Have you ever thought about your test-taking abilities or whether or not you were a good test taker or a bad test taker? I know that I have. And it's given me so much anxiety thinking that I was a bad test taker, especially right before an exam. But then I found that it's not about whether or not I was a good test taker or a bad one, but the fact that I didn't understand how to properly prepare or use my time and resources effectively. Hi, my name is Jayla Gaskins, and I am the Professional Development Project Manager at the International Hearing Society. In this webinar, I will discuss with you various test-taking strategies that can be used for the hearing aid professional exams, as well as any other high-stake exam. First, I will discuss tests which you can take before, during, and after the exam. Then I will provide some ways that you can help relieve some test anxiety you may feel. Lastly, I will discuss how you can utilize these strategies to prepare for the international licensing exam. Because it's not about whether or not we're good or bad test takers, but how we properly prepare and strategize for the exam. First, let's begin with understanding what a high-stake exam is. We can define high-stakes exam as an exam that determines the outcome for the test taker. This means that high-stakes exams are used to make decisions. These decisions can be for promotion, admissions, graduations, salary, and licensure. High-stakes exams are different than exams you would take in a course, because they are practice-based, where course exams are knowledge-based. While both knowledge-based and practice-based exams are both important in testing, knowledge-based exams test your ability to understand concepts, themes, definitions, and procedures for a specific subject area. These exams are designed for courses, lectures, and webinars. Practice-based exams test your ability to take and apply concepts, themes, definitions, and procedures learned in your courses and training to task or real-life scenarios. These types of exams are designed for high-stakes exams, practical exams, or summative assessments. Now that you know more about high-stakes exams, let's discuss some test-taking strategies to overcome them. Before any exam, you should always study. Okay, I know what you're thinking, well that's obvious, Jayla, I know I need to study. But before you close out on this webinar, I want you to think about how you actually study, and if it's the most effective way for you as a test taker to receive and retain information. Because the way that we may have been taught in grade school is not the only effective way, and it may not be your way. So what is your most effective way for you to study? Well, that's a good question. Well, to find out your effective way to study, you should identify your learning style. And to best understand learning styles, you should first know what learning styles are and the different types. Learning styles can be defined as the different ways people receive, interpret, organize, and remember information. There are seven different types of learning styles, however, there are four predominant learning styles, and they include visual, and this is the learning style that is display of information, such as charts, flashcards, pictures, or color coding. The next one is auditory, and auditory is learning by listening, such as discussion groups, attending lectures, reading out loud, or recording your notes. The next one is reading and writing. Reading and writing is a style that people are more generally familiar with, because just as the topic states, you're reading and you're writing. You can do this such as reading your textbook, rewriting notes, or creating multiple choice questions, or using test prep quizzes. Lastly, there is kinesthetic, and kinesthetic is learning through doing. You can do this such as taking advantage of your in-clinic time, incorporating examples into your notes, or attending workshops and tutorials. So how do you identify your learning style? You can identify your learning style by going online. There are many websites and online quizzes that can help you identify your learning style. You can try using one of these links. Now that you know more about learning styles, let's move on to how to prepare for an exam. By utilizing prep tools that are available. For most high-stakes exams, you are provided with a study guide. Study guides are both useful and effective, because they provide important information that you need to know for your exam. Some study guides cover an assortment of information, such as practice questions, step-by-step instructions, rules and policies, information or materials needed for the exam, topics that will be covered on the exam. Most study guides will also include an exam outline, or what we call here at IHS a competency model. A competency model or exam outline are usually provided with high-stakes exams. A competency model is the framework used to define the skills and knowledge requirements for professionals. With high-stakes exam, you as the candidate are tested on a collection of competencies that jointly define successful job performance or knowledge that you are tested for. For reading and competency model, you will see categories such as domain or broad areas of practice assessed on the exam. So this is your overall topic. You also have your domain weight, and that's the percentage of items on exam that falls within that domain. This is how many times you will see that topic or subject covered on the exam. You also have your objective. This is specific elements of the domain that are assessed on the exam. Each item is written to target specific objectives. Objectives are the subtopics that fall within each domain. So if we look at domain and objectives as a puzzle, the domain is the completed puzzle with all the pieces put together. And the objective are the various pieces that makes up that puzzle. Next, you have your objective weight. Similar to domain weight, the objective weight is the percentage of items on exam that fall within the objective. So this is how many times a question that covers that objective or subtopic would appear on the exam. And finally, there is additional objective information. This is just simply illustrative examples of the types of knowledge, skills, and abilities assessed by items within the objective. Now that we got our studying out of the way, the next thing that you want to do when preparing for an exam is to eat. OK, I know I'm getting out of hand with all this obvious information. But with all the stress and anxiety of testing, it's easy to forget to eat a proper meal. And eating a proper meal can be very beneficial to your overall performance. According to the BBC, testing candidates who eat breakfast perform better in exams. Eating a good dinner the night before an exam and a good breakfast the day of the exam, as well as drinking plenty of water can help not only fuel your brain, but help with test anxiety. After properly studying and eating a well-balanced meal, you want to make sure you get a proper nice rest. Do not stay up all night and study before the exam. By getting a good night's sleep, it can help your brain retain new learned information and increase your overall performance. Getting a good night's sleep also can help focus and anxiety. Now that you know some strategies to prepare before the exam, I would now discuss strategies to utilize during the exam. Most high stakes exams are timed. Knowing time management skills during an exam is an important strategy to know because you don't want to get stuck on a question and a clock runs out before you finish. A proper way to distribute time when taking an exam is to do multiple passes. I get it. That may sound a bit weird and you may be wondering how does reading the exam multiple times save your time? Well, you want to do three passes. We have first, second, and third pass. The first pass, you're reading the stem and question statements completely. You're only answering questions that you know while skipping the questions that you do not know. The first pass helps you get into the testing mode and it provides you more confidence and less stress because you're answering questions and things that you already know and you're not focusing on difficult questions. The first pass saves time because you move quicker with questions that you do know as opposed to questions that you don't. For your second pass, you want to go back and reread the stem and question statement completely and then pull out important information that you need to get to the correct answer. Next, use the important information to cross out answer options. Then lastly, use those crossed out answers to answer the questions to your best ability. Your final pass is your third pass and that's where you're going to go back and review the entire test. Double check all your answers. Make sure there are no questions that were skipped. By going through these three passes on the exam, it saves you time because you answer all the questions you knew. You had additional time to look over questions that you found difficult and you had time to review. Remember, if you're not penalized for any wrong answers, answer every question. Now that you know more about time management, let's discuss a bit more about multiple choice questions. Multiple choice tests examine your ability to read carefully and thoughtfully as much as they test your ability to recall and reason. There are three parts to a multiple question. The first one is the stem. The stem is the case study or scenario that poses a problem. Then you have your question statement. This is the question that needs answering. And lastly, you have your answer options. They usually contain one correct answer and two or more wrong answers. Depending on the type of question statement, there can be one or more correct answers. This is why you want to make sure you read the question statement completely and carefully. For many high stakes exams, it's better to answer all questions than not. While this does not apply to every exam, it does apply to the ILE. When answering multiple choice questions, you want to completely read the stem and question statement. Then pull out any important information. Next, cross out any answers that you find incorrect based on the important information provided in the stem. Lastly, select your remaining answer. Remember, review all questions and answers before submitting your exam. When it comes to test taking, there are a lot of myths that you want to avoid. Let's review a few so that you don't fall into the traps when taking your exam. If you don't know the answer, pick C. This is not correct because the correct answer may not be C. To best determine the correct answer, pull out important information in your stem and then use that to determine the correct answer. You need to get 100% correct to pass an exam. This is incorrect. While there is an overall score that you need to pass an exam, you do not need to get 100% of the questions correct. The questions are trying to trick you. The questions are not trying to trick you. There is always one correct answer and two incorrect answers, unless the question statement says otherwise. Any level of test anxiety is bad. A little test anxiety is okay. Everyone feels it and so having a little bit of test anxiety is not a bad thing. You can use it to energize you and make you more excited to take the exam. The exam is now complete. You have studied and you answer all of the questions to the best of your ability. What more can there be? Well, there is that scary possibility that you may not have passed on your first attempt of your high stake exam and I'm here to tell you that that is okay. It happens to everyone and you are not alone. Even after completing the exam, you can still strategize after you receive your exam results and you can do this by requesting exam feedback. If possible, request any exam feedback available and use it to better focus your study. When reviewing feedback, do not only focus on the negatives but also focus on the positives. It is good practice to review your own performance and to understand why you receive certain results when taking an exam. Remember, it is okay to fail an exam. Use this as an opportunity to better your ability and your skills. Now that we have discussed testing strategies, let's now discuss testing anxiety. High stakes exams can be a scary thing because it feels like our ability and future is determined by this exam and this may cause you to feel what is called testing anxiety. Test anxiety is a nervous feeling you get before taking a test. There are two types of test anxiety. First, we have somatic. This is a physical pain due to fear and what happens is your body's fight or flight response is in high gear. You begin to have feelings of increased heart rate, nausea, shortness of breath, and dry mouth, muscle tension, or even begin sweating. There is a fear of failing even before arriving to the exam. You may also feel some tension right before you begin the exam. The next one is cognitive and this is a mental fear and this can cause poor concentration. You begin to have negative thinking such as I'm going to fail, I'm stupid, why should I even bother taking the exam? Why even try? You may also start blanking out or forgetting important information that you know you studied and then there's that possibility that once the exam is completed, and you're headed home, you start to remember all the information that you forgot during the exam. Now that I provided you with some information on testing anxiety, let's go over ways to relieve it. Breathe. Take a deep breath. It helps you relax when taking an exam. While taking a deep breath, replace those negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Use statements such as this is only a test. I'm familiar with this material. It's okay if I'm unsure of a question. I have the ability to do this. The test does not reflect my intelligence and I do not need 100% to pass. Remember what we said earlier, eat, sleep, study. If possible, do some light exercises before the exam. Shake out some of that nervous energy you may be feeling. Try studying in the same or similar places that you take your test. This will help you feel more comfortable on a testing day because you are familiar with the testing environment. Don't rush through the exam, but work at a comfortable pace and don't worry about how far along a test taker is on the exam because they may not be taking the same exam that you're taking. And sometimes it may be bigger than just testing anxiety, so don't ignore any learning disabilities or need for accommodations. Sometimes difficulty with exams can be more than just anxiety and we may need to include accommodations. Testing accommodations are modifications made to the exam or testing environment that does not fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectation of the exam. If you feel you need a testing accommodation for the international licensing exam, follow these steps. First, speak with the licensed medical professional. Next, complete an accommodation request form and return it to IHS along with your supporting documentation from your medical professional. This application process can take up to 60 days, so you want to make sure that you are providing these documentations as soon as possible. Once your application and approval process has come to a completion, you will be notified by IHS staff member with further instructions. There are various types of accommodations available for the ILE and this includes a reader, a reader and recorder, a sign language interpreter, a reader and recorder, a sign language interpreter, screen magnification software, a private room, food, drink, medical equipment required during the test, extended time, and if any of these accommodations does not fit your needs, please include that in the other part of your accommodation form. Now that you know about test-taking strategies, let's learn a little bit more about the international licensing examination. The international licensing examination or the ILE is a high-stakes exam. It is multiple choice. It utilizes dichotomous scoring. This means that it is one point for every correct answer and zero points for incorrect answers. You can take and retake this exam, but you want to also make sure you reach out to your state or provincial licensing agency to ensure the rules behind how many times you can or cannot retake this exam. There are 105 questions on the exam. 80 of those questions are scored and 25 of those questions are not scored pilot questions. This exam is a computer-based online exam that you will take at a testing center. If you do not pass your ILE on the first attempt, it is okay. You can request domain-level results for any failed exams taken within the last 12 months. When preparing for an international licensing examination, you can use subscription-based services such as ILE TestPrep. ILE TestPrep is an exam preparation tool that you can use to prepare for the exam. ILE TestPrep consists of half-length practice exams. You can also build your own exams that focuses on certain topic areas that you find more difficult. It includes over 200 previously used exam questions. You can receive topic-level feedback. ILE TestPrep is updated annually. There are also flashcards of acronyms that are most common on the exam. One huge benefit to the new platform is the ability to connect trainer and trainee accounts. So, if you are a trainer or you have a trainer, you can have them see what you're doing and help you study and improve your skills. If you wish to have your accounts connected to your trainers or manager, you can follow the instructions when you enroll in ILE TestPrep. For more information on ILE TestPrep, you can use this link. When opening ILE TestPrep, you may see a screen like this. If you're looking to create your own exam, you'll first choose on self-defined exams. Then, it provides you with a new screen where you choose your learning mode. There are two different types of learning mode. You can have either learning or exam mode. Learning mode provides you to receive the correct answer after completing each question. Exam mode lets you answer every exam question and then receive the answers at the end of the exam. Exam mode is good if you are trying to put yourself in the testing environment because during a real test environment, you will not see the correct answers. Once you choose your exam mode, you will next choose your topic. These topics presented on ILE TestPrep are the exact same topics you will see on the ILE competency model. After choosing your topic, you would then choose your question type. After choosing question type, you would then choose how many questions you want on your practice exam. If you would like to put yourself in a real testing environment, you would choose exam mode and then question count of 105 questions. Lastly, you would then choose how long you want to take the exam. Again, if you are trying to present in a real testing environment, you will choose 105 questions, then 120 minutes for your exam. For the ILE, within your study guide, you will also receive a competency model. Again, a competency model consists of a domain, a domain weight, objective, objective weight, and additional objective information as you see here. The ILE competency model consists of five domains. The first domain is conduct, patient, client assessment, and it takes up 21% of the exam. The second domain is interpret and apply assessment results, and this is 22% of the exam. Next, for the third domain, it is selecting domain, it is selecting hearing devices. This is 18% of the exam. The fourth domain is fitting and dispensing hearing aid devices, and this is 20% of the exam. The last one is domain five, providing continuing care, and this takes up 19% of the exam. While the ILE scores are determined by your overall performance for the exam, domain level results is showing the percentage of questions in each domain you answer correctly. So, in your report, it will show you the domain title, which is the percentage of total exam questions that are in that domain, and the percentage of those questions that you answer correctly. The percentage of those questions that you answer correctly. So, you have your examination weight, and this is the percentage of total exam questions that are in that domain, and then lastly, again, the percentage of questions you received right in that domain. For example, domain two, interpret and apply assessment result, there is 23% to 30% of those questions on the exam in this example. My report shows I received a 52%. That means I answered 52% of domain two questions correctly. Therefore, I answered 52% of 20% to 30% of exam questions correct. Remember, study, eat, sleep. Carefully read each question and do a first, second, and third pass on the exam, and answer all questions unless you're penalized for wrong answers, but for the ILE, you won't be. Don't forget to relax. You do not need 100% to pass the exam. If you feel that it's more than testing anxiety, make sure you reach out to a licensed medical professional and apply for accommodations. If you're taking an ILE, remember to review the IHS study guide and competency model. If you would like additional help, subscribe to ILE Test Prep, and if you didn't pass your ILE on the first attempt, make sure you request your domain level feedback and review your mistakes. We have now gone over all the test-taking strategies to take a high-stakes exam. Remember, it is not about how good or bad we are, but how we properly prepare and strategize for the exam. Good luck and have a great day. To contact me for more test-taking strategies, you can reach me at jgaskins at ihsinfo.org. For more information about the ILE, you can email exam at ihsinfo.org. For more information about obtaining CE credits for this webinar, visit www.ihsinfo.org. Thank you for attending. Have a great day.

Jayla Gaskins

Professional Development Project Manager

International Hearing Society

test-taking strategies

high-stake exams

ILE Test Prep