How Did You Do On The Test?

In my over 15 years as a college educator I designed, created and administered numerous tests of all kinds. I noticed the students who did the best on them possessed a combination of skills. In addition to their stringent content preparation, they had extremely high self-awareness and knowledge about test construction, and test taking procedures. This is known as being "test savvy". That is, they were street-smart about how tests worked and how to get the best scores possible. They reviewed their performance after every test. They also paid close attention to handling their stress levels well ahead of the test.

One major difference between good students and the very top students was in how they processed the test itself and their assessment of it afterwards. In other words, they regularly held a post mortem with their friends (and me the teacher) on what went well, what went wrong, and how they could improve for next time. That's the purpose of this article, to help you see their test analysis process, so you can do the same thing.

Here are 18 test taking questions you will want to ask yourself after every test. Through this analysis, you'll see what you liked and what you didn't like about your test taking skills.



1. How well did you "perform" on the test?
2. How was your concentration?
3. How was your memory?
4. How well did you handle your stress?
5. What did you do on the test that you liked?
6. How test savvy were you?
7. Did you have any problems with the test directions, either written or verbal?
8. What would you have done differently?
9. On what parts of the test were you strong?
10. On what parts of the test were you weak?
11. Did you leave any questions blank?
12. What did you learn about test-taking on this test?
13. What will you do differently on the next test?
14. Was your preparation sufficient for the test?
15. How will you prepare for the next test?
16. What curves and tricks did the test throw at you and how did you handle them?
17. What did you learn about test taking in general from this experience?
18. As a result of this experience, how will you adjust your study system?

Sometimes you can learn as much from mistakes you make on the test as from studying, right? As your awareness of the many elements of test taking expands and sharpens, you can gain more control over each of them. This growing sense of mastery will take you ever closer to your goal of total test mastery...and of the top results you deserve. Good luck!

Knowing about educational psychology and being test savvy is certainly an important part of being a good student, but top students who get consistently high grades also have a knowledge base and applied skills in stress control and peak performance. You need to know how to manage your mind, calm your emotions and relax your body so you can get into the “test zone”, that powerful, deeply focused mind-body state that gives you excellent recall, mental alertness and clarity. You need to learn these skills and become mentally tough so you can handle the extreme pressures of academia. Other mental skills training you need are visualization, confidence-building, mental readiness training and motivation skills.

To learn this set of mental toughness, zone, and stress control skills, sign up for our special Test Anxiety Stress Reduction Program. You can also take this no-cost assessment of your test-taking skills.

Test Anxiety Assessment