A discussion on why many people fail their CAA exam
How to answer multiple choice questions
January 22, 2009 | 08:10 GMT
Have you ever come out of the Authority's examination room thinking "That's in the bag, I answered almost all the questions with 100% confidence"? Then in a week or so, when your result letter drops on your door mat, you've got in the 60s or low 70s percent. The bitterness then creeps in - for you have to wait another 3-months to resit, pay another fee, and "is the club66pro.com giving me incorrect answers to questions?"
Oh yes, we hear it all the time. Especially from those who buy the cheap CDs, or use other websites, containing questions that are years out-of-date and incorrect answers. And from those who think they can pass just by learning the answers to questions.
Since club66pro.com started swapping the answers between a), b) and c) on every view of the question, incredibly, we have people complain to us that they can no longer learn what the answer to a question is by memorising the a), b) or c).
The biggest reason people fail, is because they do not read the question carefully enough. The CAA's exam writers have become quite skillfull at changing just one or two words in a question, thus completely changing the answer, often keeping the same three answers as the original question. Or changing the original correct answer very slightly, thus making it now incorrect, and another answer is now more correct.
Since club66pro.com changed its question viewing format, we have been playing the same game - i.e. changing questions very subtly (but leaving the original question in the bank). For example "What is the purpose of a hydrometer?" is a totally different question to "What is the purpose of a hygrometer?", (just one letter changed) and each question has the exact same three possible answers. You'd be surprised to learn how many people report to us that there is a duplicated question but is marked with different answers.
Another major problem, is the inability of some, to understand how multiple choice questions work. When you read a question, it is natural to think of an answer before you have read the three possible answers provided. Unfortunately, for some, if none of the three answers provided match up with their preconceived idea of what the answer should be, they are completely flummoxed. Next thing we know, we have a "I do not agree with your answer" feedback report. It is a simple concept - If the answer you had expected is not listed, you have to choose one that is.
We get about 100 feedback reports per week, of incorrect answers to our questions. Only one or two will be valid points, but of course, we have to investigate every one. It is thus a drain on our resources, and each one, had they been of the same opinion in the CAA exam (and most likely they would be) is "one-nil" to the CAA.
We also get the occasional arrogant student, who is convinced that his answer is correct and ours is not, without providing any independent evidence to support his claim. On investigating further, it turns out to be either a failure to read the question properly, or a total misunderstanding of the question, or indeed the subject. We are happy to provide a lengthy explanation in the Tutorial Support section, but alas, those who usually need that kind of support the most, don't even enrol onto the scheme.
Don't get me wrong, we like this kind of person. They repeatedly fail the CAA exam, and repeatedly re-enrol on club66pro.com, and often, without an injection of humbleness, are never able to complete their CAA exams successfully. In this respect, the CAA exams have performed exactly the function that was intended of them - to block unsuitable people from becoming licensed engineers. Ignorance, arrogance, inattention to detail and hasty decision making are not desirable qualities of a certifying technician.
The vast majority of our members however, are thoughtful and intelligent people, and use club66pro.com for its intended purpose - that of practising their knowledge, and view different versions of a question with an open and learning approach, and are thus prepared for perhaps yet another version of it in the real exam.
