Conceptual Questions

[Millerific]

In taking multiple practice exams including the Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES, I've found my weakest area appears to be the conceptual questions.  I can just never seem to get them right.  I also seem to psych myself out and I am never confident answering them.

Is there anyway to really be prepared for the conceptual questions they might ask on the exam?  Is there any way to know the likelihood of a type of conceptual question they might ask or the likelihood of a certain topic having a conceptual question?  How have you been studying or studied in the past for these types of problems?  I can't really find a solid study guide to prepare me for these types of questions.

 

[Troll]

In taking multiple practice exams including the Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES, I've found my weakest area appears to be the conceptual questions.  I can just never seem to get them right.  I also seem to psych myself out and I am never confident answering them.

Is there anyway to really be prepared for the conceptual questions they might ask on the exam?  Is there any way to know the likelihood of a type of conceptual question they might ask or the likelihood of a certain topic having a conceptual question?  How have you been studying or studied in the past for these types of problems?  I can't really find a solid study guide to prepare me for these types of questions.

don't want to scare you, but i'm going to give you a heads up.

The conceptual questions are all the screwball questions you get on the test. I want to say about 20% of questions are in this category. For me, i could not fathom any way i could have studied for these. 

When i took it, there was even a few screwball questions that were strictly math manipulation.  I brought a crate of books and many conceptual items could not be found. 

Have you tried the PPI exam cafe? I did not see anything like that on the test, but i think it was a good way to train your brain on EE.

 

[TNSparky]

In taking multiple practice exams including the Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES, I've found my weakest area appears to be the conceptual questions.  I can just never seem to get them right.  I also seem to psych myself out and I am never confident answering them.

Is there anyway to really be prepared for the conceptual questions they might ask on the exam?  Is there any way to know the likelihood of a type of conceptual question they might ask or the likelihood of a certain topic having a conceptual question?  How have you been studying or studied in the past for these types of problems?  I can't really find a solid study guide to prepare me for these types of questions.

It took me awhile on these as well. I mainly drilled myself on the CI problems and tried to understand the WHY? in their explanation. That's the key so that if I got a similar but different problem, I knew how to think through it. 

In looking at these, ask yourself questions like: What are they looking for in this problem? Is it a basic, fundamental unit like voltage, current and/or impedance (complex or purely resistive)?

Is there anything being rectified and if so, how does that specific rectifier work?

Are there power electronics involved? If so, is something being boosted or bucked? Familiarize yourself with basic power electronic circuits that buck and boost.

How does a transistor work? Doesn't matter if it's a BJT or a MOSFET. You have some kind of voltage connected across 2 terminals (the collector and drain/emitter) controlled by some kind of other voltage connected to the base/gate. Applying the proper bias voltage to this gate (logical 1) completes the path between the collector and drain and turns the trainsistor on.

Hope all of this at least gets you started. Again, with conceptual questions, they're asking for the "how it works" piece of it. It's not designed to be intentionally difficult. Usually, your gut feeling is right. We get it wrong when we overthink it. Don't give up and keep trying! You'll get it and you can do it!

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

The old man is slow today but when you speak of conceptual questions are you referring to "word/sentence" answers as opposed to number value?  I noticed the term "how it works" in the previous post.

 

[Millerific]

Have you tried the PPI exam cafe? I did not see anything like that on the test, but i think it was a good way to train your brain on EE.

Thanks!  I'm taking the GA Tech course, not the PPI one, and I love it but it doesn't really help with these types of questions.

It took me awhile on these as well. I mainly drilled myself on the CI problems and tried to understand the WHY? in their explanation. That's the key so that if I got a similar but different problem, I knew how to think through it. 

In looking at these, ask yourself questions like: What are they looking for in this problem? Is it a basic, fundamental unit like voltage, current and/or impedance (complex or purely resistive)?

Is there anything being rectified and if so, how does that specific rectifier work?

Are there power electronics involved? If so, is something being boosted or bucked? Familiarize yourself with basic power electronic circuits that buck and boost.

How does a transistor work? Doesn't matter if it's a BJT or a MOSFET. You have some kind of voltage connected across 2 terminals (the collector and drain/emitter) controlled by some kind of other voltage connected to the base/gate. Applying the proper bias voltage to this gate (logical 1) completes the path between the collector and drain and turns the trainsistor on.

Hope all of this at least gets you started. Again, with conceptual questions, they're asking for the "how it works" piece of it. It's not designed to be intentionally difficult. Usually, your gut feeling is right. We get it wrong when we overthink it. Don't give up and keep trying! You'll get it and you can do it!

I've used the CI books as my main source so far.  Usually get them wrong though.  I guess I'll have to go back and re-read them.

The old man is slow today but when you speak of conceptual questions are you referring to "word/sentence" answers as opposed to number value?  I noticed the term "how it works" in the previous post.

Yes, exactly.  If there isn't an equation involved, I am lost on where or how to find the answer.

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

There's no easy answer but I think the best approach is to try and understand, and memorize, certain concepts.  What are characteristics of certain types of motors? is an autotransformer diagram buck or boost?  Does short circuit diagram show a phase to phase or phase to ground fault.  What is a ratchet as it relates to energy management? I recall Spin Up having problems like that.  Some folks tend to write off Spin-Up because the problems appear "too basic".  They fail to understand that straightforward questions like the ones shown in Spin-Up drill conceptual concepts into your head.  Graffeo's book is good too.  But don't abandon Complex.  I used all three resources.   

 

[Troll]

Are there power electronics involved? If so, is something being boosted or bucked? Familiarize yourself with basic power electronic circuits that buck and boost.

How does a transistor work? Doesn't matter if it's a BJT or a MOSFET. You have some kind of voltage connected across 2 terminals (the collector and drain/emitter) controlled by some kind of other voltage connected to the base/gate. Applying the proper bias voltage to this gate (logical 1) completes the path between the collector and drain and turns the trainsistor on.

The power test is now strictly power. No electronics whatsoever. not even a single question.

 

[TNSparky]

The power test is now strictly power. No electronics whatsoever. not even a single question.

I'm not talking microelectronics, I'm talking power electronics. I remember working a few practice problems on them and if I remember correctly, the NCEES includes those in their breakdown of question topics that are fair game. 

I think everyone in power is glad there are no more questions on microelectronics. The fail rate would be a whole lot higher!  :hung:

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

I'm not talking microelectronics, I'm talking power electronics. I remember working a few practice problems on them and if I remember correctly, the NCEES includes those in their breakdown of question topics that are fair game. 

I think everyone in power is glad there are no more questions on microelectronics. The fail rate would be a whole lot higher!  :hung:

The GA Tech course was good prep for the Power electronics.