students learning to new heights. This is a way for teachers to target instruction exactly where it's needed. A way to get students looking forward to end-of-the-year tests (really!) as a way to…

The study examined associated treatment effects on State Board Examination (SBE) scores of two predominantly black nursing classes who had been exposed to different intervention methods: (1) the teaching of effective test-taking skills, and (2) a combination of that instruction with learning team methods. The SBE performance of the two groups who…

No one can dispute that tests should measure important content, and for many (but not all) purposes, tests should be aligned with curricular goals. Thus in many cases, alignment is clearly better than the alternative, and nothing that follows here argues otherwise. Unfortunately, however, this does not imply that alignment is sufficient protection…

Active student engagement with course materials, such as note-taking and cooperative learning, is associated with greater performance. This study investigated the relationship between scores achieved by students in an undergraduate course and active engagement during testing, whether using a cheat sheet or engaging in a form of cooperative…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of testing on teaching and learning, focusing on standardized norm-referenced tests. A questionnaire was administered to 85 kindergarten through grade 12 teachers from a large urban school district who were attending a teacher leadership workshop. Fifty-five respondents were from elementary schools,…