Your score report can provide good diagnostic information for you if you take the time to understand it thoroughly. Everyone always wants more explanation about why they failed a section or a particular exercise on the exam and what they can do to remedy the situation. The answer is actually right in front of you.
Remember, unlike exams from college, we are not testing comprehensive recall of knowledge; we are assessing your entry-level competence to protect the public.
To fully understand what your score report is telling you, you should first read the blog posts about
MULTIPLE CHOICE
On the score report we mail you for Sections 1 and 2 (the multiple-choice sections), the percentage of questions answered correctly in each content area is provided. As we’ve mentioned before, each multiple-choice exam contains 25 experimental questions; those are not included in the scoring. Scores are reported on a range from 200 to 800, with the passing point anchored at 500. Because the scores are based on sophisticated psychometric principles, it isn’t as easy as saying “500/800 = 62.5, so I need to get 63% of the questions right to pass.”
Let’s use this sample score report for illustration. Carol Testtaker took both multiple-choice sections. This is what we mailed her.
On Section 1, you can see that she got 70% of the questions right in the first content area (“Application of code requirements, laws…”). Using the content breakdown on our web site, she can extrapolate how many questions she got right or wrong, and that can help her determine areas she might want to focus on for the next exam.
On Section 2, you can see that although Carol answered only 53% of the programming questions correctly, she still was able to earn a passing score overall. We see a lot of chatter about how to figure out how many questions you have to answer correctly in order to pass, but the truth is that the number of questions you need to get right to pass the test may vary from administration to administration. We explain why here.
You can use these percentages and the content outline to determine the areas in which you may need further study and experience. If you want to drill a little deeper, you can always reference the Practice Analysis, which is essentially the blueprint for the exam.
We keep blogging with this same message, but it’s a universal truth about the NCIDQ Exam: the best way to ensure success is well rounded experience. Rather than spend your energy on how many questions you have to get right, concentrate on getting exposure to all those content areas.
PRACTICUM
Now let’s talk about Section 3, the practicum section. On this section, we report a pass/fail score for each of the seven exercises. Obviously, a quick glance at the failing exercises can identify areas of weakness.
To understand how to interpret your Section 3 score report, you need to understand how Section 3 is graded. Each exercise receives two scores ranging from 0 to five. The scores are added together and then multiplied by a weighting factor. This weighting factor is based on the criticality of the skill in the profession of interior design. It isn’t necessary to pass all seven exercises to pass this section. Depending on how high your scores are in one exercise might be enough to overcome failing scores in another exercise.
Let’s use another example. John Examcandidate took Section 3 and here is his score report. John failed the Lighting Design, Restroom, and Millwork exercises. Obviously, then John needs additional study and experience in these areas.
It’s important to understand that it is the combination of scores for each exercise that determines passing or failing, not the overall percentage of that exercise to the exam. For instance, let’s say John got a 4 from each of the graders on the systems integration exercise (meaning, both agreed it was a borderline pass). We take the sum of the two grades (8) and multiply it by the weighting factor.
But, if John had been able to demonstrate his competence just a little more clearly, the graders might have decided it was a clear pass (score of 5) rather than a borderline pass. In that case, we would have multiplied 10 times the criticality and that might have been enough to pass the entire section.
This is why it is so important to do your best on each exercise. All of those points can add up to success.
After each exam, we publish the practicum exam as a study tool for candidates to use for practice. This is an ideal way to simulate exactly what will be required on exam day. We also publish solutions online with graders’ comments, so you can score your own exam based on their comments. Many people who took the exam use the online solutions to see where their mistakes might have been before they retake Section 3.
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