Taking the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) is one of many experiences that aspiring professional teachers in the Philippines will have to embark on.
The chance of examinees to pass the exam does not only rely on their months, or even years, of mastering the topics covered on the exam, such as General Education, Professional Education, and field of specialization; but also the test-taking skills that they should have practiced as well.
Multiple-choice exams are the most common modes of exams when it comes to standardized tests. This is observed across all different board exams in the country. So it is important not only to master the items from certain subjects being asked but also how to answer them.
There are certain techniques that examinees should know more about so that their chances of getting the correct answers will increase when taking the LET. It will also enable examinees to manage their time well and ensure that all questions in the exam will be answered within the time period given.
Are you an aspiring professional teacher reading online on what it takes to pass the LET? Or an examinee in the making as you’re going through months of preparation? Then read on! In this article, you’ll learn more about the 6 tips on how you can answer the multiple-choice test items to pass the LET.
Contents
1. Calculate the time you have for each question
The Professional Education, General Education, and your major subject will consist of 150 items; and you will have a time allotment of 2 hours for each subject. For Secondary Education takers, however, your field of specialization will have a time allotment of 2 hours and 30 minutes.
By knowing the time allotment for each subject during the exam day, you’ll get to learn the number of minutes – or seconds, you have for each time.
With this in mind, you will therefore have 48 seconds to answer each question. For the Secondary Education takers, their major subject will have a time allotment of 1 minute per question.
Putting it in this perspective might make you realize that you’ll be crunched for time. Now, don’t panic! This is just the first tip. Now that you know how much time you have for each item, we’ll further guide you on how to answer them quickly.
2. Each question carries the same weight
It doesn’t matter if a certain question is easier than some or harder than others in a multiple-choice test, they all share the same weight – each item is worth one point.
Knowing this, you need to make sure that you have thoroughly read each question and are able to answer them. Don’t give the difficult questions so much importance that you spend too much time on them.
Remember what we calculated earlier? You only have 48 seconds to answer each item. It would be a shame to waste 5 minutes on one question – wasting precious time that could have been redirected to other questions should be avoided; which leads us to our next tips…
3. Don’t hesitate to skip a couple of questions
Most examinees rarely do this since they tend to stress on a difficult question and things start to spiral down.
In the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET), you will encounter questions that will take you a lot more time than others – and that’s perfectly normal! It’s the same with every other kind of multiple-choice exam. But that doesn’t mean you should spend more time on it ‘til you get the right option.
Skip it.
After thoroughly assessing the question and you haven’t answered within the time allotment of 48 seconds per question, skip it for now. Though, do not forget to take note of the item number in which you skipped, so you can go back to it later.
4. Answer easy questions quickly
Now that you have fully absorbed the idea that it’s okay to skip (temporarily) the difficult question on the multiple-choice exam, also be sure to answer the easy questions quickly.
Sometimes just reading the question, you already know the correct answer midsentence. Answer them quickly, but remain cautious. The excess time you have from the 48-second time allotment could be used for the harder questions that you’ve skipped in the exam.
5. Make sure you haven’t left questions unanswered
Since skipping the question mentioned on tip #3 can be confusing during time-limited board exams such as the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET), make sure to double-check your paper to guarantee that you haven’t left a question unanswered.
Even if you don’t know the correct answer, but at this point, you need to pass the paper asap, guess it. There’s more possibility in gaining one point from a mere guess than leaving the question unanswered altogether. With a 4 option, multiple-choice item, guessing (being the last option) will give you a 25% chance of getting the right option rather than not answering at all.
Speaking of guessing, our next tip is all about that.
6. Guessing the answer
Now, this shouldn’t be your go-to tips. You have to come into the exam room prepared and not just guess your way through. That’s also not setting a good example to the students you’d want to teach someday.
HOWEVER, there comes a time when you just wrack your brain since you just don’t know the correct answer to a few questions in the exam. This might make you think that you just want to wing it – and for that, we agree.
In guessing the answer, try to use the process of elimination. There are times when you don’t know the correct answer, but you’re pretty confident in which choices are completely wrong, so eliminate those answer choices. This gives you a higher chance of guessing the correct answer.
For example, in your pool of answer choices, you know that letters A and D are obviously wrong. Now you’re left B and C. Before eliminating the first two letters, you only had a 25% chance of getting the answer right. Now that you have slimmed down your choices, you have a 50% chance of getting it right – and that’s a better chance than choosing from irrelevant, wrong answers!
Key Takeaway
Taking the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) does not only entail mastering the subjects that you need to study. It’s also the time when you should be practicing your test-taking skills.
In order to do this, it’s best to take sample tests that will help you enhance this. The more comfortable you are in applying these tips during the practice exams, the easier it will be for you to apply all these during the LET itself.
Keep studying and best of luck!