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1. |
Since
a multiple-choice exam is trying to determine if you can
do the problems (not just punch in numbers until one of
the answers shows up) you should expect that wrong answers
that would be obtained by working a problem in the wrong
way will be present.
These answers that look plausible, but are wrong are known
as "distracters" and are necessary in order to
see if you really know how to do a problem. |
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2. |
Don't assume that you don't
need to write anything down just because it is a multiple-choice
exam. You should first work out and write your answer to a
question and then look
for the answer that matches yours. |
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3. |
Always choose the best
answer. Make sure that you not only consider answers that
look good, but check the details too. Are the significant
figures correct? Are there choices like "all of the above"
or "a and c" that need to be considered? |
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4. |
Make sure your answers to problems
involving computations are reasonable. Check your units and
the significant figures. Do a quick estimate, particularly
if conversions, scientific notation and/or metric prefixes
are involved. For example, nanograms are really small amounts
of mass (nano- means 10-9). Therefore, you would
need lots of them (109) to have a gram. |
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5. |
Don't get bogged down on one
really hard problem. You may want to skip an unfamiliar question
and return to it later. Sometimes another question on the
exam will jog your memory and help you remember something
that can help you with the skipped question. Make sure that
you are moving through the exam so that you get to every question. |
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6. |
If you can't come up with the
answer for sure, make an educated guess. For example, can
you narrow down the choices by looking at the number of significant
figures? Maybe only some of the answers have the right number
of significant figures. In other cases, maybe only some of
the answers even have the correct number of protons or electrons. |
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7. |
Finally, check all coded information.
Make sure that you have carefully and correctly coded your
name, ID number and exam version as instructed. Make sure
that you have provided one answer for each question. Check
your coded answers by comparison to your exam paper if you
have time. If you are short of time and haven't answered all
of the questions, realize that there isn't a penalty for guessing. |
