Allowable Items – CBT Exam versus Pencil-and-Paper Exam

In this installment of my posts on the scheduled transition to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format for the Mechanical PE Exams in 2020 and the Civil PE Exams in 2023 (https://ncees.org/exams/cbt/), I want to take a closer look at the difference in what you’re allowed to take into the CBT PE Exam (which is virtually nothing) and what you can take into a Pencil-and-Paper PE Exam (which is almost anything useful within reason). 

The downloadable NCEES Examinee Guide contains information for the both the CBT and Pencil-and-Paper exams, including a list of what items you are allowed to have during the exam.

For the CBT exam, this list of allowed items is very limited.  The following items are allowed: official ID, one approved calculator without cover (spare must be in locker), a key to the locker, booklet and marker supplied by Pearson VUE, eyeglasses without the case, light sweater or jacket, and approved medications. You will be given a pad and a special pen to do all your calculations, which will stay in the exam facility when you have completed the exam. You may ask for additional pads or pens during the exam. That is it. Then there is the long list of items not allowed. Cell phones and computers, of course, fitness trackers, pagers, watches, wallets, purses, hats and other head coverings (unless religious in nature), bags, coats, books, notes, pens, pencils, erasers, food, and beverages. Please note that books and notes are included in the list of banned items. That means no references whatsoever. Your only reference during the exam is limited to the provided NCEES Reference Handbook PDF shown on your computer screen.

As for the current Pencil-and-Paper format, yes, you need an official ID, and you are not allowed any electronic devices including cell phones, computers, fitness trackers, or smart watches (wristwatches are okay). However, you will have your personalized reference materials and approved calculator (and spare if you like), and you can bring in two straightedges (such as a ruler, scale, triangle, or protractor) and handheld magnifying glass. You can even have snacks (hard candies, candy bars, and even gum which is restricted in the CBT facility) and nonalcoholic beverages. You can essentially set up a home away from home for the duration of the exam. I remember having a bag with morning goodies to eat and drink and then a separate bag for the afternoon. I know the chocolate yogurt flavored raisins I consumed during the afternoon portion of the exam were a key to my success. Not a chance having those in a Pearson VUE testing center, except during your timed 50-minute lunch break.

If you like “rules”, then you are going to love the new CBT format. If not, then if you don’t pass the PE Exam before these changes take place, you will have no choice but to comply with a great many rules.    
- Dr. Tom

Read Dr. Tom’s full article about the transition to the CBT format PE Exam at https://drtomsclassroom.com/news/change-is-coming.

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3D Printed Bandshell

One of the big challenges in designing large structures is the time and cost of building prototypes. Tall buildings often have small models for wind testing, but forget about anything close to full scale. The time element of building prototypes has been reduced thanks to the invention of 3D printing, but now engineers in Nashville have used it to build a full-scale, permanent bandshell that’s 20 feet tall! The bandshell meets relevant building codes including wind, ice, and snow loads leaving one to wonder if we'll soon have a new manual for plastic structures. - Shannon Warchol, DTC Civil Structural Instructor

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The CBT Exam Experience Versus the Pencil-and-Paper Exam Experience

In this installment of my posts on the scheduled transition to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format for the Mechanical PE Exams in 2020 and the Civil PE Exams in 2023 (https://ncees.org/exams/cbt/), I want to look at the difference in the experience of taking a CBT PE Exam and taking a Pencil-and-Paper PE Exam. Understanding the difference is an important consideration, because, for many people what keeps them from passing is the nervousness generated by the exam experience itself and not their lack of understanding or ability to solve problems. 

One key change in the exam experience is that the CBT format uses what is called Linear On The Fly (LOTF) testing, meaning that each examinee will get a different exam. Currently, when the NCEES administers the Pencil-and-Paper PE Exams, everyone in the country takes the exact same exam in their discipline. Yes, the questions for one exam cycle will be different from another, but everyone is facing the same changes each time. However, with the CBT exam, you might get a lot of questions in an area you are not very familiar with and the person beside you, or one who comes in another day, gets just the right number of questions in the areas they are familiar and very few in their weak areas. This sets up a much bigger “roll of the dice” factor, and I have a “minimum of high regard” for that philosophy of testing. It will, however, be the case for the CBT format.

If that doesn’t make you nervous enough, then watch the NCEES YouTube video showing what will happen when you arrive at a Pearson VUE Testing Center to take your exam. The sight of someone having to pull out all the pockets of their pants and do a 360º turn in front of the administrative assistant is a bit disconcerting. The assistant is smiling, but the adversarial nature of the things you are required to do is unnerving, to say the least. First, you read the rules, show an approved ID, provide a digital signature, have your picture taken, and then provide a palm vein scan. You are told to put everything but the few allowable items into a locker. Next, another ID check and palm vein scan, and you are given your work pad and pen and escorted to the testing room door where you are to read, yet again, the rules. You are then escorted into the small testing room and the cubicle where you will spend the next eight hours taking the exam, carefully watched by a proctor over security cameras. At your cubicle, you watch a short tutorial on how to proceed with the CBT exam, then the clock starts and will literally count down the seconds until your time is over. You can take breaks (palm vein scan going out and coming back), and you are intensely watched so that if you access your locker you don’t violate one of the rules. There are numerous security procedures that you must follow precisely or your exam will be invalidated. You can learn more about the new CBT experience from a series of NCEES videos.

In contrast, for a Pencil-and-Paper exam, you arrive along with hundreds of other people and are shown to a large table in a very large open auditorium where you can begin to set up all the references you have brought. Yes, no cell phones or computers, but you can have just about anything else including food and drink, though at some locations these are restricted. In the CBT cubicle, you can’t even chew gum. In the pencil and paper environment, there is an air of excitement and expectation, that you are part of a bigger world. Yes, you are sitting in a pre-assigned seat and someone asks for your ID, but that is it. You sit waiting for the exam to begin among a great many others with the same ambition of becoming a PE. Instructions are read to you by a person at the front of the room, usually at a podium. A team of proctors circulate, helping people get settled. Professional, but very friendly. During the exam, if you have to use the restroom, you simply raise your hand. Once the Pencil-and-Paper exam starts, there is a big clock on the wall and periodically the time remaining will be announced. Again, none of the intimidation generated by the CBT format. 

Those are my impressions of the two vastly different exam experiences, and the Pencil-and-Paper exam wins hands down in my book. I can tell you that without a doubt I would not be looking forward to taking the exam under CBT format conditions. I would like to think that it would not affect the outcome, however, I am sure my stress level would be maxed out during the entire experience. If the CBT experience does not appeal to you, then your only option is to take the Pencil-and-Paper PE exam now and pass!  Once the change has been made to the CBT format, there will be no other options.
- Dr. Tom

Read Dr. Tom’s full article about the transition to the CBT format PE Exam at https://drtomsclassroom.com/news/change-is-coming.

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Time Perception and Ferry Queues

One of our DTC instructors, Dr. Daniel Findley, recently led the publishing of a paper in the Research in Transportation Economics Journal on a project about the North Carolina ferry route from Hatteras to Ocracoke. The paper examines observational data from a wait-time study at the ferry terminals to demonstrate that the amount of time a vehicle waits to board a ferry is highly dependent on that vehicle's position in line. Queue psychology suggests that unexplained waits, uncertainty, and anxiety make wait times for individuals seem longer. Thus, the vehicle position and wait time relationship can be used to equip ferry service providers with the knowledge to inform and improve passengers' experience waiting to board a ferry. Email us at info@drtomsclassroom.com for more if you’re not a RITEJ subscriber.

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FEATURED TESTIMONIAL - Benefits of an Online Course

“After two failed attempts, I believe that Dr. Tom's course was just what I needed to get on the right track. I found out about the course from the free YouTube videos, and I was sold on the presentation style; confident and up-beat, very unlike the other course DVDs I had purchased before. Having never taken an online course, I was initially very skeptical. After taking Dr. Tom's course, I realize the many benefits of an online course. There is great value in being able to pause, back up watch the material multiple times if you need to do so. Because of the course, I was able to solve a difficult vibration problem with damping; the type of problem I may not have attempted otherwise. I have recommended the course to a young engineer I know who is planning to take the PE in the near future and will continue to recommend the course.”
- Bill, PE, Texas

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CBT Means No Personal References During Exam

In this second installment of my posts on the scheduled transition to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format for the Mechanical PE Exams in 2020 and the Civil PE Exams in 2023 (https://ncees.org/exams/cbt/), I want to focus on the change that will have the most significant impact on the exam experience and your ability to prepare for the exam – the restriction on taking personal references into the exam.

In the long history of the PE Exam, you could bring almost any personal reference to the exam facility. I remember when I took the exam many, many years ago, a fellow examinee rolled in with a steamer trunk full of books. In the face of that long-standing tradition, the upcoming transition to the CBT format is very disconcerting indeed. In this new format, you will not be allowed to take a single reference to the exam with you.

Not one!

Instead, you will be presented with a searchable PDF of the NCEES Reference Handbook, sharing half of the 24-inch computer screen with the PE Exam itself. And this reference is likely to be many hundreds of pages long. For the Chemical PE Exam, the Reference Handbook is almost 600 pages. The thought of getting to be familiar will 600 pages of information is almost incomprehensible, and printing it out gains you little or nothing, because that’s not how you will have access to it during the exam.

With the old format, which is now referred to as a Pencil-and-Paper exam, the process of assembling the reference materials to take into the exam was a vital part of your preparation. Deciding what to take and preparing your references for easy access to information, required much thought, resulting in better retention of that information. I have seen this consistently in many years helping engineers to pass the PE Exam. The more effort our students put into preparing and organizing their references, the better they do on the exam. Beyond the exam, the materials you generate in preparing for the PE Exam are also materials you can use once you became a licensed professional engineer. It is unfortunate that the CBT format will make that effort obsolete. No longer will you be able to enter the exam with the sense of confidence and accomplishment that you had collected, created and brought to the exam the materials that you needed to succeed, and leave with a wealth of materials you can use in your life as a PE. I’m afraid that, instead, there will now be merely a sense of just surviving the CBT exam experience.

There is clearly an advantage in preparing for the PE Exam with materials you gather and create yourself, as well a great reward in passing the PE Exam knowing you were the one who compiled the reference materials. And for these reasons alone, my advice is to take and pass the PE exam now, before the change takes place!
- Dr. Tom

Read Dr. Tom’s full article about the transition to the CBT format PE Exam at https://drtomsclassroom.com/news/change-is-coming.

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Take Two and Text Me in the Morning

For some time doctors have come to know that what happens to the food we eat is of paramount importance to our health. More and more research is being conducted specifically on the gut, the stomach and the smaller intestine. Obtaining accurate data on what is actually happening has been illusive.

In a recent New Atlas article, doctors at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia have developed a device that when swallowed can send back data on the gases circulating in our system. Previously, these gases had to be detected by using a breathalyzer.  With this new device the data is transmitted wirelessly in real-time over Bluetooth to a smartphone. Once it has done its job, it passes safely through the system.

Doctors see the possibility of this type of device diagnosing all manner of diseases so that in the very near future someone seeing their healthcare professional will actually have them say, "Take two of these devices and they will text me in the morning."  As they say, "What will they think of next?" - Dr. Tom

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“Dr. Tom’s no-nonsense approach coupled with a wide-ranging experience and clear explanations was undoubtedly a key factor leading to my passing score on the PE exam. The well-structured course format provides an organized progression through the review material and the resources provided were key in my ability to efficiently work through the exam. With better than competitive prices, effective teaching ability, and proven results, Dr. Tom's Classroom is undeniably the best value in Mechanical Engineering PE exam preparation, thanks Dr. Tom!”
- Andrew Lipetzky, PE, Duke Energy, New Hill, NC

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Computer-Based Testing – This Changes Everything!

Although still unofficial, the three Mechanical PE Exams are scheduled to convert to the year-round Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format starting in January of 2020, and the five Civil PE Exams will convert in 2023 (https://ncees.org/exams/cbt/). This change in the testing method for the PE Exam has huge consequences for anyone taking the exam. To help you understand how this will affect you, I will be outlining the implications of the CBT exam and giving you my advice regarding this change.

Here’s the bottom line up front – take the Pencil-and-Paper exam now, before it’s too late.

NCEES first introduced Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for the FE Exams in January 2014, and it has been expected that they would move to this format for the PE Exams, but until now no transition schedule had been established. Now it has. Some CBT exams will be offered year-round. In this category, the Chemical PE Exam transitioned to the CBT format for 2018, and the Environmental PE Exam is scheduled to transition in 2019, with the Mechanical following in 2020 and Civil in 2023. Other CBT exams will only be offered one day a year. The Nuclear PE Exam falls into this category and has already transitioned to the CBT format. Over the next five years, about a dozen other PE Exams will transition to the CBT format offered one day a year.NCEES first introduced Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for the FE Exams in January 2014, and it has been expected that they would move to this format for the PE Exams, but until now no transition schedule had been established. Now it has. Some CBT exams will be offered year-round. In this category, the Chemical PE Exam transitioned to the CBT format for 2018, and the Environmental PE Exam is scheduled to transition in 2019, with the Mechanical following in 2020 and Civil in 2023. Other CBT exams will only be offered one day a year. The Nuclear PE Exam falls into this category and has already transitioned to the CBT format. Over the next five years, about a dozen other PE Exams will transition to the CBT format offered one day a year.

The NCEES says that transition dates for all the future transitions to CBT will be confirmed one year in advance. Along with the confirmation, the official NCEES Reference Handbook for the exam will be made available for download in PDF format. With the introduction of this new Reference Handbook, there is also the possibility that there could be changes in the exam specifications.

The most significant consequence of the CBT exam format for examinees of the PE Exam is that no personal reference materials will be allowed into the exam facility. The only reference that will be available to you during the exam is a searchable PDF of the Reference Handbook, sharing half the 24-inch computer screen with the PE Exam itself. For the Chemical PE Exam, the PE Chemical Reference Handbook is almost 600 pages, so the Mechanical and Civil handbooks will most likely be similar in length, if not longer. Let that sink in. Think about how that limits your ability to prepare for this exam and what it means to have only one, generic, on-screen reference to help you solve problems during the exam.

It is clear to me that the most viable response to this change is to take the PE Exam before this transition takes place. For Mechanical, that means only two more exam taking opportunities: the April 2019 Exam and October 2019 Exam. For Civil, it means a few more years. After that, the only choice will be the CBT format. Change is indeed coming, and I will be addressing the specifics and consequences of those changes in future posts, but from what I can discern, the new format is going to present you with an exam experience that is more daunting and one for which carefully preparing and choosing your exam references will no longer give you an advantage. My advice is to take and pass the PE exam now if you can before the change takes place!
- Dr. Tom

Read Dr. Tom’s full article about the transition to the CBT format PE Exam at https://drtomsclassroom.com/news/change-is-coming.

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Workplace Stretching - A New Construction Norm?

A trend that I’m noticing in the construction industry is workplace stretching programs. These type programs, in conjunction with others, help reduce incidents and injuries, which effectively helps to maintain productivity and efficiency. Reducing incidents and injuries has a direct impact on construction company’s Experience Modification Rate and Incident Rate. This OHS Online article explains more. - Jason Savage, DTC Civil Construction Instructor.

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Change Is Coming

Change Is Coming!

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Driverless Wheelchair = Independence

A day doesn't seem to go by when an article associated with "driverless" automobiles does not show up on your smartphone.  But what about those people who must depend on a wheelchair to get around, either temporarily or because of a permanent disability?

Motorizing a wheelchair is one thing, but adding a "driverless" capability is quite another. Researchers at MIT and the University of Singapore have developed a prototype wheelchair equipped with "driverless" features. Enter where you want to go, and it takes you there. It can detect unexpected obstacles, even someone walking in front of the wheelchair, and it can be summoned electronically using a standard GPS system. It is always a great source of pride in our profession when engineers tackle problems for those who have special needs. - Dr. Tom

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