The Mechanical PE Exams will convert to the year-round Computer-Based Testing (CBT) format starting in April of 2020. The October 2019 Exam is the last chance to take the Mechanical exams in the Pencil-and-Paper format. In this post, I want to take a closer look at how meeting the challenge of time management differs on the CBT PE Exam and the Pencil-and-Paper PE Exam. Time management is troublesome for all of us, especially on tests, and particularly on a test as important to one’s future as the PE Exam. So it’s worth taking a look at these differences.
Let’s start with the current Pencil-and-Paper exams, which are 8 hours total divided into two 4-hour sessions with and an official 1-hour break in between. You have exactly 40 questions to answer in the first 4 hours and exactly 40 questions in the second 4 hours. There is a big clock on the wall and periodically the time remaining will be announced. Time is called after each of these sessions, and all work is to be stopped. Time management is handled by the NCEES representatives, leaving your mind free to concentrate on the exam. You certainly need to pace yourself and make sure not to get stuck on tricky problems, but one nice thing about this format is that there is no chance that you will take more time on the first 40 questions and then not have enough time for the second 40 questions.
Now let’s look at the CBT exam. It is not official, however, it can probably be assumed that the time allotment for the CBT versions of the Mechanical and Civil PE Exams will be the same as the current CBT Chemical PE Exam. The time you have remaining is shown on the screen and continues to count down as you work through the exam. The total time is 9 hours, broken down as follows:
- 2 minutes to read and sign the Nondisclosure Agreement. If you don’t sign, it is over.
- 8 minutes for an online tutorial on how to navigate the exam screen.
- 8 hours for the exam.
- 50 minutes for a lunch break, where you decide when to take the break. You will want to take this break after 4 hours where hopefully you have had a chance to answer half of the 80 questions. If you don’t take a break, you lose the 50 minutes; it does not add to your time. If you spend more than 50 minutes on your break, the exam time clock re-starts after the 50 minutes. At the end of 8 hours to the second, the exam is over.
Mechanical Engineers, the only way to avoid the extra pressure of time management associated with the CBT exam format is to take and pass the October 2019 Exam. Once this last Pencil-and-Paper exam is administered, you’ll be stuck with CBT.
- Dr. Tom
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