#AC? AOCE? ACE?
6 messages in this thread
Weeellll, maybe you're getting lots of calls about the AC, but there were
only *four* of us at San Francisco State last weekend!! One woman, three
men. Two guys wanting to document their Acad skills to improve their job
positions, one woman whose company encouraged her to take it because she
was a new-hire, and me, just wanting to see what people were being
subjected to.
The woman said that others at her company didn't want to take it because
they "don't know *plain* AutoCAD anymore". I think they were just
chicken…
Maybe if you schedule it a *lot* later in the day on Saturday, you'll get
better attendance <semi-g>.
My comments: (not necessarily the views of this station's management)
1.) The instructions in the confirmation letter from Drake were wrong as
to the room number (they left off a digit). Not a nice way to start the
day! The facility was hosting TWO tests that day, and there were no signs
to direct the attendees to the corect room. The door to the AC room was
closed, and there were no Autodesk, ATC or Drake personnel anywhere in
sight. Not that I expected any Autodesk people up at that hour <g>!! But
for $125 each, there could've been a pot of coffee and a sweetroll! (Yo,
Volker! You listening?) Oh yeah, we had time for breakfast because the test
started late, too!
<< Wayne, you *did* say not to be shy didn't you? When have you ever known
me to …. >>
2.) There should be a break between the 120 minute drawing portion and the
60 minute multiple choice portion; even though it has been pared down to 60
minutes for 100 multiple choice questions, three hours is a *long* time to
go without a break. Especially after 3-4 cups of coffee on Saturday
morning! We got permission from the Proctor to go to the head, but geez…
And BTW, both sets of info I got about the AC said 150 questions in 90
minutes – that should be corrected.
3.) I'm surprised more people were not taking it because they were just
curious
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as to how they'd do on an Acad test; that was one of my reasons for taking
it. Now, granted $125 is a fair bit to pay for satisfying your curiousity,
but most companies would pay if it is job-related. And it must be
tax-deductible…
4.) And finally, THAT THING WASN'T EASY!!!!!!!!! I purposely didn't spend
too much time reviewing R11 and just went over some of the excellent prep
mat'l from Alan Kalameja (Thanks, Alan. Definitely worth the $25). If I had
tried to just do it from memory, I would've been toast. I just *barely*
finished the five drawings and 25 drawing questions in the two hour time
frame, and I didn't see any of the other people twiddling their thumbs or
reading a book, either. The 60 minutes for multi-choice questions was
enough time to go back over each one, and have a little time to wonder
about your first answer. Everybody finished at least a few minutes early,
and one person left early, either out of confidence or ??
I have quibbles with one or two of the drawing questions' accuracy, and I
would question whether there is justification for so many questions on the
Xref sub-command menu, and the resultant layer names of "Bound" Xrefs
layers. The Status (area), Pline and Pedit menus got a lot of coverage, but
the Layer name Wildcard Search capability?? The prep sheet from Drake says
"the coverage of important AutoCAD features is meant to be thorough" but I
really wonder how many people are going to consider Layer name Wildcard
search fields and Xref/Bind naming options "important" without prior
warning from Drake or Alan's material.
Granted that Alan's mat'l has those issues included, but if somebody
doesn't get Alan's stuff because of the $25 price tag, or they never heard
about those features in a Training class, they may not be using those
features.
Let's be realistic, a lot of folks are *not* familiar with those features
unless they've been thoroughly trained, and use them regularly.
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All in all tho, an interesting experience. I hope the attendance picks up
at other sites. And I hope I pass!!
Randy,
Did you ever get the Release 11 materials I send to you???
And about the AOCE, I paid $125 to find mistakes in the thing the last time
around in January and did not get a discount from SFSU for my instructors
(yet). I am not involved in the AOCE coordination and having coffee for
everybody. The coffee urn they bought has never been used. I guess I
should take "that on" as well since I had to reinstall R11 the day before
and all of that jazz.
Well the Downtown center is moving to 425 Market (real downtown) and the
admin will relocate to the financial district too and I am promised that it
will all get better.
Later … Volker
Hey Randy! Thanks sooooo much for the detailed response and setting such a
great example for all the others. (he tactfully hints in the hope of more
of the same pouring in now)
This really is the kind of feedback we need and want to get as we
continuously work to improve. Your comments on the site and staffing are
great reminders of how those "little" things can be so important. (Of
course if you will go back and read the fine print there is reference to
the proven statistical validity of testing AutoCAD skill/knowledge
concurrently with kidney burst rates!) <g, r &d>
Good points as well as to the distribution of the areas of AutoCAD tested.
However, your point about people not knowing some of these unless they are
"… thoroughly trained and use them regularly." seems to hit close to the
mark of the level of expectation we would want to see this testing don't
you think? This was the first test where the exam board has taken a closer
look at the subject "groups" of questions and specifically set percentage
splits between them to reflect their importance and use. Sound from your
comments that they came close but with some exceptions. Will have this
looked at more closely for the next one.
As for the numbers attending it is somewhat baffling. To counter your
small number, Alan spoke with me the other day and he had to run THREE
sessions, even set up a special extra one to run the day before to handle
the FOURTY EIGHT (yup, 48) people that registered. Will have to check on
his supply of coffee though! I suspect, that as with most things to be
sold, it is MARKETING that will make the difference in rates of success.
Clearly we have and the testing sites have a long way to go to market this
AC exam at anywhere near the amount needed. We have the plans in place to
do so and I hope to be able to report the numbers to prove it in later
messages here.
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Thanks again for the great responses. I will print it out and be sure it
gets to the exam board as well. AlanK and DieterS are on the board so they
will no doubt read it here as well.
OK, who's next………………………. wayne