Just Tested PDD

[Barry]

Just tested on PDD.

The interface is just horrible. I spent so much time just trying to zoom and move around in the little viewer they provide. When I hit the zoom out button, it always zoomed in to 300%. Then I had to hit zoom out several times. The zoom amounts are not always the same either. For example, on the same drawings 80% can be extremely close in or fairly far out. This happened every time I navigated between tabs and when you go to the next question. If I needed to look up something on another tab, I got to where I dreaded it. Several times I just didn't look up the info because doing it was so tedious. I mean, it is unacceptably bad.

We are being misled by NCARB about what's on the exam. There are tons of things we have to memorize, and lots of periphery things we're supposed to know for some reason. All of the equations we need (there aren't many) are NOT provided. It's also a lot more CDS than SS or BS.

The questions range between hilariously easy to things an architect could never know unless they just happened to read that chapter in handbook of interior design before.

Tons of fill in the blanks. This means you really have no idea if you're even close.

I like the hotspot questions, and there are a lot of these.

Overall. This is a poorly designed exam, and I hope NCARB considers that when they grade it. If you don't have to take this exam now, I would wait until NCARB fixes it. They don't deserve your 210 for this product (110 if you get the 100 visa card).

[cloudyy]

Bummer....! I had problems with interface on PPD (ridiculous loading times) so I agree with you that NCARB should work on that.

We are being misled by NCARB about what's on the exam. There are tons of things we have to memorize, and lots of periphery things we're supposed to know for some reason. All of the equations we need (there aren't many) are NOT provided. It's also a lot more CDS than SS or BS.

Well I have scheduled this one for Jan. 31. I just did PPD (saw you wrote a review for that). Any suggestions on what best to study for PDD after PPD? I was thinking it would be PPD with more SS content but really have no clue (I'm trying to work with 4.0 study material).

[Barry]

[qoute]Well I have scheduled this one for Jan. 31. I just did PPD (saw you wrote a review for that). Any suggestions on what best to study for PDD after PPD? I was thinking it would be PPD with more SS content but really have no clue (I'm trying to work with 4.0 study material).[/quote]

I feel better about PDD than I did on SS; which I failed last fall.

I would say it's PPD with more CDS. I saw no beam sizing or duct sizing problems. There was a lot of coordinating, identifying stuff on details, and knowing some random trivia about interior finishes. Even the ubiquitous questions about knowing what to do when budget conflicts come up that seem to be on every ARE exam. There were a couple of structural calc questions that were simple, but I didn't know how to do them because the equations were not provided despite several assurances from NCARB ppl that every calc you needed was there. Also, none of the study material have problems like these. They were simple, but just dif enough that I didn't know what to do. There was less SPD than what PPD had.

-I pretty much studied (well, read/skimmed) all of Ballast 4.0 for both PPD and PDD
-Looked up stuff on the internet that I didn't understand.
-I looked through graphic standards
-Studied the NCARB 5.0 handbook
-Watched videos online about bending moments and the like
-Ballast practice exams for SS and BDCS.
-NCARB practice exams for SS, BDCS, and BS
-Probably what's helped the most is 10+ years of experience and haven taken NCARB exams 7 times.

Which of these helped? I really don't know. I always leave the exams thinking I shouldn't have studied at all. I'm sure all of it helped though.

What will do if I fail:
-Study CDS
-Handbook of Pro-practice
-Interior design something or other.

More than likely I'll just give up getting licensed (if my wife will let me). I'm getting a PhD which typically means licensure is unnecessary.

[nickp1085]

Based on everyones reviews for PDD, I don't believe I've read anyone saying BDCS was highlighted at all. Dominantly just CDS, SS, BS. I would still study BDCS from 4.0 but just wondering if I should devote as much time to it as I would SS and BS?

[Barry]

Based on everyones reviews for PDD, I don't believe I've read anyone saying BDCS was highlighted at all. Dominantly just CDS, SS, BS. I would still study BDCS from 4.0 but just wondering if I should devote as much time to it as I would SS and BS?

I think it's safe to say BDCS is on there, but it doesn't seem like it was very extensive. SS and BS are very minor parts. The BS questions were extremely simple. The SS questions, 20 that I can remember, had no equations provided. Since they said I didn't need to memorize equations, I didn't. They were both fill in the blank so I know I got them both wrong.

I think the BDCS parts are when you have to identify certain components of a section detail.

[ptzumd]

Thanks for the post Barry. I'd just like to clarify something. You wrote that there were 20 SS questions that you can remember that had no equations provided, but then you say that they were "both" fill in the blank. Did you mean to write that there were just 2 questions that had no equations provided, not 20?

[seaccs]

I'm not really sure what Barry is referring to with the comment that the equations weren't provided. I believe he has made the same comment in the NCARB ARE 5.0 Community as well. I didn't find that to be the case. In fact, if the equations weren't provided I wouldn't have gotten one or two questions correct because I didn't bother trying to memorize any of the equations beforehand. However, with the provided equations I was able to calculate those answers and feel confident they were correct. You could have calculated the answers without the equations using free-body diagrams, but the equations were faster.

[seaccs]

I was contacted by a forum user for clarification on the number of structural questions requiring equations. Rather than reply privately, I'll say this here for anyone to read. I won't go into detail of how many structural questions I remember from the test. I don't know how NCARB would view giving out specifics of how many questions there are of a particular type on the test. I'd rather not risk getting in trouble with them, nor would I want to risk getting Coach and his forum in trouble by posting anything here.

That being said, I don't have to tell you what I remember from my test. Simply look at the ARE 5.0 Handbook. 31%-37% of the PDD exam is covering "Integration of Building Materials & Systems." You know there are 120 questions on this exam. That's roughly 37-45 questions on this topic (NCARB even gives you this in the handbook so you don't have to calculate what number of 120 is 31-37%). Those questions cover a range of 6 different objectives. Only one of those objectives asks you to "determine the size of structural systems to meet project goals." Assuming an equal distribution of questions on the 6 objectives, you range from roughly 6-8 questions on each objective. There could be more or less if the distribution is not equal among the 6 objectives, but that should give you a general idea of how many questions there might be of a particular topic on the exam.

Also, consider that the objective might met by other means than simply calculating sizes of structural systems. The objective reads (emphasis my own), "You will need to be able to identify and develop structural systems, including calculating the size of some structural components based on the system type, system requirements, programmatic requirements, and other factors." So sizing structural systems is a major part of it, but there might be questions fulfilling the purpose of the objective, to identify and develop structural systems, that don't require any specific equations to calculate maximum shear or moments and size a structural member based on that at all. Sample Item 1 for PDD in the handbook is an example of how a question can fulfill this objective without requiring you to use a complicated equation to answer the question. So assuming 6-8 questions on structural systems, maybe only a few of them require any type of significant calculation.

Finally, even if I did tell you exactly how many questions I can remember, that doesn't mean your exam would be the same. Or that you might not need a simple equation that isn't provided because it was one that I remembered easily. With the server crash yesterday NCARB has indicated* that candidates that weren't able to complete their test would be given a chance to retake it, and it will be a completely different test. This means that there are multiple versions of each exam, so your test might not be the same one I took. That's the benefit of a proper cut score; you can get a different test than me, potentially easier or harder, but the overall effect is that we are both deemed to be competent by meeting the cut score set for our respective tests.**

My advice: Become familiar with the resources that NCARB provides so you know how to use them. Don't bother trying to memorize them, but know where they are and how to access them on the test. Use the demonstration exam that NCARB provides. This is what you needed to do to pass the vignettes in 4.0--you had to practice using the software. Practice using the resources in 5.0 through the demo exam. Yes, I realize there aren't any sample questions on the demo exam that you would need to use the equations on that NCARB provides. Make up your own questions, or use questions from other sample exams by other publishers and use the resources NCARB gives you through the exam so you are used to them on test day.

*https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000239028/comments/115000655527 - link to Jared's post where he explained that candidates will get a different test.
**http://archinect.com/arch-ellipsis/are-5-0-cut-scores - link to blog post where the author explains the cut score process better than I've seen elsewhere. Last paragraphs showing example 10 question tests illustrate that different tests can have different cut scores based on question difficulty.

[dklorensen]

Barry- any insight on the case studies without saying too much? Thanks!

[Barry]

Thanks for the post Barry. I'd just like to clarify something. You wrote that there were 20 SS questions that you can remember that had no equations provided, but then you say that they were "both" fill in the blank. Did you mean to write that there were just 2 questions that had no equations provided, not 20?

I guess what I meant was there were 20 (or seemed like that, I really don't know), but 2 in which I needed questions. Does that make sense?

By now, you've probably taken the exam.