Tips and Practices for Getting Maximum Marks In MCQs Based Tests

Multiple-choice questions appear on college entrance exams, classroom tests, and most other exams. If you’re preparing for college, you’ll almost certainly see these types of questions on examinations, so understanding some test-taking skills will come in handy.

Studying for a multiple choice exam necessitates a different approach than studying for an essay exam. Rather than asking a student to produce a correct answer entirely from his or her own mind, multiple choice exams ask students to recognise a correct answer among a set of options that includes three or four incorrect answers.

Students often believe multiple choice exams to be easier than essay exams for a variety of reasons. The following are some of the most obvious reasons:

The correct answer will almost certainly be one of the options. A lucky guess can earn a student points.

Rather of challenging students to examine new information or apply theories to new situations, many multiple choice examinations emphasise basic definitions or simple analogies.

Because multiple choice exams typically have a higher number of questions than essay exams, each question has a smaller point value and so poses a reduced risk.

Despite these factors, multiple choice examinations can be quite challenging, as demonstrated in this course. Consider the following:

Multiple choice examinations, unlike essay exams, require students to be conversant with a significantly broader range of content because they contain numerous questions.

Students are also expected to be more conversant with details such as specific dates, names, or language on multiple choice examinations than they are on most essay exams. On a multiple choice exam, students cannot readily “bluff.”

Finally, because writing effective multiple choice questions is considerably more difficult for a teacher than designing good essay questions, pupils are more likely to be exposed to unintended ambiguity.

Start studying as soon as possible.

Multiple choice examinations tend to focus on specifics, while short-term memory cannot efficiently store many details. You will develop a far more reliable long-term memory if you study a little amount each day and leave plenty of time for recurrent evaluations.

Before Starting Your Paper

Fill up your answer sheet with all of the essential information before you begin the exam.

Your results may never be scored if you are so eager to get started that you neglect to submit your name and ID number. Keep in mind that your instructor will not be able to recognise you based on your handwriting or other text indications.

Make sure you read the question completely

Before skimming the answer selections for a multiple-choice question, read the full question. Before reading a question, students frequently assume they know what it is asking and go to the most logical answer. This is a major blunder that can cost you a lot of money in multiple-choice exams. Before going over the answer alternatives, make sure you read each question thoroughly.

First, answer it in your brain.

Before going over the response selections, answer the question in your brain. This will assist you avoid debating the proper answer.

Eliminate any incorrect answers.

Before selecting the answer you believe is accurate, eliminate response possibilities those you are absolutely certain are incorrect. Even if you believe you know the correct answer, removing the erroneous responses first will assure that your answer choice is correct.

Make use of the elimination process.

Cross out all the answers you know are incorrect using the process of elimination, then concentrate on the remaining options. This method not only saves time, but it also boosts your chances of selecting the correct answer.

Choose the most acceptable answer.

It’s critical to choose the best response to the question at hand, not just the one that appears to be correct. Many replies may appear to be correct, but there is usually a better solution to the question that your lecturer seeks.

Every answer option should be read.

Before deciding on a final response, read all of the options. This may seem obvious to some, yet it is a typical blunder made by students. Every multiple-choice question, as we mentioned in the previous part, usually has a best answer. You may not select the best response if you presume you know the correct answer without first reviewing all of the answer options.

First, answer the questions you already know the answers to.

If you’re having trouble answering a question, move on and come back to it once you’ve completed all of the other questions. Answering easier questions first might sometimes provide insight into more difficult problems.

Make a well-informed guess.

Make an educated estimate for any question you’re unclear about if it won’t affect your score. (Improper responses are penalised on some standardised tests.) A correct answer, for example, may be worth 2 points, whereas an unanswered question is for 0 points and a wrong answer is worth -1 point. You can still make an educated guess on these examinations, but only after eliminating at least one or two erroneous answers.)

Pay close attention to the following words…

Pay special attention to the words not, occasionally, always, and never. An answer that contains everything must be unmistakable. If you can’t think of a single counterexample, the answer is wrong. The same can be said of the term never. If there isn’t a single counterexample in any of the answer options, that means the answer isn’t right.

It’s usually advisable to go with your first decision, although this isn’t always the case.

After reading the question, it’s preferable to stick with the first answer you came up with. Constantly second-guessing and changing your mind is usually unhelpful. This does not, however, imply that your initial response option is the best option. Multiple choice tests aren’t usually meant to deceive or confuse pupils; rather, they’re meant to assess their knowledge and abilities. As a result, the response alternatives supplied will frequently contain the most popular erroneous answer among the possibilities, or reasonable but ultimately inaccurate solutions, or the greatest answer.

“All of the above” and “None of the above” are both valid options.

If you’re given the options “All of the above” and “None of the above,” don’t choose “All of the above” unless you’re certain one of the answers is incorrect. If you are convinced that at least one of the response options is correct, you can choose “None of the above.”

When it appears that there are two correct answers.

In a multiple choice question with a “All of the above” option, if two responses are valid, it’s most likely the correct decision.

Make a prediction on the positive outcome.

A positive option is almost always true if there is also a negative alternative.

The more data you have, the better.

In most cases, the correct answer provides more information than the other options. If you have to estimate, this is useful information to have.

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