Post by Major Destruction on Apr 18, 2006 22:46:14 GMT -5
As you all know, the Feik is allegedly a difficult exam and very few people pass it the first time, and only slightly more pass it the second time. Scores on this exam have been so bad that I had to check it out and see what was going on with it. This is what I spent almost the entire meeting doing on 18 Apr.
Price, Sammons and myself took the exam. Price and Sammons did not prepare at all for the exam and were not expecting to take it until the meeting had already started. I read the chapter once, did the review questions, and then reread the chapter. That is the absolute minimum preparation you should do for any exam.
Here is how we scored and what we found out. Only one of us failed the test and it was one of the two that did not prepare at all. I missed 5 questions, which is a passing score of 80%. The other passing score was a 72%.
After taking and grading the test we discussed each of the 25 questions to see if there were some that each of us thought were a little questionable. We came up with 5 questions that we each thought were either worded poorly, were not covered in the study material, or were just plain stupid. These 5 questions just happened to be the 5 I missed.
After evaluating the questions I went back to the tests taken last week to see which questions were missed most often when cadets take the test. They were the same 5. There were also 3 other questions that were missed more frequently than most, but they were only missed half as often as the other 5.
After checking the previous results I checked the reference given for the location of the material and found that 3 of those five are specifically covered in the book and are in fact spelled out word for word as they appear in the exam. A 4th question is covered in the USAF D & C manual, which is listed as supplemental material for this achievement. There is no excuse for missing these 4 questions.
For those of you keeping score at home you will know that there is one question left that we didn't feel was very good. The material in this question is covered in the Leadership Manual. The problem with this question is with question and the possible answers provided. A legitimate case can be made for any of the 4 possible answers and I believe them to each be correct. There is not one that is more correct than the others. I will tell you that the answer to this question is A, you must be able to identify which question it is. If you can do that you are familiar enough with the material to deserve credit for the question.
Every bit of material that is covered on the exam is covered in the books.
Now that we know that all the material is covered, we need to know why we collectively have such a difficult time passing this exam. Unfortunately, I can't answer that for you, but I can make a pretty good educated guess. My professional opinion is that the Curry and Arnold exams are too easy. Because of that I believe there is a false sense of security regarding leadership tests and that results (either consciously or subconsciously) in inefficient studying and preparation. I know that this will not be a popular opinion, but that is the opinion I will hold until someone can prove otherwise.
I went to all this effort because I honestly believed I would find something wrong with either the test or the study materials. I found neither. I don't want to hear any more complaining about this exam. The material is there for you to absorb and there are no excuses.
Price, Sammons and myself took the exam. Price and Sammons did not prepare at all for the exam and were not expecting to take it until the meeting had already started. I read the chapter once, did the review questions, and then reread the chapter. That is the absolute minimum preparation you should do for any exam.
Here is how we scored and what we found out. Only one of us failed the test and it was one of the two that did not prepare at all. I missed 5 questions, which is a passing score of 80%. The other passing score was a 72%.
After taking and grading the test we discussed each of the 25 questions to see if there were some that each of us thought were a little questionable. We came up with 5 questions that we each thought were either worded poorly, were not covered in the study material, or were just plain stupid. These 5 questions just happened to be the 5 I missed.
After evaluating the questions I went back to the tests taken last week to see which questions were missed most often when cadets take the test. They were the same 5. There were also 3 other questions that were missed more frequently than most, but they were only missed half as often as the other 5.
After checking the previous results I checked the reference given for the location of the material and found that 3 of those five are specifically covered in the book and are in fact spelled out word for word as they appear in the exam. A 4th question is covered in the USAF D & C manual, which is listed as supplemental material for this achievement. There is no excuse for missing these 4 questions.
For those of you keeping score at home you will know that there is one question left that we didn't feel was very good. The material in this question is covered in the Leadership Manual. The problem with this question is with question and the possible answers provided. A legitimate case can be made for any of the 4 possible answers and I believe them to each be correct. There is not one that is more correct than the others. I will tell you that the answer to this question is A, you must be able to identify which question it is. If you can do that you are familiar enough with the material to deserve credit for the question.
Every bit of material that is covered on the exam is covered in the books.
Now that we know that all the material is covered, we need to know why we collectively have such a difficult time passing this exam. Unfortunately, I can't answer that for you, but I can make a pretty good educated guess. My professional opinion is that the Curry and Arnold exams are too easy. Because of that I believe there is a false sense of security regarding leadership tests and that results (either consciously or subconsciously) in inefficient studying and preparation. I know that this will not be a popular opinion, but that is the opinion I will hold until someone can prove otherwise.
I went to all this effort because I honestly believed I would find something wrong with either the test or the study materials. I found neither. I don't want to hear any more complaining about this exam. The material is there for you to absorb and there are no excuses.