The learning process is a complex system, and part of it is the assessment or evaluation of your progress, which is done through tests and standard exams. College tests are design to measure a variety of things such your fitness for a program of study, and your overall progress learning the material.

There are categories of tests according to where you are in the learning process.

These are very common for entrance to private school, Colleges and Universities.  This kind of test evaluates your previous knowledge and your baseline skills. It measures your natural capabilities for specific tasks and compiles information about you. The teacher uses this information to design teaching strategies that are best suited to you. It’s also used to compare with previous tests and students and evaluate the progress.

Of course, there are many tools and techniques to apply a pre-assessment. One of the most common is to compare the first and last tests taken.  This assesses the knowledge that the students have acquired over the course of the school term.

The Entrance tests, while they may seem difficulty and perhaps unnecessary, they really do help the school, the teachers and students.   If you enter a College program that you are not able to complete, that doesn’t work for anyone.  Colleges and schools don’t want that and neither do you.

Do you best with the tips below and preparing for the test.   If you don’t get accepted, that is frustrating but in the long run, it is best for everyone, and you will find another program that you are suited for, and excel in that.

More Information, High School Tests

These tests are the ones apply during the academic period, and are design to monitor your progress. Quizzes, short tests and practice tests are types of formative assessments. And basically, theses tests indicate to the professor if the students understand the topics already covered, and are ready for the next, or if the students need more time to study the topic. So, it helps the teacher to track the learning process and correct it if necessary.

Difference between a quiz and a test

Taking a Test? We can Help!

Better known as midterms or final exams, these are applied by the end of the academic period and are the most infamous type of test. Here, you must demonstrate the topics covered during the period. So generally, they are synonyms of long and stressful nights of studying. The professor uses these tests to verify if the students acquire the minimum knowledge required to past to the next level.

Tests have a bad image between the students; they are usually related to sweat, frustration, and in some cases triumph.

Superficially, tests seem to be useful for the teachers only, as a tool to measure and register the development of students. But, what about the students? Well, whether you believe it or not they can benefit from the test too.

Students generally resent tests, and with good reason. After all, many people do not test well, and they know the grade they end with does not accurately reflect their true knowledge. It is easy to feel resentful because tests classify students and cre­ate categories that just don’t seem fair. Face it: Students who are great at rote memorization and not that good at analyzing material often score higher than those who might be more creative thinkers and balk at simply memorizing cold, hard facts. It may not be fair, but there it is anyway. Conformity is an asset on tests, and creativity is often a liability. There is no point in wasting time or energy being upset about this real­ity. Your first step is to accept the reality and get used to it. You will get higher marks when you realize tests do count and that you must give them your best effort. Think about your future and the career that is easier to achieve if you have consistently earned high grades. Avoid negative energy and focus on any­thing that lifts your enthusiasm and increases your motivation.

Taking a Test? We can Help!

To learn is not just about studying to answer some questions. There are complex process taking place while you’re learning, and for it to be effective, is necessary to take every step of the process. One of these steps is the reaffirmation and fixation of the knowledge. This is what happens when you answer a question on a test; you are using the information you have learned in a practical way, so your brain stores it as something that you “know,” and not simply as something you “read once,” So, in this process your brain organizes the knowledge in an effective way.

So tests, while they may be unfair to certain types of students are an important part of the learning process.

Learning something has many steps, and as mentioned above, you have to go through each one.  Skipping steps in the process, which means skipping over something you don’t understand, short-circuits the learning process and it will come back to haunt you!  This is one of the biggest study tips:

If you don’t understand something, don’t skip it – make sure you understand all the steps!