Fixing careless mistakes before test day

Who this is for

You understand most of the material but lose points on questions you could have gotten. This is most visible in math and science, though reading and writing tests have their own versions, such as missing the word not in a question.

The plan at a glance

1. 1.Start an error log: one line per missed question from your practice work.
2. 2.After ten or so entries, sort the slips into categories.
3. 3.Pick the one or two biggest categories and write a one-line check for each.
4. 4.Practice the checks on real problems until they are automatic.
5. 5.Re-sort your log each week and see whether the categories shrink.

Step by step: building the log

1. 1. Record the miss honestly

   For each wrong answer, write the question, what you answered, what was right, and what actually went wrong in your head.

2. 2. Separate slips from gaps

   If you could not have done it even with unlimited time, it is a gap, and it goes to study time. If you could have done it, it is a slip, and it stays in the log.

3. 3. Name the slip in a few words

   Sign error, misread the question, copied a number wrong, wrong unit, arithmetic, skipped a step, answered a different question than asked.

4. 4. Write a check per category

   Each check must be a physical action, such as underline the question words, circle units, or substitute back. "Be more careful" is not a check.

5. 5. Use the checks at key steps

   You cannot re-verify every line. Decide in advance which steps get a check: the first read, the point where a sign flips, and the last line.

Worked example: an error log of careless slips

Say you did a set of problems and made ten slips. This is a hypothetical log, written in the form you could copy.

Now count: Sign has 3 (rows 1, 5 and 8), Misread has 2, Arithmetic has 2, and Copying, Units and Rushing have 1 each. The total is 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 10, matching the log. Sign errors are the biggest category, so they get the first check, and misreads and arithmetic share the second.

• Sign check: every time you move a term or distribute a negative, rewrite the line with brackets around the negative term.
• Misread check: before you start, underline what the question asks for. Before you write the final answer, glance at the underline.
• Arithmetic check: for any product or sum you cannot do instantly, do a rough estimate. 6 × 7 is about 40, but 48 is too high compared with 42, so redo it.
• Substitute-back check: for equations, put the answer into the original. If it does not balance, find the slip.

Notice that each check is short. The goal is to place one or two of them at the steps that tend to fail, not to add a minute to every question.

Slowing at key steps

Rushing is a pace problem, not a character flaw. Most slips come from a few moments: the first read of the question, a step where a sign changes, a unit conversion, and the last line. Slow to a deliberate pace at those and move normally elsewhere.

If something goes wrong

• The same category keeps showing up. Make the check bigger. Instead of a glance, write the substitution out.
• Your pace drops too much. Keep only the checks tied to your top two categories and let the rest go.
• You forget the checks under pressure. Write them on a small card at the top of your scrap paper before you start practicing.

Keep it going

Re-sort the log every week. If a category has dropped from three to one, move on to the next. A short log that you really use beats a detailed one you forget to open. In the last few days before the test, read through it once, then stop.