If one haven't caught something while doing a training for IELTS.

[Nonverbis]

Let it be a preparation for IELTS (reading, listening). But the question is relevant to any test.
There are cases of choosing one variant or of multiple choice.

In a real exam if you have no idea of what to write as an answer, you write just anything. Because with certain probability you may be right.
I underline that this is the case when you absolutly don't know what to write. So, you have left a gap blank, finished the task and when you have a minute's pause after the task, you understand that you head is absolutely empty as for this particular gap / question / task.

When you prepare yourself for the exam, writing a random answer is not useful in my mind. It may give you wrong sense of self assurance, whereas in reality it was just luck. And it will not allow you to work on this mistake.

So, cold you help me with the question: what do you recommend to do if a learner in a learning task doesn't know what to write as an answer?

 

[teechar]

I don't understand what you are asking for.

 

[probus]

I think Nonverbis is asking whether it pays to guess when one is doing a multiple-choice test and has no idea which is the correct answer. It does not, and the explanation is mathematical. I won't get into the technical details, but the marking scheme for multiple-choice exams usually has a correction mechanism that compensates and adjusts for the fact that some correct answers may be guesses.

 

[jutfrank]

I always tell my students to guess if they have no idea. If it's a multiple choice question of four options, you have a 25% chance of getting it right even if you have no inkling whatsoever.

the marking scheme for multiple-choice exams usually has a correction mechanism that compensates and adjusts for the fact that some correct answers may be guesses.

That's not how it works with any exam I know. What type of exam are you thinking of? Could you explain how it works?

 

[Nonverbis]

Please, pay attention that the question is not about an exam. It is about learning. What to do in the learning process when you don't know the correct anser. And how to work on your mistakes after you have finished checking your answers against the key.

 

[probus]

Here it is Jutfrank.

APA Dictionary of Psychology

A trusted reference in the field of psychology, offering more than 25,000 clear and authoritative entries.

dictionary.apa.org

In case that is not clear to those who are not mathematically inclined here's an example. Suppose you take a 10-question multiple choice exam in Russian. You don't know any Russian so you randomly choose one of the four answers for each question. On average people who do this would score 2.5. We correct for that guessing by deducting
(10 ÷ 4 = 2.5) from each score.

 

[Nonverbis]

I always tell my students to guess if they have no idea.

What do you tell your students when they do listening and reading tasks imitating the exam as their hometask?

To fill? To leave the gap? How to analyze such mistakes (when the studend has no idea which answer is correct)? And make conclusions out of such mistakes?

 

[probus]

What do you tell your students when they do listening and reading tasks imitating the exam as their hometask?

My teaching was long ago, so I'll leave that to those who are still teaching.

 

[jutfrank]

Here it is Jutfrank.

APA Dictionary of Psychology

A trusted reference in the field of psychology, offering more than 25,000 clear and authoritative entries.

dictionary.apa.org

Thank you, probus. We don't use this kind of correction in any of the big ESOL exams.

What do you tell your students when they do listening and reading tasks imitating the exam as their hometask?

To fill? To leave the gap? How to analyze such mistakes (when the studend has no idea which answer is correct)? And make conclusions out of such mistakes?

If the exam is just for practice, it doesn't matter if you leave the gap unfilled. If you don't know the answer, you should find out why you don't know the answer.

(I'm not sure I completely understand the question.)

 

[emsr2d2]

Let it be a Let's say we're talking about preparation for the/an IELTS exam (reading, listening), but the question is relevant to any test.
There are cases of choosing one variant or of multiple choice. The underlined part doesn't make sense. "Choosing one variant" and "multiple choice" are the same thing.

In a real exam, if you have no idea of what to write as an answer, you write just anything no full stop here because with certain probability there's a chance/possibility you may be right. I underline that this is the case I want to stress that I am talking only about when you have absolutely don't know no idea what to write. So, you have left a gap blank, finished the task test/exam and when you have a minute's pause after the task, you understand that you head is absolutely empty as for this particular gap / question / task. The underlined part doesn't make sense. You don't realise the answer isn't in your brain after the test is over. You realise it when you see the question. If you have time to look back at that question before the time is up, you might suddenly remember the answer or you might simply become absolutely certain that you don't know.

When you prepare yourself for the an exam, writing a random answer is not useful, in my mind opinion. It may give you wrong a misplaced sense of self assurance, whereas in reality it was getting it right would just be luck. And Also, it will not allow you to work on this mistake.

So, Could you help me with the question: what do you recommend to do if a learner do in a learning task doesn't if they don't know what to write as an answer?

Please note my corrections and comments above. Like others, I'm still not quite clear what you're asking. Are you asking us simply whether we tell students to guess if they don't know the answer?