October 2020 Post Exam Wait Period - Welcome to the Suck

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Just out of curiosity, what are everyone's disciplines in here?  I'm a civil, geotechnical.

I’m Civil too, took the Construction depth.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I failed the Oct 2019 Power exam (pen and paper) and my diagnostic report shows my score out of 80, so it doesn't appear that any questions were thrown out. They may have just given you the point for the question that may have been erroneous. 

Well, but that is not a score, that is the number correct out of 80.  How they score it is a different beast, and information they don't share with examinees.

 

[MadamPirate PE]

I failed the Oct 2019 Power exam (pen and paper) and my diagnostic report shows my score out of 80, so it doesn't appear that any questions were thrown out. They may have just given you the point for the question that may have been erroneous. 

Texas?

ETA: Like @vhab49_PE said, we don't know what they're actually scoring out of. I remember reading somewhere before I sat for the exam that NCEES will also throw out questions during scoring, ones that are too easy or too hard, based on how the group as a whole did. 

 

[mjcii]

Well, but that is not a score, that is the number correct out of 80.  How they score it is a different beast, and information they don't share with examinees.

This is true, but there still is no way to confirm that questions were actually thrown out. The failed Mechanical CBT exam diagnostic we were shown on another thread had the scoring shown out of 70, so that did factor in the deduction of pre-test questions. 

Texas?

Missouri. 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

NCEES sends a random sample of exam takers receive a survey about a week after the exam. It mostly asks questions about the exam site environmental conditions (noise, temperature, etc), and a few personal background questions like years since graduation, # of references brought into the exam, # of references actual used during the exam. 

It is in no way reflective of how one did during the exam, nor will the results of the survey effect one's score.

Yes, but the legend is that if you get the survey before the results, that means you failed... Or something like that

Really , but what's the logic behind that 

I think that is not true and there is no logic behind it. It’s a typical survey, that’s it. 

Correct.

Many years ago it was a an obvious joke that was attempting to lighten the mood but then it became a solid troll tactic. So NCEES posted on its website that its just a survey with survey in no way reflective of one's score and the joke went away. However the myth still remains as an urban legend - one that needs to go away. 

 

[MadamPirate PE]

This is true, but there still is no way to confirm that questions were actually thrown out. The failed Mechanical CBT exam diagnostic we were shown on another thread had the scoring shown out of 70, so that did factor in the deduction of pre-test questions. 

Missouri. 

The point I'm trying to make is this: NCEES doesn't score ten questions on the CBT exams. For example, see my first FE results:



That is 100 questions, not the 110 questions I answered.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

View attachment 19818

There are pre-test questions but the number in each exam is unknown (to us)

@LyceeFruit PE Thanks for clarifying! Based on that text, I agree with your take on it.

Now I'm just hoping the ones where I thought "What is this, I've never seen anything like this" were pre-test questions, lol.

Examinees shouldn't waste any time or bandwidth trying to figure out which are the "pretest items" or hoping that certain items will get thrown out. Not only is it a waste of time (see: cute score), but it might actually do harm if people skip the supposed "pretest items" on the exam when those items are actual scored exam questions. 

I'd hate to find out that I spent additional time on questions that didn't count when I could have spent that time on questions that are actually scored.  Would be better if they would just score them all.

P&P was 80 questions and 8 hrs. The CBT, depending on exam, is 80-85 questions and still 8 hrs, so it's not really that different.

 

[mjcii]

The point I'm trying to make is this: NCEES doesn't score ten questions on the CBT exams. For example, see my first FE results:

View attachment 19821

That is 100 questions, not the 110 questions I answered.

Yes, you're agreeing with me. On the CBT Exams, the diagnostic doesn't show the pre-test questions as scored. Just like the Mechanical PE diagnostic we were shown that shows 70 questions, not 80.

The test that I failed last year was pen and paper, and all 80 questions were shown in my diagnostic. I'm not disagreeing with anyone here, but the statement was made that "questions were thrown out" on the October 2019 Power Exam, but we don't really know that.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

However the myth still remains as an urban legend - one that needs to go away. 

So much this. It's really annoying. 

(see: cute score)

My cute score is 100/80. 

 

[mjcii]

Examinees shouldn't waste any time or bandwidth trying to figure out which are the "pretest items" or hoping that certain items will get thrown out. Not only is it a waste of time (see: cute score), but it might actually do harm if people skip the supposed "pretest items" on the exam when those items are actual scored exam questions. 

We're just discussing the topic because it's a new concept to those of us who've just transitioned to CBT exams. I don't think anyone in the right mind would do this when taking an exam. 

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

We're just discussing the topic because it's a new concept to those of us who've just transitioned to CBT exams. I don't think anyone in the right mind would do this when taking an exam. 

I get your point. But it's a futile exercise like trying to figure out the cut score. And there's much better use of time than speculating on things we'll never be privy too. 

And to that last line, there are people who go to great lengths to do stupid shit so there is someone out there who would do it during an exam. Fish Guy is all knowing - they have a crystal ball - so I'd trust what they suggest. 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

So much this. It's really annoying. 

My cute score is 100/80. 

Freudian slip?

 

[mjcii]

I get your point. But it's a futile exercise like trying to figure out the cut score. And there's much better use of time than speculating on things we'll never be privy too. 

And to that last line, there are people who go to great lengths to do stupid shit so there is someone out there who would do it during an exam. Fish Guy is all knowing - they have a crystal ball - so I'd trust what they suggest. 

Agreed entirely! We were discussing the NCEES diagnostics for the different types of exams, not trying to deduce anything about the pre-test questions. The pen and paper exam diagnostics include all 80 questions, regardless of whether or not all of them were used to provide a "score." The CBT exam diagnostics do not include the pre-test questions, and will appear to be out of 70, not 80. This is as far as we know on the matter, anything else is speculation. 

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

 and will appear to be out of 70, not 80. This is as far as we know on the matter, anything else is speculation. 

We don't know that it's out of 70.

We know that it's out of 70 for that one person, on one exam.

And that's why this whole exercise is futile. IMO, the number of pre-test questions will vary between exam disciplines and likely even between some other unknown (to us) things [I can't find the word I want so you get things]  

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Then, I failed. 

I failed Oct 2019 and didn't get the survey. 

 

[mjcii]

We don't know that it's out of 70.

We know that it's out of 70 for that one person, on one exam.

And that's why this whole exercise is futile. IMO, the number of pre-test questions will vary between exam disciplines and likely even between some other unknown (to us) things [I can't find the word I want so you get things]  

The point was that:

- Pen and paper exam diagnostics include all questions on the test, none deducted.

- CBT exam diagnostics deduct the pre-test questions. The number of deducted pre-test questions might very well change.

 

[MadamPirate PE]

- Pen and paper exam diagnostics include all questions on the test, none deducted.

While this is true, we still don't know how the scoring works. My assertion that a question was possibly thrown out still stands, due to NCEES' murky scoring methods. 

 

[JayKay PE]

There is a lot of circle talk going on here. Without the results or the diagnostic, there is only so much that can be gleaned, especially with the mix of CBT and P&P exams ongoing. I really just want pet pics. Pets don’t need to take exams and I think we should reevaluate that. This slob doesn’t contribute anything to society or to my household!

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

There is a lot of circle talk going on here. Without the results or the diagnostic, there is only so much that can be gleaned, especially with the mix of CBT and P&P exams ongoing. I really just want pet pics. Pets don’t need to take exams and I think we should reevaluate that. This slob doesn’t contribute anything to society or to my household!

View attachment 19822

No tests...but Cloud is testy.

 

[mjcii]

While this is true, we still don't know how the scoring works. My assertion that a question was possibly thrown out still stands, due to NCEES' murky scoring methods.

For sure. We'll never know exactly how the scoring works. My assertion was simply that "throwing out of questions" for scoring purposes is a different thing entirely from the pre-test questions and those not being included in the diagnostic reports for CBT exams.

For instance, if I took a CBT exam with 80 questions that had 10 pre-test questions, my diagnostic report would show as out of 70. But additional questions could have been thrown out in the actual "scoring" for whatever reason.