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Once a test is over, it's over. Right? Or is there anything I should do after I take a test to ensure success?

After a test is over but before you get the test back, there are several actions I recommend. First, celebrate that it is over, and do not waste time wishing you had done more. If you feel you should have studied more, use that as a goal for the future, not something to regret from the past. Second, jot down some notes on how you thought the test went. Predict the grade you got. Predict the questions you got right and which ones you might have gotten wrong. Based on what you remember, assess what your professor chose to test, and decide if that matched what you studied.

Then comes the most important step-when you get the test back, study it carefully. I repeat, you must look carefully at a test to see which questions you got right and wrong.

Here are some reasons you may have missed a question:

1. you made a careless error.
2. you did not understand what the question meant/you did not interpret the problem the same way as the professor did
3. you confused two or more terms
4. you did not study the right material
5. you studied, but too superficially. You did not know the material backwards and forwards.

Can you see how knowing what kind of error you made can affect how you prepare for the next test? If I made mostly careless errors, then I know I'm studying the right way, but need to check my answers more carefully. If I am not understanding the problems, I can use this first test as a way to learn to 'think like my professor.' We are all different; we all speak in different ways, and this can affect your success on a test. That does not mean you get to blame the professor-it just means you need to figure out what he or she is wanting you to do so you can get it right the next time. And 3-5 are study issues-and this can help you change the way you study between now and the next test.

What if the professor does not give you back the test but just post grades? Well, I have found a few professors who don't seem to want to let students look at their tests (perhaps they want to reuse the test questions in the future), but most professors will let you look at your test during their office hours. I encourage you to be very diplomatic and to schedule an appointment to do so-explain that you aren't good at knowing which problems you got wrong or right, and you want to be able to avoid making the same mistakes on the next test, and if at all possible, could you please please please look over the test to see what kind of questions you got wrong? It's always worth a try. But if the professor already gave you class time to look at your test, I can't blame them for being a little irritated with you. Use that opportunity if you get it. Don't ever just look at the grade. (Or, as in the case of one student I worked with, don't just assume you passed the test and never look at the grades-what was he thinking? At least for me, I've always done fairly well on tests, but I have never once been right in assessing which questions I got right or wrong until I see the test itself.

So, by recording some thoughts right after the test, and by studying the test once you got it back, you have now identified clear goals for success on the next test. Get started!

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