Question
I have 4 women who have just finished a year of school in IT and are prepping for the A+ exam but are very nervous about it. What do you recommend to ease their test anxiety?
Answer
Test taking can cause many people to feel anxious and do poorly once they get in the exam room. I taught an on-site A+ certification course for the Minneapolis Urban League in 2007 and will share some of my training tips here.
1. Learning Style
Find out how you learn best. I had everyone take the VARK quiz which will tell you in a couple of minutes if you’re a (V)isual, (A)uditory, (R)eading or (K)inestetic learner. Based on the class results, I adjusted my teaching style. I had many hands on exercises that had the students troubleshooting machines, finding resources online and interacting with each other to simulate an IT work environment
2. Practice Tests
I had my students take an electronic practice exam several times so by the time they sat for the test, they were much more confident.
Electronic version at Preplogic, A+ Practice Exam
Book version at Amazon, CompTIA A+ Practice Questions Exam Cram (Essentials, Exams 220-602, 220-603, 220-604)
3. Support from Others
Adult learning is very dependent on your dedication to success. There is no teacher looking over your shoulder or parents to remind you to study so you need to setup structure in your life that will provide study time. One great way is to find other people who are going for the same certification and meet up with them monthly or if need be, weekly. The support of others will go far to keep you on track.
Pass Rate
I taught the A+ certification course for 9 weeks and 40% of the students passed the A+ certification course within 6 months. Don’t worry about “numbers” because the only one that matters is you. How you study, your hands-on experience and understanding of the material will affect the outcome so do everything you can to prepare but if you fail, know that you can retake the test!
Want to Get Your A+ Certification?
I plan to offer an online A+ certification workshop within 6 months to people all over the world want to enter technology as I don’t see geography as a limitation. Signup to get notified of the upcoming workshop!
