Post-Test Analysis [Strategies]
Morgan Jones
What You Will Learn in This Section
This resource helps instructors teach students how to conduct a post-test analysis in order to improve future exam performance. It covers the importance of reflecting on how the test was constructed, how a student prepared, and how they approached the test-taking process. Additionally, this resource provides examples, tips, a case study, and action items to help students identify areas for improvement, understand why certain answers were incorrect, and develop more effective study strategies for future exams. By the end of this section, instructors and students will be familiar with a practical approach for learning from mistakes and making adjustments to achieve better results.
Introduction and Definition
Post-test analysis means determining what went well and what did not throughout the exam process to make better changes for the future. While this process can be challenging and sometimes make you feel bad (let’s be honest, owning up to our mistakes can be painful), it will ultimately allow you to make better decisions before the next exam and hopefully lead to better grades.
Importance
Doing the same thing every test cycle and expecting better results each time is not a good strategy for sustained success. By digging in and determining what went well and what needs to be adjusted, you should start seeing better results.
Examples
Post-test analysis should start as soon as you finish an exam. Start by evaluating how you studied for the exam: time of day, material, study aids created, how much time you spent, how many days you spent, etc. Basically, what was your plan and how well did you execute it?
Also, it can be good to sit down with your notes and textbook (if applicable) to determine where the material came from. Was it weighted more heavily to the lecture or the textbook? Or was it fairly equal? If you have a cumulative final exam, you should mark the topics that were covered so you can start a final exam study list. Are you still shaky on any of those topics? If so, get help right away to solidify your understanding so you can keep building your knowledge base for that course.
Once you get the exam grade back (or if you don’t, then attend office hours), you’ll want to reflect on where your study strategies paid off and where you need to work some more. It’s best to do this as soon as possible after you get the exam grade back, while the information is still fresh in your mind. If the exam was online, make an appointment with your professor to review the exam and your responses as soon as you can.
You need to evaluate the types of questions you answered correctly and those you missed. Start with the questions you answered correctly on an exam to put themselves in a proper mindset for looking at the rest of the exam. You want to see if you made any careless mistakes so you can rectify them next time. Did you just not study a topic completely? Identify how you m