{"id":213,"date":"2016-01-28T11:38:23","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T19:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/?p=213"},"modified":"2018-12-16T15:38:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T23:38:24","slug":"pacing-and-timing-yourself-on-praxis-core-math","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/pacing-and-timing-yourself-on-praxis-core-math\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacing and Timing Yourself on Praxis Core Math"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you take the Praxis, it often feels like time is not your friend. Paradoxically, worrying about \u201cbeating the clock\u201d during the exam can make your timing and your performance worse. If you\u2019re constantly checking your remaining time and stressing over how long it takes you to complete each problem, the added strain can cause you to fall behind.<\/p>\n<p>But it doesn\u2019t have to be this way. In fact, with the right strategies, you can work <em>with<\/em> the time limits on the Praxis rather than having time work <em>against<\/em> you. In this post, we\u2019ll look at some ways you can make good use of the time you\u2019re given in Praxis Core Math. These tips will help you devote your mental energy to calculating the answers to problems, not calculating the countdown to zero.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Know and understand the general time limit<\/h2>\n<p>Stressing over time during the exam is bad, so you\u2019ll want to gain an understanding of your time limit well before test day.<\/p>\n<p>You have 56 questions that must be completed in 85 minutes. \u00a0On its face, this ration means you have about 1 minute and 30 seconds to complete each question. Realistically though, the time-per-question more nuanced than that. 90 seconds per question would leave you with no time to go back and check your answers. Giving yourself 85 seconds per question will give you five minutes or so to check your work. But 80 seconds per question is still fairly realistic and is the best target to aim for. If you can average 80 seconds (1 min. 20 sec.) for every question, you\u2019ll have 10 minutes of time left over at the end of the exam\u2014a very comfortable buffer zone to check your work.<\/p>\n<p>Of course it\u2019s also important to remember that not all questions are created equal, in terms of the time they take to complete. Praxis Core has multiple choice questions with one correct answer, multiple choice questions with more than one correct answer, and \u201cconstructed response\u201d questions where you key in the answer yourself. Multiple answer questions and \u201cconstructed response\u201d questions where you often take more time to complete.<\/p>\n<p>Questions that are more difficult for you personally may also take longer to complete. Some test-takers may be slower with geometry, or stats, or fraction-based calculations, and so on. This is another good reason to aim for 80 seconds per question on average\u2014you\u2019ll have a full 10 extra minutes to cover problems that you simply can\u2019t complete in just 1:20.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Get good at mental math, but also know when to use the calculator or write out your answer<\/h2>\n<p>As Peter mentions <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/can-i-use-a-calculator-on-the-praxis-core-math\/\">in an earlier post<\/a>, you should use the Praxis Core Math on-screen calculator as little as possible. Mental math, when you\u2019re able to do it, will <em>always<\/em> be faster than the calculator. As you prepare for the exam, use <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/praxis-study-guide-part-1-mental-math\/\">mental math techniques<\/a> as often as possible. If you can, reach a point where you can do every type of Core Math problem in your head. This is not as hard as it sounds, because you can often use mental math to estimate an answer and select the answer choice that\u2019s closest to your estimation.<\/p>\n<p>But also be aware of your own limitations. Once test time arrives, be ready to recognize the times when mentally calculating an answer will take a little too long; there are bound to be a few times when using the calculator is the quickest route to the right answer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Save time by not overthinking<\/h2>\n<p>Praxis Core Math loves to bombard students with unnecessary information. Overthinking unimportant data is probably the biggest \u201ctime eater\u201d in Core Math.\u00a0 Take this question below (from ETS\u2019 official online Praxis Core Math practice test):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sarah rolls a fair, six-sided number cube, numbered 1 through 6, five times and rolls a 3, 4, 1, 4, and 4 in that order. What is the probability that she will roll a 4 on her sixth roll?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On this and many other questions, the Praxis is testing your ability to weed out irrelevant information. Because Sarah is rolling just one dice, and the cube is \u201cfair\u201d (not rigged to favor a specific side), each individual roll can has its own odds. You don\u2019t actually need to know how many times she rolled the dice before, or what the results were. All you need to know is that the dice has 6 sides, and 1 side displays a four. Ergo, the odds of rolling a four are 1 in 6.<\/p>\n<p>This is common in many other problem types too. There will be geometry questions that only ask you about one line or angle in a larger shape, statistics and algebra questions where just one of the variables is key to the answer, answer choices that can be eliminated at a glance, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The takeaway<\/h2>\n<p>Simply aiming for a set amount of average time per question can help you use your time efficiently and effectively. But alone, that\u2019s not enough. Be aware of the best practices for saving time on Core Math, in terms of mental math techniques, rules for when to use the calculator, and the elimination of unnecessary information.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you take the Praxis, it often feels like time is not your friend. Paradoxically, worrying about \u201cbeating the clock\u201d during the exam can make your timing and your performance worse. If you\u2019re constantly checking your remaining time and stressing over how long it takes you to complete each problem, the added strain can cause you to fall behind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2434],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[4914],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-praxis-math"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pacing and Timing Yourself on Praxis Core Math - Magoosh Blog \u2013 Praxis\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/pacing-and-timing-yourself-on-praxis-core-math\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pacing and Timing Yourself on Praxis Core Math\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you take the Praxis, it often feels like time is not your friend. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":4914,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}