Just out of Test

Site Grading & Site Design Vignettes and Multiple Choice

Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Mon Aug 29, 2016 10:15 am

I just got back from the testing center for SPD. This was my first attempt at SPD. I have passed CDS and PPP already.

Multiple Choice: I felt like it had less "give me"s than the others have. This test, though it has the least number of questions from any I have taken so far, had the most "I just don't know" questions on it. I'll get to this later, but my biggest resource on this test was my own experience, not any of the study material, including the NCARB recommended reading. That said, I always do a self-assessment at the end of the end of every test and this is the highest self-assessment I have given myself. I estimate I got around 75%. Hopefully, it was good enough.

Site Grading: I think I was done within 20 minutes. The help on this forum was invaluable, there. If I failed that, I might need to get an MRI. Thanks to everybody who gave feedback here. And, I should say, giving feedback is just as valuable a learning tool.

Site Design: I hit every single program point, clear and without question, except for one: having the HC parking within a certain distance of one of the building entrances (which, by the way, was way closer than in the practice vignette, is that saying too much?). Because of the site layout, the number of trees, and all the other requirements that were otherwise reminiscent of the NCARB practice, I just couldn't get them within the required distance. I got them as close as I could, but I did not fulfill that one programmatic element. So, the question comes down to: Does missing one programmatic element fail you in the Site Design vignette? I'm crossing my fingers, but I guess I'll know soon enough.

I'll let you all know when I get my score in.

Just in case I passed, here is what I studied:

Architect Exam Prep: Read, listened, took practice tests, used their flash cards. Their flash cards might be better than their study material. Also watched their vignette videos.
Kaplan: Read, used flash cards
Chen Practice Test
NCARB practice questions
Site Planning & Design Handbook (Russ): Read almost all of it.
Building Construction Illustrated: Skimmed relevant chapters
Graphic Standards: Skimmed relevant sections
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings: Read the Site Evaluation chapter, skimmed lighting
Site Engineering for Landscape Architects: Skimmed most of the book
SWPPP for Construction Sites
Caroline's Notes
EPA Wetlands
I watched YouTube videos on basement construction (we don't do that where I live), lighting, solar... there are lists out there.
Vignettes: Came here for comments and gave comments.
Also, having CDS and PPP behind me was a huge help.

Here's the thing, though.... most of those were not helpful at all. My personal experience was far more helpful on this test than any of those study materials, save for AEP and Russ. Russ was great, and AEP is a good overview. But I can honestly say that not one thing I read in any of those other materials became relevant to how I did on this test.

So here is what was useful:
Architect Exam Prep: Read, listened, took practice tests, used their flash cards.
Caroline's Notes: This just fills in some holes that AEP misses
Site Planning & Design Handbook (Russ): Mostly chapters 2 through 8
Some of the YouTube videos paid off
Having Taken CDS and PPP
Personal Experience (Hard to replicate)
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:37 pm

To respond to myself...

I looked at the NCARB video, and they list the "proximity to other elements" requirements as a minor feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx1mHaYVKlg
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby professorcornbread » Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:10 pm

sirspens wrote:So, the question comes down to: Does missing one programmatic element fail you in the Site Design vignette?

Depending how close you got, you may even be within the acceptable range (10% perhaps). I wouldn't sweat it.

Thank you for the run-down, sadly it is consistent with what I have been hearing that the test has drifted away from the content in the Ballast and Kaplan readings. Glad to hear Russ is a good resource, I'm reading that currently.
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sbrown » Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:32 pm

Thanks for sharing and congrats on your pass! :D
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Thu Sep 01, 2016 6:11 am

sbrown wrote:Thanks for sharing and congrats on your pass! :D


Oh, I still don't know if I passed. It should be today or next Thursday.
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby saks » Thu Sep 01, 2016 12:29 pm

Thanks for the feedback.

Did you say you referred to Ballast?
Also where can I find Russ's notes?

Thanks
-s-
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Sat Sep 03, 2016 6:18 am

saks wrote:Thanks for the feedback.

Did you say you referred to Ballast?
Also where can I find Russ's notes?

Thanks
-s-


I didn't use Ballast. I haven't used Ballast for any of my tests.

Russ is the author of Site Planning and Design Handbook, you can get it used at Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2bU9hFM
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby saks » Sat Sep 03, 2016 1:41 pm

Thanks sirspens :)

I am not sure about this, but do you know how many questions you need to answer correct to pass? (75%?)
Also, is it 75% total or do we need a particular number answered correctly in each section? There are no formal sections as such in the exam, but I guess NCARB breaks it down in their exam guide for reference.

Thanks
-s-
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby rgharvey » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:58 am

saks wrote:Thanks sirspens :)

I am not sure about this, but do you know how many questions you need to answer correct to pass? (75%?)
Also, is it 75% total or do we need a particular number answered correctly in each section? There are no formal sections as such in the exam, but I guess NCARB breaks it down in their exam guide for reference.

Thanks
-s-


I had CDS come back saying I failed in a particular category (as listed in the NCARB guides) but they never justify with % incorrect
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby professorcornbread » Mon Sep 05, 2016 11:16 am

saks wrote:There are no formal sections as such in the exam, but I guess NCARB breaks it down in their exam guide for reference.

Right, so for SPD Project and Practice Management is between 4-8% of the questions, and with just 65 total questions that means you'll only have 3 to 5 questions. Say if you get 3 and answer 2 of them wrong, do you fail? According to this person's recent experience, yes: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32954&p=115099

It doesn't seem reasonable to get 80-90% of the questions correct (or level 1s, whatever % that is), but miss 2 critical ones and fail, yet that is what the situation seems to be.

So don't overlook the minor knowledge/skill areas. :x
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby Neves » Tue Sep 06, 2016 8:30 am

professorcornbread wrote:Right, so for SPD Project and Practice Management is between 4-8% of the questions, and with just 65 total questions that means you'll only have 3 to 5 questions. Say if you get 3 and answer 2 of them wrong, do you fail?


At the bottom of the score report.

* Classifications of content area and vignette performances are provided as descriptive feedback only. Pass or fail decisions for this division are based on the total score, which is more reliable than a content area or vignette score by itself
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby professorcornbread » Tue Sep 06, 2016 6:11 pm

Thanks for the additional info. Furthermore, according to Jared from NCARB here: http://blog.ncarb.org/2014/April/HowAREScored.aspx

Your final Pass/Fail score is a combination of your multiple-choice performance as well as both vignettes on the Site Planning & Design division. Since the Site Grading vignette is not as lengthy as the Site Deign vignette, and therefore not weighted as heavily in your final score calculation, it is still possible to receive a passing division score even with poor performance on the Site Grading vignette.

:shock:

It would be possible to receive a passing score on an exam and have one, possibly even two, content areas be at Level 2. In this situation, one likely has done very well in the larger content areas while slightly underperforming in one or two smaller content areas. As a whole, the total points would still be enough to pass.

As a candidate, one would have demonstrated overall competency which is what the final exam score reports. There is no need to report the content area performance in these situations because the final score was a pass.


So I guess the person I cited before must have been borderline on the major areas as well as the level 2 on the minor area. An outlier case for sure.
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:13 am

It took a bit longer than I had hoped, but I just got my test results in, and I passed!

As mentioned above, from everything I understand, your pass / fail is a combination of EVERYTHING. You can fail one particular section of the MC, for example, and pass. If you pass, you will never know what you didn't do well on. Additionally, for example, if you do super well on the MC, it gives you some leeway to make another mistake or so on the vignette or vice versa.

And there is no way to know what percent you need to pass. They don't say such things. I typically shoot for doing 70% or better on my practice tests. On this exam I was doing between 80% and 90% on my practice exams, and I self-scored myself around a 75% (that is just my confidence level, though) on the actual exam.

Whatever it was, it was good enough to pass. And, to answer the question I originally asked... It would seem that you can fail to accomplish one of the programmatic requirements and still pass. But, as I also pointed out, according to NCARB, proximity is considered a minor point in the scoring of the SD vignette.
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby saks » Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:20 pm

Congratulations on the Pass!

I just received my results and Passed :) I agree with everything you mentioned. There is no way to tell how it was graded but the key is to make sure you are as thorough on your vignettes as you are with the multiple choice questions.

Thanks
-s-
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:19 pm

saks wrote:I just received my results and Passed


Congrats to you, too! Onward to the next one!

This completes CDS, PPP and SPD for me, so I am moving on to 5.0. Two more to go!
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby saks » Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:20 am

This completes CDS, PPP and SPD for me, so I am moving on to 5.0. Two more to go!


PPP is next for me and then was debating whether to continue in 4.0 or move to 5.0! Only because 4.0 has so much feedback and tips on do's and dont's compared to 5.0 which is a completely new format. Have you weighed both the options? Any insight you would like to share?

Thanks
-s-
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby sirspens » Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:44 am

saks wrote:
This completes CDS, PPP and SPD for me, so I am moving on to 5.0. Two more to go!


PPP is next for me and then was debating whether to continue in 4.0 or move to 5.0! Only because 4.0 has so much feedback and tips on do's and dont's compared to 5.0 which is a completely new format. Have you weighed both the options? Any insight you would like to share?

Thanks
-s-


Here is my reasoning for switching over to 5.0...

1) Only two more tests left instead of 4. That's something.
2) I HATE the vignettes. The new system will have case studies, but I think that is great. That is like everyday life for me. The horrible vignette software is not everyday life for me.
3) Of the two tests remaining, the first PPD seems fairly simple and straight forward. It seems like the lighter sides of SS, BS and BDCS. The other test looks like some of the harder sides of those three tests. Which does scare me a bit, but not too much.
4) Yes, there is more feedback on 4.0, but I can fail both remaining 5.0 tests once and still end up taking no more tests than I would with 4.0, and that is assuming I can pass all the 4.0 tests on the first try. If I fail a test (and that is an if, we are still just testing basic Architectural concepts here, which I spend every day of my life doing), having experienced it will honestly be worth more than any feedback I can get on a message board, etc.
5) Even though there is more feedback for 4.0, the exam guides for 5.0 seem to provide far better summaries and explanations of what the exam will contain than even the best study material I have come across for the 4.0 exams, as they seem to have morphed over the years and no longer much resemble whatever the study material was prepared for.
6) I could be done testing by the end of the year. I know it is a risk, but I would love to walk into my next year-end review with my boss as a licensed Architect. We are a small firm with only one licensed Architect. That is a risky situation for a firm. Offering the firm a second license in case something happens to my boss gives the firm more stability and adds significant value to me as an employee.

Those are my reasons. Some are personal. Some relate directly to the test. I can see making either argument based on your personal experience and situation. Especially if you have passed BS, SS, BDCS or SD that makes 5.0 far less tempting.
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby professorcornbread » Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:43 pm

sirspens wrote:It took a bit longer than I had hoped, but I just got my test results in, and I passed!

saks wrote:I just received my results and Passed :)


Congrats to the both of you !
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Re: Just out of Test

Postby saks » Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:53 pm

Those are my reasons. Some are personal. Some relate directly to the test. I can see making either argument based on your personal experience and situation. Especially if you have passed BS, SS, BDCS or SD that makes 5.0 far less tempting.


Thanks for sharing your view! I have passed SD, CDS and SPD. Once I pass PPP, will make the call to switch then :) Good Luck!

Congrats to the both of you !

Thank You :)
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