Exam strategies

[english si]

(seriously, 16 exams almost on par with the AP tests?).

I don't know where you got 16 from, though that's an average number (mostly two exams per subject) and the age you take them. None multiple choice. Not quite almost on a par with AP level if you getting that top grade (but starting on it, for sure), and a passing grade is quite a bit lower in difficulty.

And, of course, the default for most (and typically a requirement is to take the equivalent of 6 AP levels in the next two years. But I think it's more like 9, especially when you factor in that A levels go further because an AP course is (generously) worth half the UCAS points of an A level and the second half is a step up. A levels are also broader as well as deeper. It's AP Calc - just one branch of Pure maths while I did modules in Pure maths (and Mechanics and Statistics and nearly did Decision Maths until I saw that D1 was all wordy stuff, and Boolean Algebra didn't start until D2, so M3 it was!) that had trig, vectors, etc in it too.

[wanderer2575]

Worth noting too is to read the question carefully to understand exactly what is being asked.  I teach a payroll course every summer, and on my practice exams I always include a couple "which of the following is not true"-type multiple-choice questions.  I always catch at least a few people who automatically select the first true statement they recognize.  I don't do it to be a jerk, but to emphasize the point of comprehension.

[english si]

RTQ (read the question) was something they hammered into us as part of exam prep at 16 (and 17 and 18 and beyond). We took practise exams in the January, not really having seen a paper before, and the amount of feedback I got that was "you know the stuff, but you aren't turning that into marks". It took quite a lot of old papers to get rid of certain teachers writing RTQ at least once ony paper.

It was worth at least a grade in subjects I was good at to learn to write answers that ticked the boxes of what the markers were after. 5 marks means you need to give 5 points. Make sure you explicitly answer the question as asked*. Don't get bogged down writing in full sentences (English exams excepted) unless you get all your points in - the extra mark or two overall isn't worth losing a mark or two on each question...

*At level 6 (last year of uni) I shared courses with people who had degrees in other subjects taking the post-grad diploma course. For some of them RTQ was still a problem despite them having Bachelors Degrees and the lecturers making a point of spending a couple of minutes on each essay question about what sort of thing they wanted as well as offering to go through any essay outline or answer any questions about the assignments.

[hbelkins]

For years, placement on registers for Kentucky merit system (civil service) jobs was dependent on multiple-choice (with some true-false questions) test scores. You had to be in the top five to  be on a register and thus eligible for employment. When I first interviewed for a job in state government, I know the supervisor was desperate to fill the position. However, I blew the interview out of the water and she told me that she was going to hire me, and all I had to do was get on the register. I took the test, and most of the questions were fairly easy, but it was obvious that for a few of the questions, there were two correct answers and one was more right than the other. I took the test several times and came up one point short each time. I had to go back and try to figure out which answer of the two was the one they were looking for, and probably changed as many from right to wrong as I did from wrong to right. I finally got the score I needed to make the register and got hired shortly thereafter.

That process has since been changed. Tests are no longer required, which is good because back then, if you couldn't test in Frankfort on a weekday, you had to register for a Saturday test that was held only periodically in certain places in the state. (I ended up successfully getting the score I needed at a test in Bowling Green). Now, it's based solely on experience and education, and they give  your resume or job application a serious going-over to determine eligibility.

[Duke87]

Every multiple choice test tests two things:
1) How well you know the material
2) How good you are at taking multiple choice tests

Item number two, really, is the greatest flaw in the system. Some people's brains are wired in such a way that they're naturally good at eliminating wrong answers and finding the right one quickly, and these people will be able to do well on multiple choice tests even if their knowledge of the material is so-so. Other people's brains are wired such that they have trouble picking between four choices without second guessing themselves, and these people will struggle on multiple choice tests even if they know the material very well.


Personally, I love multiple choice exams because I find it a lot easier to identify the correct answer out of four choices than to have to come up with the correct answer completely on my own - regardless of the subject.

On the other hand, I absolutely hate multiple choice poll questions, since my opinions are nuanced and often do not well match one of the choices given.
(this is also, by the way, why poll results are bullshit - you can make them say anything you want depending on how you ask the question and what choices you provide)