Test Taking Skills Guide - I-Pathways

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When we take an online class, we may think that wecan complete studies whenever we have the time.However, if we don’t have a clear and organized planof when we will study, whenever may turn into I’ll getto it later, which may turn into never.Understanding the time commitment and developingeffective study habits needed for completingi-Pathways will help you reach your goal of earning ahigh school credential. Understanding how to study isas important as identifying what to study.As you explore this resource, you will Identify time management strategies Explore sample test questionsTest Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org1

WHAT IS TIME MANAGEMENT?Let’s begin with identifying time management strategies that can easily be combined withyour learning experience.Developing effective time management skillsare important to success. Time managementmeans you can balance all of the obligationsyou have. You may have young childrenat home who need your attention, a workschedule that is unpredictable, aging parents,or any number of responsibilities that demandyour attention every day. Trying to fit schoolin whenever you have time is challenging. Itappears that we never have enough time toget all of our tasks done. Time managementis about making priorities, determining whatneeds to be done, and budgeting time tocomplete the tasks.So, how do you balance all of it? While there is no easy way, the most effective strategy is tocreate a task list or calendar and identify when each of your tasks need to be completed.Think about the best time to study. Some people are morning people and enjoy getting anearly start on their day. Others prefer to study in the evening. Selecting the best time to studyand then sticking to it is one of the most important time management skills for studying.CalendarsA calendar is a register of days that usually covers the span of one year and is divided intoweeks and months. Although in some cases, the term calendar may merely refer to a list orschedule of planned events.Along with clocks, calendars are the most common way for people to organize their time,indeed our very life, and without them, most of us would be lost. Some student calendars are organized by term or semester. A term or semester calendarallows you to look and organize your time over a span of several weeks or months. Term or semester calendars are organized from the first day of the semester to the lastday of finals’ week.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org2

Monthly and weekly calendars allow students to scan the current week or the upcomingmonths for special occasions, due dates, and scheduling conflicts. Weekly calendars usually span Monday through Sunday. Monthly calendars are organized from the first day of the month to the last. Monthly calendars allow you to scan the weeks and days of a month to insure thatthere are no conflicts in scheduling appointments or events.So what do calendars do for us? Calendars keep us organized, dividing our days and weeks into manageable pieces, tellingus that we have so many days or weeks to allow for certain projects or activities, and thelength of those activities. They help us foresee future events, such as appointments, exams, and project due dates,even birthdays, and they help us to plan accordingly. Calendars allow us to get the big picture, giving us an overview of a week, a month, asemester, or year.Time ManagementMost of us know how to read calendars and schedules. What we struggle with is how tomanage our time. If you ask a group of students, no matter what their age, if they have enoughtime, most of them will answer no.In the United States, we tend to have a “time crunch”. So, what can we do with the limitedamount of time available to us?There are three parts to managing your time.Think of these parts as the Three P’s. Prioritizing Planning Procrastinating (not)PrioritizingTo manage your time you first have to be able to prioritize. Priorities are the things that aremore important to you than other items in your life. How do you prioritize? Here are somesteps in that process:To prioritize means that you are figuring out what is important to you.You do this so that youcan manage your time while making room for what you feel is of value, and giving time to thepeople, ideas, and tasks that are most important to you. Decide what is the most important and least important of your tasks. List these so you can see them.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org3

Ask yourself,“What is important to me?” Consider how the following commitments fit into your ionPlanningAfter you have figured out what is important, it is time to plan. Commit to your goal. Identifywhen you will get your work done.When you complete the i-Pathways Placement Survey, it determines which lessons aremarked TO DO and which are marked OPTIONAL.This shows you what you need to completein each unit.You can identify how many lessons you need to complete each week and make adetailed plan to reach your goal.ProcrastinatingProcrastinating is when you put off doing something until the last minute.You know you are aprocrastinator if you Find yourself rushing around at the last minute to get things done that you MEANT to dolast week. Find yourself saying MEANT TO DO often. Have a hard time getting started on different tasks.Then you, like any others, may have a problem with procrastination.The following are some practical strategies that will help you avoid procrastination. Tell someone your idea about the task.They can serve as a sounding board and as areminder to your commitment to get things done. Set realistic goals and timelines so you can prioritize your tasks and meet your goals. Use your list to check things off as you do them. If there are items on the list that just neverseem to get done- move them up to the top of your list. Break big tasks into smaller more manageable steps. Set a timer or look at your watch and make yourself do the task for 5 minutes. After the 5minutes have passed-decide if you want to continue for 5 more minutes and so on.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org4

Take a physical step. Start on it – even if it is a little thing like labeling a folder with the taskon the top.This may help jump-start your progress. Gather information about a big task.This may help you imagine how you can accomplishthe goal. If you have to write to do the task, write anything down. Do not try to get the bestsentence right off the bat. Write down anything that comes to mind.The point is to getgoing on the project.You can edit and revise later. Think about how good it will feel to be done!Checklist to get started: Do you have a monthly calendar that has enough space in it to write down datesof tests, assignments, work schedules and other activities on it? Have you written down projected dates for major events in your life? Have you filled in your weekly study plan? Have you scheduled at least one hour of study time per day? Think of study timeas part of your job. Try to schedule study time when you are most alert. Do you have a study area? Many people use the library or a quiet room. Pick aplace that is fairly free of distraction (no TV, friends around, etc.). Are you making good use of “downtime” (time spent waiting at a doctor’s office,time on a bus, ½ hours here and there that aren’t being used for anything inparticular)? Do you time yourself when you study? Sometimes this can help motivateyou. Also, be sure to set a stopping time. This is a time when you will be DONEwith studying for the day. It gives you something to look forward to and somestructure, so it doesn’t feel like you are doing this FOREVER. Have you scheduled time to do fun things? Have you scheduled in or made plans for rewards if you meet the goals you haveset for yourself? Study schedules can be adjusted. The key is setting a schedule and makingadjustments when needed in order to stay on track.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org5

Create your study schedule for i-PathwaysIdentify any times you will be in class or have a planned conflict with studying such as work orother appointments.Then, identify the time you plan on logging into the i-Pathways system tostudy. By setting these types of study goals, you will better organize your time and be able tostay on task.You can find the Weekly Study Plan in the i-Pathways Resources under Study Aids.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org6

When preparing for your high school equivalency exam, it is helpful to see the types ofquestions that might be on the test. Currently, there are three approved tests for high schoolequivalency. They are teh GED , HiSET , and TASC .Test Taking TipsThere are different types of questions. multiple choice essay/extended responseNote: if you are talking the GED Test, you will have computer enhanced questions. You willsee examples in the Sample Question Section.Let’s review the overall strategies for test taking and then discuss specifics for each type oftest.Before reading Be sure to read the directions before you begin the test. Understand exactly what the test is asking you to do.During reading Determine what type of question you are answering. There are 3 areas of knowledge you might be tested on. factual critical thinking extended response Factual questions are based on recalling specific information from the required reading. Critical thinking questions mean you have to infer or draw conclusions from theinformation presented. Essay questions require you to answer the prompt by writing responses. Make sure youread every question and answer before answering the question or prompt.After reading Be sure to leave yourself enough time to review your responses and check the answers. Reread any parts of the test if necessary.GED The GED Test is divided into four test areas: Reasoning Through Language ArtsTest Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org7

Social Studies Science Mathematical ReasoningIn each area, there will be the following types of questions: Multiple Choice Cloze items embedded in passages. (These are multiple choice items with the answersdirectly placed in the text.) Multiple Select (These are multiple choice questions with more than one answer.) Drag and Drop Fill in the Blank Short AnswerIn Reasoning Through Language Arts and Social Studies, there will be an Extended Response(essay). The essay response in Reasoning Through Language Arts is expected to takeapproximately 45 minutes. The essay response in Social Studies is expected to take approximately 25 minutes.There will be Hot Spot questions in Science, Social Studies and Math. These questions allowyou to work with charts, graphs, and other forms of data.HiSET The HiSET program will measure your knowledge in five core areas: Language Arts-Reading Language Arts-Writing Mathematics Science Social StudiesTASC The TASC program assesses five subject areas. They include: Reading Writing Mathematics Science Social StudiesIt measures the examinees’ levels of achievement and readiness for college and the workforceas outlined by the Common Core State Standards.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org8

Now, let’s look at some sample assessment questions based on the Common Core Standards.While all three assessments are based on the skills you need to develop in order to be collegeor career ready, you may see different types of questions. However, each question is reallyassessing your understanding of information in the core areas.SCIENCE SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONSMultiple ChoiceFossil records show:a. That many species today have always lived on earth.b. A progression from the earliest types of one-celled life to the complex organisms livingtoday.c. That Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was genius.d. Both a and c.Feedback: You selected . The correct answer is b. A progression from the earliest type of onecelled life to the complex organisms living today. Fossil records show that many of the species thatlive today have not always lived on earth. Fossil records show a progression from the earliest typesof one-celled life to the complex organisms living today.Multiple SelectThe giraffe’s scientific name, camelopardalis, is Latin for camel-leopard. When they werefirst brought to Rome in 46 B.C., they were thought to be as big as a camel, with spots like aleopard. Although we’ve long since learned the giraffe is not a combination of these animals,the name stuck.Which of the following choices would be the best explanation of why the giraffe has a longneck?a. To maintain the balance with its long legs.b. To enable it to reach high into the trees for leaves that other animals can’t reach.c. To give it a distinguishing characteristic from leopards and camels.d. To enable the giraffe to see its predators from a long distance.e. It aids in the digestive system of the giraffe.Feedback: You selected . The correct answers are b and d. Competition for food from smallerbrowsing animals encouraged an eventual elongation of the neck, as it enabled giraffes to reachfood that others could not reach, and also helped enable the giraffe to see predators from adistance.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org9

Fill in the Blankis anything an animal does in response to a stimulus in its environment.Feedback: You selected .The correct answer is behavior.ClozeFor the next 4 questions, select the appropriate word from the drop down boxes to fill in theconcept map.Feedback: 1. Scientific Method 2. Hypothesis 3. Conclusions 4. TheoryTest Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org10

Drag and DropLabel the parts of the atom.Feedback:Short AnswerNote this is an example of a short answer question. It does not need to be answered in thissample portion. Read the passage below and consider the prompt.Prescription drugs found in drinking water across U.S.A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anticonvulsants, and mood stabilizers– have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, anAssociated Press investigation shows.To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities ofparts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their waterTest Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org11

is safe. But the presence of so many prescription drugs -- and over-the-counter medicineslike acetaminophen and ibuprofen -- in so much of our drinking water is heightening worriesamong scientists of long-term consequences to human health.In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected inthe drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas – from Southern California toNorthern New Jersey, from Detroit, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky.Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the APfound. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said thepublic “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed.How do the drugs get into the water?People take pills.Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes throughand is flushed down the toilet.The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs,rivers or lakes.Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plantsand piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistentexposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies (whichhave gone virtually unnoticed by the general public) have found alarming effects on humancells and wildlife.A ‘growing concern’“We recognize it is a growing concern and we’re taking it very seriously,” said Benjamin H.Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports,analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatmentplants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.They also surveyed the nation’s 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, aswell as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP: Officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticalsor byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection,high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-threepharmaceuticals were found in the city’s watersheds. Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treateddrinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California. Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commissiondrinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, andTest Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org12

found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in thedrinking water. The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for sixpharmaceuticals. By the positive test results in the major population centers documentedby the AP, the situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested.Source - cnn.comTesting not requiredThe federal government doesn’t require any testing and hasn’t set safety limits for drugsin water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 wastested. Among the 34 that haven’t: Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida, Baltimore,Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York City’s Department ofEnvironmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people. Some providers screen foronly one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.Based on the passage, discuss the problem with drinking water.Hot SpotThe chart shows the global mean for land – ocean temperature changes between 1880 to2000. Using this data, plot where you expect the annual mean and the running mean for 2012.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org13

Feedback:Note how the test taker is expected to follow the trends and select the correct point to plotthe answer.SOCIAL STUDIES SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONSMultiple ChoiceThe President plays an important constitutional role in turning a bill into a law; it is why heor his assistants and advisors are usually consulted throughout the legislative process. If thePresident approves the bill, he signs it, and it becomes law. If he is not particularly favorablebut does not want to block the bill, it becomes law after ten days if he takes no action. He canalso veto the bill and return it to Congress. A bill can still become law by a two-thirds vote ofeach house, which would override the President’s action. A President can also kill a bill at theend of a congressional session if he takes no action and Congress adjourns before ten dayspass.This is known as a pocket veto.According to the above passage, why does Congress consult the President, his assistants, andhis advisors throughout the process of preparing a bill?a. The Congress has an interest in the perspective of the President’s political party.b. The President will be angry if Congress does not consult him, and it would causeretribution.Test Taking Guidehttp://www.i-pathways.org14

c. Communication between branches of government is carried out simply, so there is noreason not to consult him.d. It is prestigious for a congressman to be asked to consult the President.e. Congress can reduce the risk of a veto if it irons out problems while the bill is beingdeveloped.Feedback: You selected . The correct answer is e. Congress can reduce t

Monthly and weekly calendars allow students to scan the current week or the upcoming months for special occasions, due dates, and scheduling conlicts. Weekly calendars usually span Monday through Sunday. Monthly calendars