Something I've noticed about ECE questions

[JanusthePhoenix]

I don't like ECE tests. They're expensive, and full of BS questions. There are lots of ambiguous questions and answers, and some practice questions I've ran across were flat out incorrect. There also seems to be a pattern to these trick questions:

1. Question.

a) Wrong answer.
b) Wrong answer.
c) Correct answer.
d) ANOTHER correct answer, but ambiguous or non-specific.

I see a lot of tests that have a question describing say, an ethical system based on duty ethics, and asking to identify it. This question would provide two right answers: deontological ethics and Kantianism. Technically they're both right, but you need to look for VERY specific references or the absence of such to determine which right answer is the one they want.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm annoyed. :mad:

[annegirl]

I will join you in your annoyance. I felt the tests were poorly worded and a lot of the time the tenses wouldn't match quite right. They felt kinda cheap (yet expensive)

[categ]

I was going to take some ECE exams for upper level credits but have arranged thing so that it won't be necessary. After reading your post, I am so glad. I am not a great test taker and HATE those questions that attempt to trick you. I am definitely better off then. Thanks.

[malcs]

The secret to ECE's is having the proper textbook. You will find that the questions are often taken from the practice questions in the book. They are expensive, and you should spend the extra $65 on the practice exams, which brings them up to $300.


On the positive side, many of them are upper level, and they are reported within two days.

I have found your complaint about tenses of the questions on the DSSTs as well. I took the MIS DSST, and was baffled by some of the nonsense. I have worked in that field for many years, and it seems like they took terms from some old state motor vehicle system.

I always manage to find older versions of the textbook on half.com for around $20 or so.

[cookderosa]

I haven't taken an ECE, ,but I have taken a TECEP and it's the same flipping thing. I'm sure it's textbook specifics combined with poor test writing skills. I took a class wayyyyy back in 1990 on how to write test questions. My community college required it. Honest to goodness, it's very very hard! I re-write tests all the time because I get times when all the students miss the same question (shhh.....) so clearly there is a problem, and it ain't the students! I agree with everything you guys mentioned. They think they are being clever, not!

Consider a chapter I read tonight in one of my culinary texts. A bad test writer might read the chapter and come away:

What's the most popular type of ice cream?
A. chocolate
B. vanilla
C. strawberry

What a stupid question. For starters- who cares? Second, the answer is social and changes from year to year, geographic location, and undefined. Third- it's so out of context that the reader can't possibly know the answer unless they READ the specific passage. My TECEP was the BIO based nutrition exam. I'm pretty sure I wrote about it in the specific exam feedback- but it was the same crap.

[annegirl]

I used 3 different textbooks recommended by Excelsior and studied for over a month. Didn't help much (got a C). YES! TECEPS are so textbook specific. Especially Thanatology.

[suelee1957]

I need to pass the ECE Ethics: Theory and Practice. Could you tell me what you used in addition to the flash cards to study? Thanks

[JanusthePhoenix]

I need to pass the ECE Ethics: Theory and Practice. Could you tell me what you used in addition to the flash cards to study? Thanks

The nice thing about Ethics is that the required concepts to know are easy to Google and the information doesn't vary too much. A lot of what I did was Wikipedia study using the exam guide as an outline. Good luck.

[squirrely5]

Since ECEs are so ambiguous, does anyone have recommendations on how to overcome the ambiguity? In other words, how do you work through the questions to decide which one is the correct answer as opposed to another seemingly correct answer?

I'm taking my first ECE on Monday, so I'm a little nervous about this...

[GoodYellowDogs]

I'm taking my first ECE in two weeks... now I'm scared