The Quinnipiac University Learning Center recently sponsored a seminar in the university’s student center to aid students in taking multiple choice tests.

The seminar, titled ‘All of the Above: Taking Multiple Choice Tests’ was held on Mar. 7 and was conducted by Judy Villa, Assistant Director of the Learning Center.

To start off her lecture, Villa asked attendees what they felt was the hardest part of taking multiple choice tests.

“My teacher for biology usually gives us ‘all choices are right but it’s only one answer’ questions,” a student attending the seminar said.

Villa said questions found earlier in the test can sometimes answer questions later on.

“A professor will sometimes repeat information on a test to make sure you really got it,” Villa said. “If you saw the info earlier, go back and check it.”

Villa revealed what she said is her “most important piece of advice”:

“Read the question, cover all the answers and try to anticipate what the answer is, then check to see if it’s one of the choices.”

Villa said students need to realize that they are now looking for the “wrong answers.”

“Turn choices into True/False statements and read the question carefully,” Villa continued.”[This approach] really helps students focus on what the question is asking,” she said.

Villa then offered what she calls her “tips for the very desperate.”

“Get practice tests from tutors,” Villa said. “They try to get students to approach the material in the right way.”

Sleep was also mentioned by Villa as an important factor in telling how a student will do on a test.

She said a minimum of five to six hours of sleep is necessary for students to perform well.

“Students are better off studying not as many hours as they would like to than studying on not enough sleep,” she said.

After listing several suggestions of what students can do on their own to better their multiple choice scores, Villa stressed the importance of going to others for help.

Office hours are available each week by professors as a time set aside to offer students individual extra help.

Villa said students unable to attend scheduled seminars can sign up for private tutoring sessions with the 50 tutors tutoring in over 50 courses.

A signup sheet for these tutoring sessions can be found in TH 119.

Students can look for pamphlets posted around the school for more information about seminars or stop by the learning center in Tator Hall for more information.