TN SET cheat sheet

Teaching aptitude covers learner-centred methods, evaluation systems, and classroom communication; research aptitude covers meaning of research, types (basic, applied, action), and steps of the research process from problem identification to reporting.

Norm-referenced tests compare a candidate against a group (percentile ranks, z-scores); criterion-referenced tests compare against a fixed standard, so a pass mark on a criterion-referenced test does not depend on how others scored.

Bloom's revised taxonomy orders objectives as Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, Create; 'Apply' verbs include solve, use, demonstrate, while 'Evaluate' verbs include judge, critique, justify.

Levels of teaching: memory level (rote, teacher-dominated), understanding level (explanations, questioning), reflective level (problem-solving, hypothesis testing); higher levels presuppose the lower ones.

Learner-centred approaches include discovery learning (Bruner), meaningful reception learning (Ausubel, advance organisers), and scaffolding within the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky).

Classroom communication is a transactional process: sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback, noise; effective teaching uses both verbal and non-verbal cues and checks comprehension through feedback.

Sampling decision rule: use probability sampling (simple random, stratified, cluster, systematic) when results must generalise; use non-probability sampling (purposive, quota, snowball) for exploratory or hard-to-reach populations.

A research hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable; the null hypothesis states no difference or no relationship, and Type I error rejects a true null while Type II error fails to reject a false null.

Ethical research requires informed consent, confidentiality, voluntary participation, and honest reporting; plagiarism includes unacknowledged paraphrasing, not only verbatim copying.

The subject paper tests depth in the candidate's chosen discipline at postgraduate level; preparation should follow the official syllabus units of that subject, since weighting across units is not fixed and varies by paper.

For science subjects, distinguish definition, formula, unit, and dimensional consistency of each law; dimensional analysis catches most unit errors in numerical items.

For humanities and social sciences, anchor answers in named theorists, schools, and periods; examiners test ability to attribute a concept to its source and to distinguish closely related terms.

For commerce and management, separate concepts by decision context: cost accounting classifies costs by behaviour (fixed, variable, semi-variable) while financial accounting classifies by nature of expense.

For mathematics, verify each result by substitution or a limiting case; for statistics, check whether a test is parametric or non-parametric before selecting the formula.

For languages and literature, identify genre, period, author, and movement for each text; questions frequently ask which work belongs to which movement rather than plot summary.

For education as a subject, link philosophers to positions: idealism (values and mind), naturalism (nature and experience), pragmatism (consequences and action), and constructivism (learner-built knowledge).

Negative marking, where applied, makes guessing costly; eliminate options using one decisive fact (a date, a unit, or an attribution) before attempting an answer.