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How to Prepare for an Essay Exam

Last Updated: April 20, 2023

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. This article has been viewed 137,394 times.

The dreaded essay exam. Whether you like it or not, at some point in your life you are certain to encounter an exam composed entirely of essays. In the days leading up to the exam you may feel anxious or downright sick to your stomach. Fortunately, with a little bit of preparation and practice, you can turn any pre-exam jitters into a feeling of confidence, which will allow you to successfully tackle any essay exam.

Participating in Class

• Actively participate. It’s important to find a participation method that works for you, whether that’s asking thought-provoking questions or commenting on the reading. Active participation just means involving yourself in some way, so even if you don’t feel comfortable speaking at length in front of your peers, try to ask a question every now and then.
• Free yourself from distractions. Put away your cell phone or tablet and concentrate on listening and taking good notes. Now is not the time to work on homework for another class or to catch up with friends on Facebook.

• Always have a notebook on hand. It is helpful to use one notebook per subject or course, so that you don’t confuse yourself when looking back.
• Be sure to date your notes so that you can quickly reference or find the subject material covered on the exam.
• If you struggle with taking notes, ask the instructor if you can record the lecture. You can then go back and listen to the recording and either take notes at your own pace or review any parts of the lecture, which will be relevant for the exam.

• Take notes on what you’ve read and have questions ready for class.
• Follow the schedule for reading assignments. Typically readings are broken out in a way that is both manageable and topical. If, however, you find yourself unable to keep up with the readings, speak with your instructor about a schedule that suits your particular needs. For example, if readings are assigned for every other day of class, you may need to break it out such that you are reading a portion every day.

Reviewing the Material

• In addition to having one notebook per course, it may be helpful to also have an individual course binder or folder, which contains all course materials.
• Take your organization to the next level by categorizing according to exams. Don’t throw away previous notes or materials from past exams. They may come in handy for midterm or final exams. Instead, organize the materials as if they were chapters, with chapter one being the first exam and so forth and so on.

• Limit phone calls and any other distractions such as texting. It might help to turn your phone and other devices to silent mode while you’re studying.
• The TV should always be off while you’re preparing for an exam.
• If you want to listen to music, be sure it’s something that is relaxing or peaceful. Also, keep the music at a low level. Otherwise, music can easily become a distraction.

• Get into the habit of reviewing class materials after each course. This will help to ease anxiety leading up to the exam, as you won’t have as much to review and will be able to clear up any questions that arise, prior to the big day.
• Cramming doesn’t work. Multiple studies have shown that spacing out learning was more effective than cramming. [2] X Research source What’s more, cramming only increases the feeling of desperation which leads to panic, and then to test anxiety.

• Creating an outline will also come in handy when drafting essay responses, so give yourself some practice and start with your class materials.

Practicing Ahead of Time

• Don’t wait until the night before to outline answers. As you’re studying and organizing your class materials, come up with potential questions along the way. You can then go back and review and revise as necessary.
• Some instructors do specify a word count for essays. Don’t focus on counting words though. Write what you can and look for opportunities to flesh out your answers without being overly wordy.

• Identify - typically short and direct answers will do.
• Explain - requires a more detailed answer.
• Compare - look for connections.
• Argue - address this from your own perspective.

• This is a good opportunity to proofread your work and to look for any grammatical errors as well.
• Have a friend, parent or peer look over your essay as well. It is often helpful to have a fresh set of eyes review your work and provide feedback.

Community Q&A

• For open-notes or open-book tests, study thoroughly anyway. This will prepare you for other exams or tests where you're not allowed to use notes, and will allow for you to complete the test faster and easier because you won't need to search for everything in the book or your notes. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Be positive. If you are negative and believe you will not do well, chances are that you will perform the way you expect to. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Practice writing. Be sure you can write fairly well in other situations so that you can express your ideas clearly. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/essay-exams/
• ↑ http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140917-the-worst-way-to-learn

About this article

If you’re worried about an upcoming essay exam, start reviewing your class notes by topic. One helpful way to prepare for your essay exam is to create a potential outline for each theme. For example, if you’re studying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, you might come up with an essay outline about the themes of the play. Once you have a few of these outlines, do practice essays at home under timed conditions, using old exams or questions you can see from your outline. Additionally, make it easier to prepare for future exams by attending all classes, doing the assigned readings and taking clear notes. Keep reading for more tips, including how to understand what the essay questions are asking of you. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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6.3 Test Taking

Questions to Consider:

• What are the differences between test prep and taking the actual test?
• How can you take a whole person approach to test taking?
• What can you do on test day to increase your confidence and success?
• What should you know about test anxiety?

Once you are practicing good study habits, you’ll be better prepared for actual test taking. Since studying and test taking are both part of learning, honing your skills in one will help you in the other.

Probably the most obvious differences between your preparation for an exam and the actual test itself is your level of urgency and the time constraints. A slight elevation in your stress level can actually be OK for testing—it keeps you focused and on your game when you need to bring up all the information, thinking, and studying to show what you’ve learned. Properly executed, test preparation mixed in with a bit of stress can significantly improve your actual test-taking experience.

Preparation vs. Actual Test

You can replicate the effective sense of urgency an actual test produces by including timed writing into your study sessions. You don’t need all of your study time to exactly replicate the test, but you would be well served to find out the format of the exam in advance and practice the skills you’ll need to use for the various test components. On one early exam in history, Stuart learned the prof was going to include several short-answer essay questions—one for each year of the time period covered. Stuart set up practice times to write for about 15 to 20 minutes on significant events from his notes because he estimated that would be about how much time he could devote out of the hour-long testing session to write one or two required short-answer questions. He would write a prompt from his notes, set a timer, and start writing. If you’re ready and you have practiced and know the material, 20 minutes is adequate to prepare, draft, and revise a short response, but you don’t have a lot of extra time.

Likewise, in a math exam, you will need to know what kinds of problems you will have to solve and to what extent you’ll need to show your computational work on the exam. If you are able to incorporate this sort of timed problem-solving into your study time, you’ll be more prepared and confident when you actually come to the exam. Making yourself adhere to a timed session during your study can only help. It puts a sense of urgency on you, and it will help you to find out what types of problems you need to practice more than ones that perhaps you’re more comfortable solving.

Leveraging Study Habits for Test Prep

In your mind, you probably know what you need to do to be prepared for tests. Occasionally, something may surprise you—emphasis on a concept you considered unimportant or a different presentation of a familiar problem. But those should be exceptions. You can take all your well-honed study habits to get ready for exams. Here’s a checklist for study and test success for your consideration:

Read this list with each separate class in mind, and check off the items you already do. Give yourself one point for every item you checked. If you always take the success steps—congratulations! They are not a guarantee, but doing the steps mindfully will give you a nice head start. If you do fewer than five of the steps—you have some work to do. But recognition is a good place to start, and you can incorporate these steps starting now.

As strange as this may sound, you can find some interesting research articles online about using the taste or smell of peppermint to increase memory, recall, and focus. Read more at: http://naturalsociety.com/mint-scent-improve-brain-cognition-memory. While sucking on a peppermint disk won’t replace studying, why not experiment with this relatively easy idea that seems to be gaining some scientific traction?

Whole Person Approach to Testing

Just because you are facing a major exam in your engineering class (or math or science or English class) doesn’t mean everything else in your life comes to a stop. Perhaps that’s somewhat annoying, but that’s reality. Allergies still flare up, children still need to eat, and you still need to sleep. You must see your academic life as one segment of who you are—it’s an important segment, but just one aspect of who you are as a whole person. Neela tries to turn off everything else when she has exams coming up in her nursing program, which is pretty often. She ignores her health, puts off her family, tries to reschedule competing work tasks, and focuses all her energy on the pending exam. On the surface, that sounds like a reasonable approach, but if she becomes really sick by ignoring a minor head cold, or if she misses an important school deadline for one of her children, Neela risks making matters worse by attempting to compartmentalize so strictly. Taking care of her own health by eating and sleeping properly; asking for help in other aspects of her busy life, such as attending to the needs of her children; and seeing the big picture of how it all fits together would be a better approach. Pretending otherwise may work sporadically, but it is not sustainable for the long run.

A whole person approach to testing takes a lot of organization, scheduling, and attention to detail, but the life-long benefits make the effort worthwhile.

Establishing Realistic Expectations for Test Situations

Would you expect to make a perfect pastry if you’ve never learned how to bake? Or paint a masterpiece if you’ve never tried to work with paints and brushes? Probably not. But often we expect ourselves to perform at much higher levels of achievement than that for which we’ve actually prepared. If you become very upset and stressed if you make any score lower than the highest, you probably need to reevaluate your own expectations for test situations. Striving to always do your best is an admirable goal. Realistically knowing that your current best may not achieve the highest academic ratings can help you plot your progress.

Realistic continuous improvement is a better plan, because people who repeatedly attempt challenges for which they have not adequately prepared and understandably fail (or at least do not achieve the desired highest ranking) often start moving toward the goal in frustration. They simply quit. This doesn’t mean you settle for mediocre grades or refrain from your challenges. It means you become increasingly aware of yourself and your current state and potential future. Know yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, and be honest with yourself about your expectations.

Understanding Accommodations and Responsibilities

As with so many parts of life, some people take exams in stride and do just fine. Others may need more time or change of location or format to succeed in test-taking situations. With adequate notice, most faculty will provide students with reasonable accommodations to assist students in succeeding in test situations. If you feel that you would benefit from receiving these sorts of accommodations, first speak with your instructor. You may also need to talk to a student services advisor for specific requirements for accommodations at your institution.

If you need accommodations , you are responsible for understanding what your specific needs are and communicating your needs with your instructors. Before exams in class, you may be allowed to have someone else take notes for you, receive your books in audio form, engage an interpreter, or have adaptive devices in the classroom to help you participate. Testing accommodations may allow for additional time on the test, the use of a scribe to record exam answers, the use of a computer instead of handwriting answers, as well as other means to make the test situation successful. Talk to your instructors if you have questions about testing accommodations.

Prioritizing Time Surrounding Test Situations

Keep in mind that you don’t have any more or less time than anyone else, so you can’t make time for an activity. You can only use the time everyone gets wisely and realistically. Exams in college classes are important, but they are not the only significant events you have in your classes. In fact, everything leading up to the exam, the exam itself, and the post-exam activities are all one large continuum. Think of the exam as an event with multiple phases, more like a long-distance run instead of a 50-yard dash. Step back and look at the big picture of this timeline. Draw it out on paper. What needs to happen between now and the exam so you feel comfortable, confident, and ready?

If your instructor conducts some sort of pre-exam summary or prep session, make sure to attend. These can be invaluable. If this instructor does not provide that sort of formal exam prep, create your own with a group of classmates or on your own. Consider everything you know about the exam, from written instructions to notes you took in class, including any experiential notes you may have from previous exams, such as the possibility of bonus points for answering an extra question that requires some time management on your part. You can read more about time management in Chapter 3 .

Get Connected

Which apps can help you study for a test, increase your memory, and even help you overcome test anxiety?

Personal Zen is a free online gaming app clinically proven to reduce stress and anxiety. The games retrain your brain to think more positively, reducing stress to help you focus on the experiences around you.

Games like solitaire, hangman, and Simon Says all build on your memory, keeping it sharp and active. There are loads of fun, free online memory games you can use to make time wasting a little less wasteful. For more than 250 options, visit the Memory Improvement Tips website.

Study Hall might be able to help you dig into a research topic or find additional content to help you if you’re struggling with a course. Their library of free lectures and content is created by expert instructors across a number of course areas.

Once you get to the exam session, try your best to focus on nothing but the exam. This can be very difficult with all the distractions in our lives. But if you have done all the groundwork to attend the classes, completed the assignments, and scheduled your exam prep time, you are ready to focus intently for the comparatively short time most exams last.

Arriving to class:

Don’t let yourself be sidetracked right at the end. Beyond the preparation we’ve discussed, give yourself some more advantages on the actual test day:

• Get to the testing location a few minutes early so you can settle into your place and take a few relaxing breaths.
• Don’t let other classmates interrupt your calmness at this point.
• Just get to your designated place, take out whatever supplies and materials you are allowed to have, and calm your mind.

Taking the test:

Once the instructor begins the test:

• Listen carefully for any last-minute oral directions that may have changed some detail on the exam, such as the timing or the content of the questions.
• As soon as you receive the exam sheet or packet, make a quick scan over the entire test.
• Don’t spend a lot of time on this initial glance, but make sure you are familiar with the layout and what you need to do.
• Using this first review, decide how you will allocate your available time for each section.
• You can even jot down how many minutes you can allow for the different sections or questions.

Then for each section, if the exam is divided this way, be sure you read the section directions very carefully so you don’t miss an important detail. For example, instructors often offer options—so you may have four short-answer questions from which to choose, but you only need to answer two of them. If you had not read the directions for that section, you may have thought you needed to provide answers to all four prompts. Working on extra questions for which you likely will receive no credit would be a waste of your limited exam time. The extra time you spend at the beginning is like an investment in your overall results.

Answer every required question on the exam. Even if you don’t complete each one, you may receive some credit for partial answers. Whether or not you can receive partial credit would be an excellent question to ask before the exam during the preparation time. If you are taking an exam that contains multiple-choice questions, go through and answer the questions about which you are the most confident first.

Read the entire question carefully even if you think you know what the stem (the introduction of the choices) says, and read all the choices. Skip really difficult questions or ones where your brain goes blank. Then you can go back and concentrate on those skipped ones later after you have answered the majority of the questions confidently. Sometimes a later question will trigger an idea in your mind that will help you answer the skipped questions.

And, in a similar fashion to spending a few minutes right at the beginning of the test time to read the directions carefully and identify the test elements, allow yourself a few minutes at the end of the exam session to review your answers. Depending on what sort of exam it is, you can use this time to check your math computations, review an essay for grammatical and content errors, or answer the difficult multiple-choice questions you skipped earlier. Finally, make sure you have completed the entire test: check the backs of pages, and verify that you have a corresponding answer section for every question section on the exam. It can be easy to skip a section with the idea you will come back to it but then forget to return there, which can have a significant impact on your test results.

After the Test

As you leave the exam room, the last thing you may want to think about is that particular test. You probably have numerous other assignments, projects, and life obligations to attend to, especially if you pushed some of those off to study for this completed exam. Give yourself some space from this exam, but only for the duration of the time when your instructor is grading your exam. Once you have your results, study them—whether you did really well (Go, you!) or not as well as you had hoped (Keep your spirits up!). Both scenarios hold valuable information if you will use it.

Thandie had a habit of going all-out for exams before she took them, and she did pretty well usually, but once the instructor passed back the graded tests, she would look at the letter grade, glance half-heartedly at the instructor’s comments, and toss the exam away, ready to move on to the next chapter, section, or concept. A better plan would be to learn from her exam results and analyze both what she did well and where she struggled. After a particularly unimpressive exam outing in her statistics class, Thandie took her crumpled-up exam to the campus tutoring center, where the tutor reviewed the test with her section by section. Together they discovered that Thandie did particularly well on the computational sections, which she admitted were her favorites, and not well at all on the short-answer essay questions that she did not expect to find in a stats class, which in her experience had been more geared toward the mathematical side of solving statistical problems.

Going forward in this class, Thandie should practice writing out her explanations of how to compute the problems and talk to her instructor about ways to hone this skill. This tutoring session also proved to Thandie the benefit of holding on to important class papers—either electronically or in hard copy, depending on the class setup—for future reference. For some classes, you probably don’t need to keep every scrap of paper (or file) associated with your notes, exams, assignments, and projects, but for others, especially for those in your major, those early class materials may come in very handy in your more difficult later undergraduate courses or even in grad school when you need a quick refresher on the basic concepts.

Test Anxiety

Test anxiety is very real. You may know this firsthand. Almost everyone gets a little nervous before a major exam, in the same way most people get slightly anxious meeting a new potential date or undertaking an unfamiliar activity. We second-guess whether we’re ready for this leap, if we prepared adequately, or if we should postpone this potentially awkward situation. And in most situations, testing included, that reasonable level of nervous anticipation can be a good thing—enhancing your focus and providing you with a bit of bravado to get you through a difficult time.

Test anxiety, however, can cause us to doubt ourselves so severely that we underperform or overcompensate to the point that we do not do well on the exam. Don’t despair; you can still succeed if you suffer from test anxiety. The first step is to understand what it is and what it is not, and then to practice some simple strategies to cope with your anxious feelings relative to test taking. Whatever you do, don’t use the label test anxiety to keep you from your dreams of completing your education and pursuing whatever career you have your eyes on. You are bigger than any anxiety.

Understanding Test Anxiety

If someone tries to tell you that test anxiety is all in your head , they’re sort of right. Our thinking is a key element of anxiety of any sort. On the other hand, test anxiety can manifest itself in other parts of our bodies as well. You may feel queasy or light-headed if you are experiencing test anxiety. Your palms may sweat, or you may become suddenly very hot or very cold for no apparent reason. At its worst, test anxiety can cause its sufferers to experience several unpleasant conditions including nausea, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. Some people may feel as though they may throw up, faint, or have a heart attack, none of which would make going into a testing situation a pleasant idea. You can learn more about symptoms of test anxiety from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America that conducts research on this topic. 12

Back to our minds for a minute. We think constantly, and if we have important events coming up, such as exams, but other significant events as well, we tend to think about them seemingly all the time. Almost as if we have a movie reel looping in our heads, we can anticipate everything that may happen during these events—both sensational results and catastrophic endings. What if you oversleep on the test day? What if you’re hit by a bus on the way to campus? What if you get stung by a mysterious insect and have to save the world on the very day of your exam?

How about the other way? You win the lottery! Your screenplay is accepted by a major publisher! You get a multimillion-dollar record deal! It could happen. Typically, though, life falls somewhere in between those two extremes, unless you live in an action movie. Our minds, however, (perhaps influenced by some of those action movies or spy novels we’ve seen and read) often gravitate to those black-and-white, all-or-nothing results. Hence, we can become very nervous when we think about taking an exam because if we do really poorly, we think, we may have to face consequences as dire as dropping out of school or never graduating. Usually, this isn’t going to happen, but we can literally make ourselves sick with anxiety if we dwell on those slight possibilities. You actually may encounter a few tests in your academic careers that are so important that you have to alter your other life plans temporarily, but truly, this is the exception, not the rule. Don’t let the most extreme and severe result take over your thoughts. Prepare well and do your best, see where you land, and then go from there.

Using Strategies to Manage Test Anxiety

You have to work hard to control test anxiety so it does not take an unhealthy hold on you every time you face a test situation, which for many of you will last well into your careers. One of the best ways to control test anxiety is to be prepared for the exam. You can control that part. You can also learn effective relaxation techniques including controlled breathing, visualization, and meditation. Some of these practices work well even in the moment: at your test site, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and smile—just bringing positive thoughts into your mind can help you meet the challenges of taking an exam without anxiety taking over.

The tests in the corporate world or in other career fields may not look exactly like the ones you encounter in college, but professionals of all sorts take tests routinely. Again, being prepared helps reduce or eliminate this anxiety in all these situations. Think of a presentation or an explanation you have provided well numerous times—you likely are not going to feel anxious about this same presentation if asked to provide it again. That’s because you are prepared and know what to expect. Try to replicate this feeling of preparation and confidence in your test-taking situations.

Many professions require participants to take frequent licensing exams to prove they are staying current in their rapidly changing work environments, including nursing, engineering, education, and architecture, as well as many other occupations. You have tools to take control of your thinking about tests. Better to face it head-on and let test anxiety know who’s in charge!

• 12 Reteguiz, Jo-Ann. “Relationship between anxiety and standardized patient test performance in the medicine clerkship.” Journal of general internal medicine vol. 21,5 (2006): 415-8. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00419.

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Test: TOPIC TEST (6) 100%

25 multiple choice questions.

Term Statements with qualified terms tend to be true. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 1 of 25

Term In order to have plenty of time to answer all required essay questions, a student should Choose matching definition Write as many essays as quickly as possible, then go back and revise each one Decide which questions are more difficult or will take longer, then answer the easy questions first Spend equal amounts of time on each question to ensure each questions gets the same amount of attention None of these Don't know? 2 of 25

Term Types of response questions can include: Choose matching definition Fill in the blank, matching, and short essay Short answer, fill in the blank, and short essay Short essay, multiple choice, and short answer Multiple choice, true/false, and matching Don't know? 3 of 25

Term Casey has an open book test in his physics class tomorrow and will need to use many formulas. Which of the following is the best strategy Casey could use to organize his formulas? Choose matching definition Highlight the formulas in his school's textbook Write the formulas on his hand for easy access List all of the formulas on a separate sheet of paper Indicate where formulas are located in the book using sticky notes Don't know? 4 of 25

Term Fill in the blank questions are considered___________questions. Choose matching definition Response Best answer Matching None of these Don't know? 5 of 25

Term Outlines should be written Choose matching definition In complete sentences With incomplete thoughts In complete thoughts, but not complete sentences In complete sentences, but not complete thoughts Don't know? 6 of 25

Term Sandra was quite overwhelmed by her final exam. Many of the test questions were difficult to answer, and she felt like she would not be able to complete the exam. What would you suggest Sandra do? Choose matching definition Sandra should guess answer "C" on all of the questions, because teachers use answer "C" as the correct answer most often. Sandra should leave the questions she is unsure about blank because unmarked questions are never counted wrong. Sandra should answer the questions in numerical order so that she does not skip any. It will not matter if she doesn't finish in time. Sandra should answer the easy questions first. Then she should go back and reevaluate the more difficult question. Don't know? 7 of 25

Term A way to categorize information and point you to where to find that information is called Choose matching definition a. An index c. A table of contents b. A glossary d. Both A and C Don't know? 8 of 25

Term Which type of test focuses on debate and discussion of key content and main topics? Choose matching definition Compare and contrast tests Essay tests Short answer tests Any of these Don't know? 9 of 25

Term It is not necessary to spend a large amount of time preparing for an essay because you are never really sure of what the questions will be. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 10 of 25

Term 'All monkeys have tails' is an absolute statement. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 11 of 25

Term Eliminating choices to help identify the best answer is not a valid and useful test taking strategy. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 12 of 25

Term Open book tests usually require students to recall facts and basic information about key concepts and topics. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 13 of 25

Term If you have a choice of questions to answer on an essay test, which questions should you answer first? Choose matching definition The questions that you know a lot about so you can then focus on the more difficult ones The ones that are worth the fewest points because you can finish those quickly The questions which call for a 5 paragraph essay because those are easiest to outline Any of these Don't know? 14 of 25

Term In order to help you answer this true/false statement, which words should be underlined?: Black cats can only be found in countries in Northern America. Choose matching definition Only, in, Northern America Northern America Black cats, only, countries, Northern America Countries, Northern America Don't know? 15 of 25

Term Tandry cannot figure out how his teacher wants him to answer a short essay question on the test he's taking. Where should he look to get more information? Choose matching definition In his study guide In the test directions On his classmate's paper None of these Don't know? 16 of 25

Term Best answer tests include Choose matching definition Matching and multiple choice tests Multiple choice and matching tests only Multiple choice, T/F and matching tests None of these Don't know? 17 of 25

Term The summary of an essay is located Choose matching definition At the end of each paragraph At the end of each of the three supporting details At the beginning of the essay None of these Don't know? 18 of 25

Term A five-paragraph essay question is one of the three types of response questions. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 19 of 25

Term What statement should you use if you do not recall the exact date of an event? a. Near the end of the 20th century... c. Around the time of ________... b. In the late 1900's... d. Any of these would work Choose matching definition b. In complete thoughts, but not complete sentences c. Essay tests d. Any of these would work d. None of these Don't know? 20 of 25

Term The information you bring into an open book test should be organized for fastest possible retrieval. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 21 of 25

Term What necessary information is missing from this formula page? t-time V = d/t d-distance V = distance/time v-velocity Choose matching definition Numeric values The meaning of v The equivalent of V None of these Don't know? 22 of 25

Term On an open book test, Anna was asked to predict how American laws may affect the Mexican way of life if the US Constitution was applied to Mexico's laws. This open book test question Choose matching definition Asks students to compare and contrast American and Mexican government Asks students to solve a problem with information Asks students to apply information to new situations None of these Don't know? 23 of 25

Term If you are not able to complete a question right away, clues to the answer may be hidden in other test questions. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 24 of 25

Term During the test, simply writing down one or two key words from your practice outline may help you to remember the rest of the outline. Choose matching definition Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F Don't know? 25 of 25

Studying & Test Taking

Introduction

• What to Study?
• Create a Study Space
• Build Healthy Habits
• Practice Tests
• Mnemonic Devices

Essay Outlining

• Study Groups
• Preparing for Tests & Exams
• Multiple Choice
• Short Answer
• Coping with Test Anxiety
• Feedback Form
• Co-Curricular Recognition Form
• Faculty Resources

Essay outlining will be an important part of your study sessions if you know you'll need to write an essay or a long answer response during a test.

Creating essay outlines on key course topics can help you prepare for your test in a few important ways. Practicing this approach can help you

• Organize your thoughts and build an argument quickly,
• Pace your writing during the test so you finish on time (or early!), and
• Identify topics you might need to focus on more closely during your study sessions.

Check out the Taking Notes module to learn more about the Outline Method —this note-taking approach will help you prep for this kind of study session!

How to Use Essay Outlines to Study

Watch this video to learn how to approach writing essays during exams and apply these approaches while studying.

Pay particular attention to the Planning section (0:50) of this video to learn how to structure an essay during a test.

Tips for Essay Outlining

• Brainstorm ideas for possible essay topics (use lectures, textbooks, etc. for inspiration).
• Start with the topic or question and come up with your thesis statement first, then main points, sub points, introduction, and conclusion.
• Use a template if you have trouble remembering all the components necessary for a strong essay.
• Time yourself! You'll have a better sense of how long you'll spend on this piece during your actual test.
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NYSTCE EAS (201) Practice Test

If you need help studying for the NYSTCE Education All Students (EAS) test or just want some more information about what the test is like, you’ve come to the right place.

Click below to take a free NYSTCE EAS practice test!

What’s on the Exam?

  There are 43 questions on the exam, which are grouped into five competencies, and the time limit is 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The questions are split into two types:

40 questions

Selected-response questions require you to select the correct answer from a list of options. Multiple-choice questions are the most common example, but you may also see true-or-false questions and “matching” questions, which ask you to match terms or concepts with their definitions.

Constructed-Response (CR)

3 questions

Constructed-response questions require you to write your answer instead of selecting from a list of choices. Your responses to these questions are generally expected to be at least a few sentences, but you’ll be given specific details and instructions before you take the test.

Let’s take a closer look at the five competencies on the exam.

• Your knowledge of diversity within a community and school
• Your ability to create a sense of community among a diverse group of students
• Your knowledge of the needs and characteristics of students who are English language learners
• Your ability to promote the development of students’ literacy skills
• Your knowledge of the needs and characteristics of students with disabilities and other special learning needs
• Your ability to effectively help such students reach their highest potential in learning and independence

How to Register

To get started with your registration, you’ll need to create an account on the NYSTCE website. You can then register for the exam and schedule a test date through your account.

When you submit your registration, you’ll need to pay the $80 testing fee.

NYSTCE EAS Scores

The test is scored using a scaled scoring method. Here’s how it works:

You will need a score of 520 to pass the test.

The reason your raw score is converted to a scaled score is because everyone who takes the test is given a slightly different set of questions. Since everyone has a different arrangement of questions, and because some questions are harder than others, converting your raw score to a scaled score ensures a more even playing field.

NYSTCE Study Guide and Flashcards

Get practice questions, detailed study lessons, and complex subjects broken down into easily understandable concepts.

Online NYSTCE EAS Prep Course

If you want to be fully prepared, Mometrix offers an online NYSTCE EAS prep course. The course is designed to provide you with any and every resource you might want while studying. The NYSTCE EAS course includes:

• Review Lessons Covering Every Topic
• 300+ NYSTCE EAS Practice Questions
• More than 550 Digital Flashcards
• Over 50 Instructional Videos
• Money-back Guarantee
• Free Mobile Access

The NYSTCE EAS prep course is designed to help any learner get everything they need to prepare for their NYSTCE EAS exam. Click below to check it out!

How many questions are on the NYSTCE EAS exam?

The exam contains 43 questions.

How long is the NYSTCE EAS exam?

The time limit is 2 hours and 15 minutes.

What is the passing score for the NYSTCE EAS exam?

The minimum score you need to pass is 520.

How much does the NYSTCE EAS exam cost?

The testing fee is $80.

DP-600 Exam Study Guide - Implementing Analytics Solutions using Microsoft Fabric

By: Sean Lee   |   Updated: 2024-06-07   |   Comments   |   Related: More > Professional Development Certifications

In March 2024, Microsoft announced the general availability of Exam DP-600: Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric , which leads to the Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate certification.

As DP-600 is a new Microsoft Fabric certification exam, what is the essential information you need to know about this test? Where can you find the training resources to prepare for and pass this exam? What are the key subject areas this exam covers? Are there any practice assessments you can take to have an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you're likely to experience on the exam?

In this tip, we will provide the essential information on this exam and the appropriate study materials, including web links, books, online courses, and practice assessments to prepare for and pass the exam.

Who is the Audience of the DP-600 Exam?

As a candidate for this exam, you should have in-depth work experience with the Fabric platform, including subject matter expertise in designing, creating, and deploying enterprise-scale data analytics solutions.

By passing this exam, you become a Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate. In this role, your responsibilities include transforming data into reusable analytics assets by using Microsoft Fabric components, such as Lakehouses, Data warehouses, Notebooks, Dataflows, Data pipelines, Semantic models, and Reports; implementing analytics best practices in Fabric, including version control and deployment; as well as having experience with Data modeling, Git-based source control, and languages such as SQL, DAX, and PySpark.

What is the Format, Duration, and Number of Questions of the Exam?

• Duration: 100 minutes.
• Format: Multiple-choice and multiple-response questions with case studies.
• Number of Questions: 40-60.

What is the Needed Score to Pass?

What certification do you get after passing the exam.

• Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate

Which Books Would You Recommend for this Exam?

Exam Ref DP-600 Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric by Daniil Maslyuk, Johnny Winter, Stěpán Resl. 

• This Exam Ref is the official study guide for the new Microsoft Exam DP-600. This title has not yet been released as of this writing, but you can preorder the book at Amazon.com.

Learn Microsoft Fabric: A practical guide to performing data analytics in the era of artificial intelligence by Arshad Ali, Bradley Schacht.

• This book is a comprehensive introduction to Microsoft Fabric, its components, and the wider analytics landscape. By the end of this book, you'll have gained a thorough understanding of the analytics landscape and mastery over the essential concepts and principles of Microsoft Fabric, which is essential to prepare for and pass the exam.

Do You Recommend Practice Tests for this Exam?

Microsoft provides online practice assessments with 50 questions. You can take the test for an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you're likely to experience on the exam.

Are There Courses for this Exam?

Microsoft provides a self-paced, free online course called Course DP-600T00-A: Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer . This course is best suited for those who have the PL-300 certification or similar expertise using Power BI. The course covers methods and practices for implementing and managing enterprise-scale data analytics solutions using Microsoft Fabric. Students will learn how to use Microsoft Fabric components, including lakehouses, data warehouses, notebooks, dataflows, data pipelines, and semantic models, to create and deploy analytics assets. The course has the following 17 modules:

• Introduction to end-to-end analytics using Microsoft Fabric
• Administer Microsoft Fabric
• Ingest Data with Dataflows Gen2 in Microsoft Fabric
• Ingest data with Spark and Microsoft Fabric notebooks
• Use Data Factory pipelines in Microsoft Fabric
• Get started with lakehouses in Microsoft Fabric
• Organize a Fabric lakehouse using medallion architecture designer
• Use Apache Spark in Microsoft Fabric
• Work with Delta Lake tables in Microsoft Fabric
• Get started with data warehouses in Microsoft Fabric
• Load data into a Microsoft Fabric data warehouse
• Query a data warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
• Monitor a Microsoft Fabric data warehouse
• Understand scalability in Power BI
• Create Power BI model relationships
• Use tools to optimize Power BI performance
• Enforce Power BI model security

Udemy has several courses covering the DP-600 certification exam; among them is one by Phillip Burton that has the most detailed, in-depth, and frequently updated content.

Can You Provide Links to Study for the Exam?

Here are the best study material links we recommend, organized using the Microsoft's official Study guide for Exam DP-600: Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric .

Plan, Implement, and Manage a Solution for Data Analytics (10–15%)

Plan a data analytics environment

• Identify requirements for a solution, including components, features, performance, and capacity stock-keeping units (SKUs)
• Recommend settings in the Fabric admin portal
• Choose a data gateway type
• Create a custom Power BI report theme

Implement and Manage a Data Analytics Environment

• Implement workspace and item-level access controls for Fabric items
• Implement data sharing for workspaces, warehouses, and lakehouses
• Manage sensitivity labels in semantic models and lakehouses
• Configure Fabric-enabled workspace settings
• Manage Fabric capacity

Manage the Analytics Development Lifecycle

• Implement version control for a workspace
• Create and manage a Power BI Desktop project (.pbip)
• Plan and implement deployment solutions
• Perform impact analysis of downstream dependencies from lakehouses, data warehouses, dataflows, and semantic models
• Deploy and manage semantic models by using the XMLA endpoint
• Create and update reusable assets, including Power BI template (.pbit) files , Power BI data source (.pbids) files, and shared semantic models

Prepare and Serve Data (40–45%)

Create Objects in a Lakehouse or Warehouse

• Ingest data by using a data pipeline , dataflow , or notebook
• Create and manage shortcuts
• Implement file partitioning for analytics workloads in a lakehouse
• Create views , functions, and stored procedures
• Enrich data by adding new columns or tables
• Copy data by using a data pipeline , dataflow , or notebook
• Add stored procedures , notebooks , and dataflows to a data pipeline
• Schedule data pipelines
• Schedule dataflows and notebooks

Transform Data

• Implement a data cleansing process
• Implement a star schema for a lakehouse or warehouse, including Type 1 and Type 2 slowly changing dimensions
• Implement bridge tables for a lakehouse or a warehouse
• Denormalize data
• Aggregate or de-aggregate data
• Merge or join data
• Identify and resolve duplicate data, missing data, or null values
• Convert data types by using SQL or PySpark
• Filter data

Optimize Performance

• Identify and resolve data loading performance bottlenecks in dataflows, notebooks, and SQL queries
• Implement performance improvements in dataflows, notebooks, and SQL queries
• Identify and resolve issues with Delta table file sizes

Implement and Manage Semantic Models (20–25%)

Design and Build Semantic Models

• Choose a storage mode , including Direct Lake
• Identify use cases for DAX Studio and Tabular Editor 2
• Implement a star schema for a semantic model
• Implement relationships, such as bridge tables and many-to-many relationships
• Write calculations that use DAX variables and functions, such as iterators , table filtering , windowing, and information functions
• Implement calculation groups , dynamic strings , and field parameters
• Design and build a large format dataset
• Design and build composite models that include aggregations
• Implement dynamic row-level security and object-level security
• Validate row-level security and object-level security

Optimize Enterprise-scale Semantic Models

• Implement performance improvements in queries and report visuals
• Improve DAX performance by using DAX Studio
• Optimize a semantic model by using Tabular Editor 2
• Implement incremental refresh

Explore and Analyze Data (20–25%)

Perform Exploratory Analytics

• Implement descriptive and diagnostic analytics
• Integrate prescriptive and predictive analytics into a visual or report
• Profile data

Query Data by Using SQL

• Query a lakehouse in Fabric by using SQL queries or the visual query editor
• Query a warehouse in Fabric by using SQL queries or the visual query editor
• Connect to and query datasets by using the XMLA endpoint

For more information and exam preparation tips, refer to the links below:

• DP-600 Fabric Analytics Engineer Exam: First Impressions and Learning Tips!
• Thoughts about gaining the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate certification

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