We recently covered the “4 ways to get the most out of your practice exams,” and shared some helpful tips on how to best use your CPA Exam Simulator for success. In this post we’ll switch gears, now focusing on your quizzes, and how a granular approach can help you work your way up to the final frontier that is the CPA Exam.
Using the Tools in your Quizzes
Quizzing yourself after studying each chapter in your CPA Exam review course is a great way to help you reinforce information in small chunks and not make you feel overwhelmed. Our Interactive Practice Questions software includes a robust series of learning tools to help you get the most out of each quiz session, and ultimately builds upon your overall comprehension of the material. In order to get the most out of your quizzes, we highly recommend using the toolbox at your disposal:
- Note-taking: As you’re going through your quizzes, leave yourself notes within each question as needed. This could include formulas, equations, phrases, or other aspects of the material to trigger your mind and recall the helpful information.
- Timer: You have the option of showing the timer when you begin your quizzes. This timer actually shows you how long you are spending on each question as opposed to the overall quiz (for example, the recommended time for multiple choice questions is 90 seconds per question). This will help you manage your time when you use this same approach on your practice exams and the actual CPA Exam.
- Answer explanations: This option gives you detailed explanations from expert CPAs as to why you got an answer correct or incorrect. This ensures that you truly understand the material and that nothing is left to blind luck!
- Linking back to the course materials: If you still don’t understand the question after reviewing the answer explanation, you can link directly back to the area in the course where it is covered in the eTextbooks and Video Lectures.
- Score-as-you-go option: A recommended study tactic is to really take your time the first time you work through a set of questions. The score-as-you-go option greatly supports this approach as it shows whether you’ve answered a question correctly or incorrectly immediately after you have submitted your response. This way you can stop and check those answer explanations or the course materials on the spot, as opposed to reviewing your work after the fact. Once you’re more comfortable with the material, you may choose to disable this option so that you can focus on drilling through the material and time management.
Learn as You Go
The purpose of including all of these great tools in your quizzes, and actually using them, is for you to partake in a “learn as you go” strategy. Instead of simply answering questions and using your score as an end result, we highly recommend engaging with your quiz as much as you do with your regular coursework. Studies show that the more you actively engage with learning material, the higher your retention will be; therefore, quizzes should be no exception, especially since these tools are at your disposal. Taking notes, reading answer explanations, linking back to the course, etc. while you’re testing yourself will help you readily identify problem areas, gauge your strengths and weaknesses, and give you a better understanding of the material you’re covering overall.
Handheld Experience
We like to think of these quizzes as the training wheels on your CPA Exam bicycle, and we encourage you to do the same. As you navigate your way through your quizzes while simultaneously using your tools, you’ll develop a better understanding of the Exam’s verbiage, content, and structure, allowing you to hone in on your strengths and weaknesses that will help in your overall exam-taking strategy. This in turn gives you a stronger grasp of what your testing experience will be like. So once you feel prepared enough to move forward, you will have confidence and do better on the CPA Exam Simulator session as well as the actual CPA Exam.