Statistics For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 21

Ten Surefire Exam Score Boosters

In This Chapter

• Getting into the zone
• Developing savvy strategies
• Preventing silly mistakes

I've taught more than 40,000 students in my teaching career (don't try to guess how old I am, it's not polite!), and each student has taken at least three exams for me. That makes over 120,000 exams I've graded or had a hand in grading, and believe me, I've seen it all. I've seen excellent answers, disastrous answers, and everything in between. I've gotten notes from students in the margins asking me to go easy on them because their dog ran away and they didn't have time to study. I've seen some answers that even I couldn't figure out. I've laughed, I've cried, and I've beamed with pride at what my students have come up with in exam situations.

In this chapter, I've put together a list of ten strategies most often used by students who do well on exams. These students are not necessarily smarter than everyone else (although you do have to know your material, of course), but they are much better prepared. As a result, they are able to handle new problems and situations without getting thrown off; they make fewer little mistakes that chip away at an exam score; and they are less likely to have that deer-in-the headlights look, not being able to start a problem. They are more likely to get the right answer (or at least get partial credit) because they are good at labeling information and organizing their work. No doubt about it — preparation is ...