Patricia Scales

Hi Alexandra,

In order to discourage students from being absent on test day, we have implemented an institution policy where they automatically lose 10 points if they are absent on test day. I too am sure a lot of students will try to find out what was on the test if they were absent.

I like the strategy of the method used to choose the correct answer.

Patricia

Alexandra Loza

Jay and Patricia I also see the importance of keeping back up tests. Every time test day comes around I see the most absences. I hate to assume the reason behind the absences is to allow time to talk to other students about what was tested but I wouldn't be suprised if that were true.

Students who perform well in class discussions, homework etc. but perform poorly on my exams attribute it to their poor test taking skills and anxiety. This kind of anxiety and pressure as stated in the training module is a reason why students feel the need to cheat. To reduce this issue, I try to incorporate test taking skills and strategies on how to approach certain problems. One method that I learned when preapring for my MCAT exam is a Kaplan method called Stop-Think-Predict-Match. In this method a student reads the question, resummarizes it in their own words to ensure they understand what the question is asking, think about the correct answer choice before looking at the available options, make a logical predicition, and finally look for their predicted answer choice in the available options on teh exam. This method seems to alleviate the anxiety issue greatly as it teaches students to critically think about the appropriate answer choice.

Patricia Scales

Hi Jay,
I see the importance of a back-up test if a student misses. Some students miss purposely on test day so that they can have an additional day to study and to find out from other students exactly what was on the test.
Patricia

Jay Mcalister CHEP

I always use a back-up test. Especially if a student misses a test day!