creative resolve

I have to assume that most people who have gone through years of school and taken many tests have had at least a few moments of panic in a test. I am talking about those instances where a person realizes he or she doesn't remember some of the content being tested at all. I had one of those moments recently.

In one of my classes the tests are split 50/50 between short answer and multiple choice questions. I started the short answer questions when I realized that I did not remember the material for nearly half the short answer questions. As usual, I went through the following emotions.

• Panic: How can this be happening to me?
• Denial: If I just sit here and think about it I'm sure I can figure it out.
• Frustration: I can't figure it out. What do I do?
• Distraction: I'll work on a different part of the test and come back.
• Panic (again): Aaaagh, I still don't know what to do!
• Creative Resolve: I guess I'll have to make something up that sounds good.

I am convinced that the main difference between a typical A student and a typical B or C student is how well he or she does in the Creative Resolve stage. If the student never gets out of panic mode or simply does not do a good job making things up that does not bode well. I have included a few rules I follow when I am in the Creative Resolve stage.

Rule #1 (Short Answer): Only give away necessary information.

The best way to do this is to restate the material in the question. Only when necessary should additional information that is not in the question be introduced. This is illustrated below

Example Question: What was the Industrial Revolution?
Wrong Answer: The Industrial Revolution marked a change in technological, sociological, cultural, and political conditions near the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Right Answer: The Industrial Revolution was a period of great change in trade and manufacturing.

The wrong answer included facts, which are easy to get wrong (types of conditions of change, when it occurred). The right answer simply regurgitated the definitions of the words "industrial" and "revolution." It answers the question but contains no potential gotchas.

Rule #2 (Short Answer): If a list is required, bury the answers you aren't sure of.

Graders are human and humans are often lazy. It is completely possible the gaffe will be entirely missed if it is the sixth item in a long list.

Example: List the continents.

• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• Antacid
• Australia

Rule #3 (Short Answer): Make reference to material from lecture or the text if it sounds even remotely relevant.

This especially works if it is some inane fact or example that proves you remember some material from the class. I regularly reference examples from the class that sound relevant to the question, but aren't really.

Rule #4 (Multiple Choice): Think twice before selecting "A."

The first multiple choice option is usually the one the test writer picks as the place to winnow out the students who won't read all the options. It usually sounds the best of all the wrong answers and yet is usually still wrong.

Rule #5 (True/False): Absolutes are gimmes.

Almost any time a true/false question uses the words "all" or "always" or "none" or "never" the answer is false. This almost always (heh) signals that an there is an exception that needs to be considered.

Example: True or false? All Kansans were born in Kansas?

Those are my rules. Do you have any?