- #1
Dr.Mobius
- 39
- 2
Do you think that it is possible to understand the material of a class fairly well, yet still perform poorly on examinations? Or is there perhaps some other more complicated issue?
I just finished a course where (in my opinion) I believe that I understood the material adequately, yet my test scores have been kind of all over the board. My big exams haven't been horrible (between 85 and 96%), but smaller 'quizzes', which are really just microcosms of the exams, have had much more erratic scores (I scored perfectly on some, and as low as 50% on others!). I practiced sample problems time and time again, and as I was practicing I made few mistakes, and most of the ones I did were only stupid little ones like forgetting to carry the sign, etc. But I still think that I had a fairly firm grasp on all the material I was tested on.
I just took my final a few hours ago, and even though I felt like I had the material down really well, and was doing great on all my practice problems, I think that I may have done somewhat poorly on it. I mean, it probably wasn't worse than a B, but I feel like I should've been able to get an A, no problem. I haven't seen the score for it yet, so I guess there's a (small) chance that I'm overrating and I really did fine, I have this sinking suspicion that that is probably not the case.
Whenever I'm taking tests like these, though, I feel like I just forget how to do a lot of things. That, and I feel like I may also be over-thinking things, ignoring my intuitions and sometimes doing some really bizarre things that I ordinarily would've known was the wrong.
Do you think that it is possible that I am legitimately a 'bad test-taker'? Or is it maybe that I don't actually know the material quite as well as I thought? Maybe I'm just afraid of failing that I get distracted (I feel like this is less likely, seeing as I don't feel anxious when I take them; just at a loss)?
If anybody has any input on this, I would greatly appreciate it as always. This is something that I obviously need to find the root of and conquer if I want to succeed past my undergraduate studies.
Thanks everyone, and sorry for posting a billion threads and polluting the forums with a superfluous amount of my inane questions. I just don't know of any better places to seek advice on these sorts of matters.
I just finished a course where (in my opinion) I believe that I understood the material adequately, yet my test scores have been kind of all over the board. My big exams haven't been horrible (between 85 and 96%), but smaller 'quizzes', which are really just microcosms of the exams, have had much more erratic scores (I scored perfectly on some, and as low as 50% on others!). I practiced sample problems time and time again, and as I was practicing I made few mistakes, and most of the ones I did were only stupid little ones like forgetting to carry the sign, etc. But I still think that I had a fairly firm grasp on all the material I was tested on.
I just took my final a few hours ago, and even though I felt like I had the material down really well, and was doing great on all my practice problems, I think that I may have done somewhat poorly on it. I mean, it probably wasn't worse than a B, but I feel like I should've been able to get an A, no problem. I haven't seen the score for it yet, so I guess there's a (small) chance that I'm overrating and I really did fine, I have this sinking suspicion that that is probably not the case.
Whenever I'm taking tests like these, though, I feel like I just forget how to do a lot of things. That, and I feel like I may also be over-thinking things, ignoring my intuitions and sometimes doing some really bizarre things that I ordinarily would've known was the wrong.
Do you think that it is possible that I am legitimately a 'bad test-taker'? Or is it maybe that I don't actually know the material quite as well as I thought? Maybe I'm just afraid of failing that I get distracted (I feel like this is less likely, seeing as I don't feel anxious when I take them; just at a loss)?
If anybody has any input on this, I would greatly appreciate it as always. This is something that I obviously need to find the root of and conquer if I want to succeed past my undergraduate studies.
Thanks everyone, and sorry for posting a billion threads and polluting the forums with a superfluous amount of my inane questions. I just don't know of any better places to seek advice on these sorts of matters.