How to Get High Test Scores for Math

Individual lessons with tutors help solidify skills.

High test scores for math don't just make you feel proud; they also open doors for scholarships, good colleges and interesting careers. Whether you want to get high test scores in a math class or on a placement exam, focus on two methods that increase long-term memory storage: encoding, or the process by which you relate difficult information with already-stored long-term information, and repetition.



Don't just focus on memory; some test takers can improve their scores with proper test-taking techniques. These techniques help alleviate stalls that come from fear, increase your test-taking speed and show how to edit your math work.

Instructions

Studying Skills

1. Practice your math skills regularly. Test yourself on the subjects you cover in class, performing homework even when not required.

2. Hire a tutor to teach weekly or twice weekly mathematics skills lessons, or create a study group that meets weekly.

3. Review material often, not just within the weeks before the test. By reviewing material on a consistent basis, you keep old ideas fresh in your mind. For example, for a trigonometry final exam, you may not have studied the names of Greek letters since the beginning of the course. By reviewing weekly, you keep this material in your memory.

4. Test yourself using copies of past tests, practice tests in books and online practice questions. If you do not have access to these things, use your knowledge of the test and the material covered to predict what questions should appear on the final exam.

Testing Skills

1. Study for your tests as soon as you begin a course. If the test is standardized, focus on studying for the test up to three months before the actual exam date. For the SAT or GRE, start a study schedule as much as a year before, because of the importance of these tests for your future college acceptance.

2. Ask people who have taken the test previously how the test worked. This prevents you from any test-taking surprises. For example, if you expect a multiple choice test, you might be thrown off by an open answer test. Knowing this information in advance helps you to show more confidence when test taking.

3. Read the instructions on the test carefully.

4. Answer the easiest questions first and progress to more difficult questions. Save time at the end for reviewing your work.

5. Make educated guesses for questions that you do not know the answer to. To make an educated guess, try to split the number of answers in half by eliminating a few possibilities. Then choose the answer that is most likely correct.

References

• University of Minnesota Duluth Student Handbook: Test Taking Strategies
• University of California Berkeley Center for Educational Partnerships: Math Study Skills
• Cuesta College Academic Support: Suggestions to Students for Improving Math Study Skills
• "Educational Psychology: A Practical Approach"; Long-Term Memory; Edward Vockell, Ph.D.