<p>you know those people who say they are not good test takers? i never believe them. these people usually have good gpa in school and in order to get good gpa you need to be able to do well on tests.</p>
<p>Depends on the situation. Sometimes teachers can be so incredibly uncaring about the material they're teaching, that the test that they give the students is practically a whole other thing..a teacher was awarded "Hardest Teacher" due to the insanity of that.</p>
<p>Unless youre talking about SAT scores, but usually it could be some intense mental block, usually due to the fact that they havent discovered their own ways of prepping for it yet. Or maybe I'm just hitting a whole other thing..</p>
<p>i generally mean standardized testing/SAT/ aps, etc. that sort of stuff.</p>
<p>I don't believe 90% of those who claim it (sadly, they themselves think they truly do have test-taker anxiety...LOL), but I know the other 10% who do have it and it's frustrating and sad. So yeah, most of the time, I don't believe it.</p>
<p>It's absolute utter BS.</p>
<p>I know a good number of people who have taken standardized tests blind, due to pragmatism or a socioeconomic situation. They've all scored from the 2000s to high 2200s. The SAT tests--what--seventh grade reading skills and mathematics. Thus, it is a test of the pace and accuracy at and with which one thinks and processes information.</p>
<p>If one is an intelligent human being, one can do well on the SAT.</p>
<p>There are different kinds of intelligence. Someone with good interpersonal skills and a desire to do well will talk to the teacher, try to understand the assignments, participate in class, and generally do well in the class. That same person doesn't have that opportunity on the standardized tests and so might not do well.</p>
<p>I know someone like that and she's very savvy and "smart" in that regard. But the standardized test stuff is definitely a struggle for her.</p>
<p>I disagree with the original poster's premise. Some people, like my younger daughter, are cold-blooded test-takers. She nearly aced her ACT (35) and scored a 2290 on her only SAT attempt (800 in CR). Her sister, also an excellent student and amazing writer, would get anxious, nervous, and all worked up before tests--then second-guesses herself every step of the way. She ended up with a 32 ACT and 1980 SAT.</p>
<p>pshhhhh no, they say they're bad test takers because they can copy assignments off other people but can't do that on a standardized test.</p>
<p>no, they are just making an excuse for why they are dumb.</p>
<p>You guys are pretty harsh!</p>
<p>Some people....Really! Of course some kids are simply better test takers. My S is a superior test taker, my daughter, not so much. She's a deep thinker but slow reader and every bit as bright as my son. The reification of these standardized test #s is ridiculous. Do you really think that a 2200 score reflects a higher level of mental competence than a 2100 score. BTW, my daughter taught herself French an achievement my son envies.</p>
<p>I'm with you, Maximus001!</p>
<p>I think that in many cases people think they have mastered the material better than they actually have, and they reconcile their belief that they know what they're doing with their lower-than-expected scores by deciding they're just not good at test-taking.</p>
<p>I also believe that there are specific skills that are useful on tests, that some people have better skills than others, and that in some cases people who are equally well prepared will get different scores on the same test in large part because they are "better at tests."</p>
<p>When I was in high school I believed that I just had good test-taking skills and that I tended to get better scores than many people who knew the material as well as I did but who had bad test-taking skills. Since then, I've come to the conclusion that in fact I knew the material better than some of those people -- I underestimated how well I knew it and I took the word of people who overestimated how well they knew it -- and that test-taking skills played less of a role than I thought they did.</p>
<p>But I've taught people whose test grades were significantly lower than I would have expected, given my assessment of their abilities in discussions sections, papers, etc.</p>
<p>BTW, Hanna weren't you just admonishing some to respect others opinions? Is it just that you want your opinions respected. Get a grip!</p>
<p>Also there are disabilities that can cause poor test results in a standardized setting. Some of these may not show up on classroom testing situations and the student may be unaware of the issues.<br>
And how many high school class tests last for 31/2 hours? So the fact a student has a high gpa, does not mean that they are great test takers for purposes of the long SAT and ACT tests.
I have a brilliant friend who failed the bar exam 3 times, despite having all As in law school. It is a different level of pressure.</p>
<p>For starters, in most high school classes (depending on how they're graded), you can get a lot of credit and a high grade by doing all the homework well, participating in class, writing strong papers...none of which have anything to do with test-taking ability.</p>
<p>I think that the problem can be anxiety- sometimes, smart kids just get too nervous about SATs/ACTs/AP exams and freeze up, forget things, make mistakes they normally wouldn't. It's something those students have to work on, absolutely, but it's not a crime and it doesn't mean they're dumb.</p>
<p>Claiming to be a poor "test-taker" is analogous to saying you are a poor "question-answerer." When someone provides an incorrect answer in class, I never hear them trying to mitigate their mistake by saying, "Well, I really did know the answer, but I'm just such a poor question-answerer that I couldn't say it." The excuse that one knows the material yet cannot demonstrate that knowledge on an exam is equally inane and bogus.</p>
<p>Straight from wikipedia:</p>
<p>Test anxiety is the uneasiness, apprehension, or nervousness felt by students who have a fear of failing an exam. Students suffering from test anxiety may experience any of the following: the association of grades with personal worth, fear of embarrassment by a teacher, fear of alienation from parents or friends, time pressures, or feeling a loss of control. Emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical components can all be present in test anxiety. Sweating, dizziness, headaches, racing heartbeats, nausea, fidgeting, and drumming on a desk are all common. An optimal level of arousal is necessary to best complete a task such as an exam; however, when the anxiety or level of arousal exceeds that optimum, it results in a decline in performance. Because test anxiety hinges on fear of negative evaluation, debate exists as to whether test anxiety is itself a unique anxiety disorder or whether it is a specific type of social phobia. In 2006, approximately 49% of high school students were reportedly experiencing this condition.</p>
<p>While the term "test anxiety" refers specifically to students, many adults share the same experience with regard to their career or profession. The fear of failing a task and being negatively evaluated for it can have a similarly negative effect on the adult.</p>
<p>Anyway, I think it is crazy for everyone to be calling it BS. I am proof that some people lack the ability to do well on tests even if they are intelligent. I don't get my 4.0 by cheating. It's always the other class assignments that I must work extremely hard on to pull up my grade. Test grades are always the ones that I really have to struggle for. It also isn't that I am less prepared than I think I am, because I could answer any question or do any worksheet etc before the test as long as in my mind I know it doesn't actually count. As soon as I know that it is going to be a grade my brain starts shutting down. Another example is during oral recitations when I can recite something correctly a hundred times but as soon as I have to do it for the class I can't get all the way through it.</p>
<p>This isn't an "excuse for being dumb". I know very well I'm not dumb, but some people just naturally over react when they are put into a pressured situation. Personally, when I took the ACT I was fine at first, earning a 34 on the English section by calmly taking the test which resulted in being able to finish the section. As soon as I paniced part of the way through math, I didn't have enough time to finish any of the other sections, which resulted in a 29 on all of the other sections. I got a 30 composite instead of something higher. (I am very pleased with that of course, just wanted to point out the results of poor test taking.) No one is going to have a panic attack, start hyperventilating, crying or whatever just as an excuse for their dumbness. It is an actual mental condition that for what ever reason effects some students strongly.</p>
<p>Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to point out that although some people may claim to be poor test takers while they actually are not, but some people truely are.</p>
<p>But being able to handle a certain kind of pressure is important in real life, too, and it does reflect real life. I mean, you'll have to give those presentations, and there will be more tests for you in life, so you have to find ways to prepare differently to meet your needs. Of course everyone gets stressed and feel pressure. The people who do well have just learned to prepare for it or cope with it better so that they feel better come test time.</p>
<p>TIME is the limiting factor with some tests. If the test is relatively long for the amount of time given to take it, then L33T test taking abilities come into play, i.e. the ability to write really fast and skim long-assed word problems.</p>