I also posted my study "techniques" and websites that might be helpful if you do not have the ATI book or any book for that matter. I guess any book will do as long as you study what is below. I still suggest getting it if you can. Whatever works.
Science
General heart anatomy: follow blood flow through the heart in order, and know if the blood is oxygenated or not, know the valves
General vascular anatomy(veins, arteries, etc)
Respiratory System: general functions and structure
Nervous System: Know the subcategories, their functions, and know the anatomy of a neuron and the synapse WELL
Digestive System: Just follow a bolus down to the orifice and know generally what is happening to it. Like where the digestion of fat occurs first and where the absorption of water occurs, etc.
Immune System: Cell-mediated immunity, Humoral immunity; interferons; know the response to inflammation
General Biology: taxonomy(King Phillp Came Over For Granny's Soup); purines and pyrimidines; DNA functions; RNA functions; Transcription & translation; Cellular Organelles: mitochondria, ribosomes, rough/smooth ER, etc etc and their functions; Know plant cells too!!!!! ; prokaryotes vs eukaryotes; mitosis and meiosis stages: know their outcomes; mutations; punnet squares & alleles; difference between protozoa, bacteria, viruses, algae, and helminths AND their basic components(like what do they eat? how to they reproduce?)
Chemistry: Again, know your heterotrophs and autotrophs... who uses cellular respiration and whatnot; mass numbers and atomic weights; know what isotopes are, how to find the number of protons in them; know what catalysts are... what decomposition and synthesis reactions are; chemical bonds; know which elements are your metals PLEASE!; acids and bases... know which accept protons and know the logarithmic scale; balancing chemical equations.
English & Language Usage
Parts of Speech: Subject, verbs, article, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, etc. They'll make you read sentences and know which word is what.
First person, second person, third person verbs, pronouns, in singular and plural forms.
Active and Passive voice
Context Clues: Synonyms and Antonyms; Compare and contrast
Know common prefixes like un-, re-, in-, and dis-.
Know common suffixes like -ia, -ic, -ism, -ology, etc.
Know common root words like geo, cardio, ped, ortho, bio, psych, etc.
Know commonly misspelled words and common homophones.
Math
Add, subtract, multiply, divide decimals and fractions (lots of paycheck, rent, and menu questions)
Add, subtract, multiply, divide mixed numbers
Convert decimals, percents, and fractions
The probability of something occurring
Dependent & independent variables... can you find which is which in a word problem?
Read charts, graphs, tables etc.
Know to find the LCD
Order of operations & FOIL
Solving for x
Roman numerals to Arabic numerals... M=1000 D=500 C=100 L=50 X=10 V=5 and I=1.
So they can ask you what's 2011 in Roman numerals and you'd choose MMXI.
Know PERIMETER because there appear to be lots of "fencing" word problems.
Reading
Know more or less how to read nutrition labels & recipes
Be able to read directions clearly
Be able to identify the summary of a short story.
Read movie times, schedules, and invitation letters.
Be able to read line graphs, temperature, simple maps, and blood pressure screens
Can you find the main idea of an essay, letter, or story?
Can you find the supporting details?
Can you tell if the writer is trying to explain, entertain, or persuade?(Author's purpose)
Can you identify the different supporting details in each paragraph?
How I Study
I take test #1 for each separate section to know where to focus my study.
I use the ATI book and underline the important keywords, directions, or numbers. I look over EACH answer even if I think I know the answer. NEVER think you know because there might be another answer better than the one you chose!
If I think I need more practice, I use websites online. I will go over the ATI notes again, do all the practice questions, and will take the second test for the section (let's say, math). If I don't get AT LEAST 15 points higher, I'll do it all over again, going over similar questions online.
Thank you so much for posting a how to study guide for the TEAS V. I just have a question though. At the school that I will be applying to, they do not allow the use fo calculators for the math section of the TEAS. Do you happen to remember if they used "easy" numbers for the math section (easy meaning that when you divide these numbers, you will only get exact, whole numbers)?
Do you happen to remember if they used "easy" numbers for the math section (easy meaning that when you divide these numbers, you will only get exact, whole numbers)?
Thank you!
I just took the TEAS 2 days ago. The answer to this question is no, you may not get a whole number when you divide but you will get a finite number i.e. a number that does not go on forever. Overall, the math is very straight-forward and I did not feel it was tricky.
Test takers please share your study plans and strategies with your fellow students.
What worked for you?
What didn't work for you?
What study resources did you use?
What did you understand about the test?
What didn't you understand?
I started studying about 5 weeks before the test. I ordered both the ATI book and the McGraw Hill book as well as the 2 online tests that you can purchase from ATI. As soon as you order the online tests, you have access to them. So before I even got the books, I took one of the online tests. When you take the on-line test, you get a print-out of your score in all sub-categories. That provided me with an idea of my strengths and weaknesses. As with most people, science was my weakest area, especially life science (I got a 40% in that area.) The ATI book came very quickly and I started studying. I didn't study every day but probably 3 days/week 1-3 hours at a time.
After studying a couple weeks, I took one of the ATI practice tests from the book. Then I studied some more and took the second book practice test. A week before I took the TEAS, I took the second on-line test. In my opinion, the best way to prepare is with the ATI book and tests. When I took the practice tests, if there was something there I did not know, I learned as much as I could about it. There are so many great sites on the web that can help you. I particularly liked http://www.Brightstorm.com for Biology, as well as http://www.khanacademy.org.
Personally, I didn't find the McGraw Hill book too helpful. The practice tests the McGraw Hill book provides, especially the science tests, are much less difficult than what you will see on the test. The ATI material will give you a VERY GOOD IDEA of what the actual test is like and the types of questions you will see on the test. I thought the on-line tests were a bit more difficult than the book tests but all of them helped me in my preparation and there were some topics that I saw in the book tests that were not in the online tests, but were on my actual test so do use both types of tests to prepare if you can.
As far as what to study, search this site. EVERYTHING you need to know for the exam is covered here. There really were no surprises and there was nothing on the test that I was completely clueless about although, of course there were some questions that I did not know but for the most part I was able to rule out an answer or two and make a good guess.
The ATI book will prepare you very well for Reading Comprehension, Math and Grammar. My test was set up exactly like those sections from the book and there were no surprises. As someone said in another post, study how to do work-rate problems in math. That was not covered in the book but I did have one of these types of problems on my exam. As far as science, you do need to supplement what you will find in the book. Everyone tells you to know Mitosis and Meiosis very well. LISTEN TO THEM. Read MakaylaD's post a few before mine. She does a good job of telling you what to focus on in science. I would just add to study basic chemistry including bonds and balancing equations.
Also, people mention that they end up doing much better on the actual test than they do on their practice tests. That was the case for me, so if you aren't doing as well as you'd like on the practice tests, don't panic. I ended up doing really well and I hope you do the same. I wish you all good luck!
I'm getting ready to take my test and was wondering if you can skip questions and go back to them later or if you have to answer them all the first time through. I like to answer all the questions I'm positive about first and then go back through and answer the ones I have to think about.
Great question. I believe so, but if you email ATI support, they'll probably get right back to you. They answered 2 of my questions very swiftly and politely last month. You can always ask the proctor, too. Sounds like you'll be looking at the questions carefully. Great! Let us know how you do!
I'm getting ready to take my test and was wondering if you can skip questions and go back to them later or if you have to answer them all the first time through. I like to answer all the questions I'm positive about first and then go back through and answer the ones I have to think about.
:) Linda
only within that section, and you can flag it to review over. If you call ATI with your questions they can answer specifics.
Remember that time constraint. So remember if you do not know the answer at least guess before you return to it.
Here is some more pointers. I cannot emphasize how great mylearningexpress helped me prepare => more than the HESI // TEAS manuals available on Amazon. If you buy those books do so on AmazonKindle (there is a free PC app) because they are much cheaper.
Hello, I took the TEASV in Aug 2011.
I did very well (top 1%) and this was due to studying for about 2 months, and taking the example tests offered online at ATI.
This kind of test is knowledge based, not only in what you have learned in HS and Uni but also in preparing yourself for the test.
The ATI manual is not enough to prepare you to make a 90 or above. You will have to do some other studying as well.
I downloaded a couple of HESI exams using amazon kindle, I searched for several types of questions (esp Math and grammar) online and the best resource out there is this:
Learning Express is a free resource set up via your local or Uni library. It has several types of tests online --> Nursing Exams, AP BIO, CLEP, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT.
I used several of these tests to practice from aside from the ones provided by ATI. Thus, on the day I took it I knew what kind of questions could be asked.
I was unhappy with the math portion, it was not like the book at all. I had a few work rate problems, line graphs, and algebra that I didn't study for. I thought there was gonna be more additon, substraction, percentage problems but it wasn't. I might have had one or two. I don't think I did that great on that part
The reading was okay but I ran out of time and I filled in what I could.
The Science was easy. It wasn't as hard as everyone made it out to be. Pretty much everything from the ATI book was on there except for a few here and there. I had one question on Mitosis. I had questions about photosynthesis, DNA/RNA/, cellular respiration/A&P questions, quite a bit of scientific study questions. Chem questions but really easy like identifying protons and mass numbers.
English was okay.
It's just the math I am worried about, and maybe the Reading cause I started guessing towards the end because I ran out of time. Next time I will read the passages last and get the easier stuff out the way.
Read MakaylaD's post a few before mine. She does a good job of telling you what to focus on in science. I would just add to study basic chemistry including bonds and balancing equations.
jba314, RN
28 Posts
NRSKarenRN
AN Admin Team
I have noticed a lot of threads about the TEAS. I am going to make this thread a sticky.
Test takers please share your study plans and strategies with your fellow students.
What worked for you?
What didn't work for you?
What study resources did you use?
What did you understand about the test?
What didn't you understand?
(Please no sharing of actual test questions as that could be construed as cheating per TOS.)