The Weingarten Center for Accommodated Testing is a welcoming and supportive space dedicated to providing students with the resources and support they need to succeed academically. Located in the Holman BioTech Commons on the Blue Basement Level, at 3610 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, the center offers a distraction-reduced environment designed to support students requiring extra time and other accommodations during exams. Students with approved testing accommodations may take their exam at the Center for Accommodated Testing by scheduling online (through the MyWeingartenCenter portal) at least eight (8) days in advance. Any questions about Weingarten’s Center for Accommodated Testing can be sent to sds-test@vpul.upenn.edu.  

 

How Students Are Supported 

Distraction-Reduced Space: The center provides a quiet and controlled environment to minimize distractions, allowing students to focus better during their exams. 

Extended Time: Students eligible for extra time on exams can use this accommodation to complete their tests without feeling rushed. 

Access to Technology: The Center for Accommodated Testing is equipped with various technological tools and resources to support students’ specific needs, including assistive technology such as text-to-speech, dictation, and ZoomText. 

Individualized Support: The Accommodation Specialists at the center are trained to provide personalized assistance, ensuring each student’s unique accommodations are met. 

 

Common Questions 

Q: How do I schedule an exam at the Weingarten Center? A: You can schedule your exam by logging on to MyWeingartenPortal. There are helpful tutorials on how to schedule exams on the Weingarten Center website. Please email sds-test@vpul.upenn.edu if you are having problems scheduling your exam.  

Q: How far in advance do I need to schedule an exam through the Weingarten Center? A: Students must schedule their exam at least eight (8) days prior. However, we encourage students to schedule their exams as soon as possible. If a student tries to register less than eight (8) days in advance, the Center for Accommodated Testing cannot guarantee that your request will be approved.  

Q: What should I bring on the day of the exam? A: Bring any approved materials, such as notes or calculators, and a form of identification. Snacks and drinks are also allowed. However, please try to be mindful of the other students’ testing and refrain from bringing food and beverages that could cause distraction (e.g. foods with a strong smell and/or noisy wrappers).  

Q: Can I use my own laptop for exams? A: The center provides access to necessary technology including computers with lockdown browsers. If you require specific software or settings, please inform the staff in advance. Students may use their personal devices if permitted and approved by the course professor and the Accommodation Specialists.  

Q: What if I need to reschedule my exam? A: Contact the center as soon as possible to discuss rescheduling options. Send an email to sds-test@vpul.upenn.edu that includes course information and staff will work with you to find a suitable time. 

The Weingarten Center for Accommodated Testing is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all students, ensuring that everyone can perform their best. 

 

Written by Emily Trott, Assistive Technology Specialist, Weingarten Center

What does it mean to “know” something? Knowing something involves more than just recognizing familiar material. That’s why simply re-reading course material as exam preparation might lead to a false sense of confidence. True comprehension comes from being able to recall material from memory and explaining it in your own words. Testing yourself by recalling content and teaching it to others are effective ways to gauge how well you know something. Ultimately, your exam readiness hinges on your ability to remember information and apply it in different situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4LzgPN1AZQ

 

 Use these strategies for optimal exam preparation:

• Understand the exam format. Know what’s covered, whether it’s cumulative, and what materials you can use during the exam.
• Test yourself on the material. Summarize, recall details, and compare information. Wait at least 30 minutes between reading something and self-testing to enhance memory and interrupt forgetting.
• Say your answers aloud. When testing yourself, say your answers aloud in your own words. Doing so forces you to give a full answer and not be satisfied with a vague answer.
• Take practice tests. Practice tests will not only give you a sense of the type of questions you’ll find on the exam, but you can also practice working under exam conditions and identify content areas you need to study more. However, practice tests from previous semesters can’t help you judge if you’ve studied enough for an upcoming exam because the content might be slightly different this semester.
• Get feedback on your answers. Double-check your answers against source materials.
• Create a comprehensive Q&A study guide. Mimic exam questions to practice retrieving information.
• Space out your retrieval practice. Test yourself regularly throughout the semester for better retention. The day before an exam should be time for review, not for initial learning.
• Mix up your practice. Solve problems out of order and vary problem types. This approach will help you become better at reading context clues, looking for commonalities between problems, and applying knowledge to new situations.
• Teach the material to someone else. If you can teach it, you know it well.
• Overlearn. Study beyond initial mastery to prevent forgetting.

Written by Julianne Reynolds, Associate Director and Learning Specialist for International Students, Weingarten Center

Further Reading:

Brown, P. C., Roediger, I. H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Harvard University Press.

Willingham, D.T. (2023). Outsmart your brain: Why learning is hard and how you can make it easy. Gallery Books.

We often get questions about preparing for exams. “But, how do I know if I have studied enough?” is a familiar refrain from students in our workshops. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. One thing we don’t recommend is the practice of “cramming,” or intense studying for a few days or a few hours before an exam. When cramming for a test, you are only learning in the sense that information goes into short-term memory, meaning that you may or may not retain the information on test day — and you definitely won’t be able to use the information for any “real-life” application or situation down the road, such as a job, research fellowship, or summer internship.

Instead, preparing for exams starts at the beginning of the semester. From the first week of class, you should be engaging with active study strategies, and setting aside time to review. But what do we mean by “active study”?

1. First, create a plan for yourself.
   • If you are not used to setting your own schedule, don’t be too discouraged if you go off course.
   • Notice where you might need to make adjustments.
   • Each week is a new opportunity to create a plan for when you will study and stick to it!
2. Next, make sure you are spending some of your study hours going back and reviewing old material.
   • For classes focused on problem-solving, this may mean going back to old concepts that caused you difficulty.
   • The trick is finding new problems to keep you mentally active, instead of reading over old problems and their solutions.
3. Finally, Weingarten is here to help you succeed!

By Staff Writer: Jennifer Kobrin, Learning Fellow, Weingarten Center

Often, students spend all their time studying and preparing for exams before they take a test. Did you know though that some of the most important studying and preparation comes after you take exams?

One of the best ways to prepare for future exams and to ensure that you understand course material is to analyze your exam after you take it! Using our Exam Analysis guide ensures that you are thinking critically about your learning and preparing the best way possible for your next exam.

When you receive your test back from your instructor, first examine the questions you answered correctly.

Think about:

• How did you study for this information?
• Why did you get this question right?
• What can you learn from it?

Use this information to help you prepare for your next exam. Identify what strategies worked for you when you were preparing for this test, and be sure to use them again.

Next, look at the questions you answered incorrectly.

            Identify why you answered incorrectly:

• Was it a content mistake? Meaning:
  • You never saw the information.
  • You didn’t study the information.
  • You studied the information but learned it incorrectly.
  • You studied the information but could not recall.
    • From these content areas, see if you can identify if your mistakes were coming from the same section.
    • Do you need to go back and review a chapter section?
    • Would it be helpful for you to review this with the professor, a TA, or a tutor?

• Was your error in the application of the material? Meaning:
  • You studied and recalled the basic information but could not apply it to higher-order thinking problems.

• Did your error have to do with how you approached the tests? Meaning:
  • Did you misread or misinterpret a test question?
  • Were you too impulsive or overconfident on certain test questions?
  • Was it test fatigue?
  • Was your pacing off for the test? Were you running out of time?

Use this information to help you adjust your studying for the next exam. Make an appointment with a learning specialist at the Weingarten Center for more help on how to make the most of your exam analysis. We are happy to help you think more critically about your class, what you learned, and how to prepare for your next exam!

By: Kelcey Grogan, Learning Specialist

Want to keep your sanity during finals week? So you have 5 classes this semester with at least 3 final exams and 2 final projects or papers. Need to accomplish them all in 7 days? No problem. There’s a process you can use to deal with this situation that seems to always sneak up on us every semester.   Here’s a suggested step-by-step process:

1. Rank Your classes

Rank your classes according to which one is sooner, which one is more important for your major, and/or which one is harder and needs most of your attention.

2. Break Down the tasks needed to study for each class

This varies for everyone’s needs and for the subjects being tested. For example, some people need to carve out time to skim their class notes and lecture slides and then need more time to actually practice their knowledge on old midterms or practice problem sets. Make sure you allocate your time wisely, 30/70 is what we recommend: 30% review and 70% practice.

3. Realistically Assign time for each task for each class

Now that you’ve figured out what you need to do for which class, it is now time to figure out the answer to each task: “for how long?” Some people read slower and may need an hour or two just to skim a chapter or notes, others may require less. The recommendation here is to caution against assigning more than 3 hours per task.

4. Plug in all studying tasks in an hourly schedule

So at this point, you got the which subject, what tasks, for how long, and now you need to know when. Try Google Calendar, iCalendar, or an old-school paper schedule template. Tip: avoid burnout by being realistic vs. overly ambitious in scheduling. Make sure to switch up the subjects so you don’t overload and keep breaks and meals in the schedule as well! Make your time as visual as possible.

If you would like more support on how to do this, come into Weingarten and a learning instructor would be happy to help!

Staff writer: Victoria Gill

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”
~ Mark Twain

Ever gotten back a midterm, peeked at the grade and stuffed it away somewhere dark, never to look at it again?

There are lots of reasons for not confronting the bad exam, not the least being embarrassment – you know, the whole, “But I don’t get grades like this, other people do.” It can come as quite a shock to the system. So hiding that nasty assessment point in a folder or in the back of a notebook is perfectly understandable.

It’s also a missed opportunity.

Let’s face it, basking in the comforting glow of a great exam grade feels all kinds of terrific. Good grades not only confirm our brilliance, but also reassure us that The Plan, in all its glory, is moving along, right on schedule. A bad exam grade can send us into a downward spiral of catastrophic fantasy, where we take this one grade as confirmation not only of our obvious imbecility, but that Dear Old Penn didn’t just make a mistake in accepting us, but should have never even allowed us on that pre-application campus tour. Indulging in this type of logical fallacy may feel cathartic, but it doesn’t solve the problem.

Once again, missed opportunity.

Just remember this: Unless you goose-egged the exam, you did something right, and that’s what we like to call a basis for improvement.

WARNING: Shameless institutional promotion to follow.

The folks at your learning center can help you with all this. We call it Exam Analysis. All you have to do is exhume the offensive exam from its deep, dark hidey-hole of shame and make an appointment with one of our friendly non-judgmental learning instructors. And then? And then together we’ll question the living daylights out of your exam. What questions specifically? There are too many possible questions of a reflective nature to go into, and we simply haven’t the space. We’d have to consider the discipline, the course, the format of the exam, the nature of preparation, the class resources, and so on and so forth.

Staff Blogger: Pete Kimchuk