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CASA exam problems?????

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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 00:52
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Bugsmasherdriverandjediknite
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Post CASA exam problems?????

Anyone out there having problems with any of the CASA exams?.
I have had a few dramas my self and am now going to take CASA to task with the problems (well, attempt to).
I have found several people that have had some of the same problems and think its time for some one to do something about it.
Some of the problems include,
Fixed wing questions in rotory exams. Inconsistancys in the bell 206 manual and ERSA regarding conversion factors. The KDR being almost useless. The inability to take notes on the questions for the purpose of disputing answers. The "retraining period" being to long in some cases. the reluctance of the authority to look at problems in the system. right answers being marked as wrong (I did manage to take notes on one question I got wrong in a previous exam and answered the question with the only correct answer........checked with CFI's and theory instructors, and we all got it wrong according to the exam).
the avenues of recourse being almost impossible.
the quality of the providers/supervisors services being way less than what we are made to pay for.

Please send me your complaints via PM and any evidence you have regarding the exams (like right answers being marked as wrong.....show your working out if possible) and I will endevour to include them in my submision.

Cheers, Wiz.
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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 03:26
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I know several people who have complained about the exams.
I’ve written to CASA about fixed wing questions in rotary exams (no response), the difference in conversion factors (no response) and answers that are wrong. I’ve only had one win. After repeatedly telling me that all questions are checked, they eventually reviewed the question and found their answer was wrong.

Complaints about the providers/supervisors have resulted in a few free re-sits of failed exams.

CASA’s response to students checking questions with instructors after the exam, is that often the student got the question wrong because they mis-read it and/or the student hasn’t remembered the question word for word. Unfortunately I have found this to be true in most cases. As you say, taking notes in the exam is illegal, so you can’t tell CASA how you’re sure that you are quoting the question correctly.

I know of a very experienced instructor who sent CASA a request for a review of some questions on aerodynamics. He explained the problems with the questions fully. CASA was not ASKED which were the correct answers - they were TOLD. The response was - CASA does not give tuition and a theory instructor should know the subject.

I don’t have a problem with the KDRs or retraining period.

Good luck.
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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 05:11
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At the moment my biggest complaint is that there are not enough exam sittings available at many of the regional centres. There seems to be only one exam available per fortnight in places like Broome, Kununurra, Karratha, etc... which means having to book the exam sometimes two months in advance (particularly the longer ATPL exams).
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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 14:48
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notaclue, I have to agree with most of your post, as I have seen most of the same as what you have. I have to disagree though, with the KDR and the retraining period.
The KDR is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. it may well tell you what area you need to restudy, but there is nothing specific to give you a clue as to where your going wrong.

I recently sat an exam and was sure I had passed, but alas, I missed by two percent. Oh well it happens and I obviously need to study harder, thinks I. After reading the KDR and being able to recall the questions (I have seen them before and was limited to a couple of questions on that particular subject) I finished the exam with about 20 mins to spare, so I went back and worked these particular questions again, just to make sure, as they were worth 4 and 5 marks each. I worked them to a slightly different formula to get the same answer as I got when I worked them out the first time. I am sure that the questions were answered correctly, but marked wrong.
the question should be answered with an exact answer, not one of those "Is closest to" answers.
how does one choose a "losest to"answer when the answer I worked out to the second decimal place lies excactly half way between two of the answers presented?.....worth 5 marks per question and happened twice on the same exam. (would have got me well over the just scraped in mark, to a respectable pass)

The retraining period is rubbish...... and very inconvinient for everyone other than those that live in the capital cities.
the nearest exam center is nearly 300ks from me and sits one exam per fortnight. I have to wait a month to resit the exam and then discover the next three sittings are booked out, I have to travel 1800ks and take three days of work as well as cop the fuel, accom costs. not a very good start prior to sitting the exam and damned expensive. I only missed the damned thing by two percent and was confident I could have resat the exam and passed the same afternoon.............why do I have to wait a month to resit?...(drive all the way back home and go back to working 16 to 18 hours a day and forgetting formulas and stuff, then driving all the way back and resitting the exam after driving ten hours. not very productive and certainly not a good enviroment for pre exam study). and one needs to work long hours to pay the excesive fees being charged for the exams and supervision.
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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 18:59
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At the moment my biggest complaint is that there are not enough exam sittings available at many of the regional centres. There seems to be only one exam available per fortnight in places like Broome, Kununurra, Karratha, etc... which means having to book the exam sometimes two months in advance (particularly the longer ATPL exams).
A letter to the ACCC may be a small way of sticking it to CASA.

Their handing the whole process to ASL to handle rather than to flying schools has resulted in restricted trade, restricted access to exams and high, non-competitive prices.

Companies such as Slingair etc should be able to offer exams in KN etc on an 'as required' basis.
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Old 23rd Aug 2004, 20:55
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already thought of that. and a letter to consumer affairs wouldnt hurt either. its a pretty sad sort of product their selling.
I'm not really wanting to "stick it" to CASA. I just want them to take an interest in a flawed system and maybe have a go at fixing it. I am sure there are a lot of candidates out there that have actually passed the exam....just ..... that have, in real life been given a fail. I have managed to fail a couple of time by one or two percent.........I'm no genius, and will happily admit it. But, I'm not the Idiot these exams are making me out to be and I have managed to spot some obvious mistakes in the exams and some flaws in the system.
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Old 24th Aug 2004, 05:16
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You’re right about the exam availability and cost - it’s absurd. There are also too many 4 & 5 mark questions in the CFPH exam.

The retraining period for failing an exam (the first time) by 2 percent is 7 days. Even if a student misses out a couple of times and has to wait longer, it’s not a major problem here - I live in a capital city.

I guess the reason for them asking for the “closest” answer is that if one person uses the calculator memory for each step in a calculation (for example a weight & balance) and another person writes down each number, rounded to 0 or 1 decimal place, their answers may not be exactly the same. Then again it might be that CASA don’t trust their own calculations.

I assume those 4 & 5 mark questions you refer to are on weight & balance. I know a lot of students get the questions about the maximum weight that can be loaded in the baggage compartment wrong, because they forget that sometimes, with full fuel and a gross weight near 4050 lb in the Longranger, you could exceed the aft limit at take-off even though it’s in limits with “most aft” fuel (38.9 gal).
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Old 24th Aug 2004, 07:57
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I wrote to CASA on 13th June 2003:

.............

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I have recently sat for, and passed, all seven CPL Cyber Examinations, and wish to highlight a problem I have encountered which has disadvantaged me and many of my colleagues.

The problem is that there seems to be great discrepancy in answers to questions given in the Cyber Exams. This manifests as follows; two candidates who are given identical questions answer identically, but receive different results (i.e. right and wrong), or a question with a most obvious correct answer is marked incorrect. I and many if not all of my colleagues have encountered this occurrence while sitting for these exams. I believe that the software on which the Cyber Exams are run is defective, and due to inadequate post-development testing procedures, this error has not been detected.

The reason for my conclusion is that when the software marks an incorrect answer (either accurately or inaccurately) insufficient information is returned to the candidate about the ‘incorrect’ answer - they are simply given a broad syllabus reference. This has resulted in the candidate simply accepting that they must have got the question wrong, allowing no feedback about the system’s operation, and so the possible software error goes undetected. Not only this, had this ‘incorrect’ question been the difference between a pass and a fail, the candidate must then pay another hefty examination fee to retry. Additionally, the current feedback system relies on the candidate’s memory of the question and possible answers, thus impeding sufficient feedback.

If greater detail was returned to the candidate as to what question he/she got incorrect, and what the correct answer was, this software fault would be readily identifiable and corrective action could be undertaken. This, as a post-implementation error detection method, in the software design and development field would be considered sound practice. In addition, it would greater assist the candidates as to correcting their deficiencies.

It is my deduction that had this error not been present, my examination marks would be higher, and I would not be given a KDR for a field where it was not due, and, in some of my colleagues cases, they would not have to resit an exam they should have passed. I ask that this error be investigated and resolved to ensure a fair testing system for all.

...........

Unfortunately I dont think it did anything!

Another student I know recieved a reply that said something to the effect of:

"We are not a training organisation, you should consult your school for correct answers"

Like mentioned before, how can you go back and correct your mistake if all you get is some broad syllabus reference (one I recieved, "Lift", is an excellent example!)


....Disco
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Old 24th Aug 2004, 09:41
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This may sound paranoid but I personally suspect that there is a slight but deliberate degree of vagueness programmed into the exam questions on purpose. It is actually in the financial interest of CASA to have a high number of exam resits. It simply means more dollars in their pockets. Exams would be a high profit sector of their overall machine. They are produced online at minimal expense and marked by a computer so the labour costs would be really low and they are expensive buggers to sit.
I was especially f*cked off at the ATPL flight planning exam where the multi choice options available are quite close together and fuel flows are about 4500 kg per hour. You have a choice of two answers 200kg apart!! I think everybody fails ATPL flight planning at least once, most attack it several times. Then, when you fail it you get a critique sent back saying "Fuel Flow". Huge help.

The zero access policy to address areas of failure is another area of concern.
At uni or TAFE or Night School you can get a detailed response as to where your weakness might be. Not at CASA. No way. That's their little secret!

Lousy System indeed. Thank god I'm out of it now. I finally must have made a lucky guess on that one engine inop, depressurised, point of no return drift down then divert with tail skid extended question.

cheers
Vic
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Old 29th Aug 2004, 08:39
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James Bigglesworth
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Good thread here pertaining to the ineptitudes of the service provider.

Relavance of B727 to any of todays progressing pilots ?
Inability of CASA / ASL to keep questions in line with changing regs and procedures (eg non-RVSM levels in AFPL etc..).

You go Wiz - give it to 'em son...

Cheers,

JB
 
Old 30th Aug 2004, 05:53
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Without condoning their often abysmal service, at least the current feedback is an improvement on the days when you received a results slip in the mail with 3 options:

PASS
FAIL (but within 20%)
FAIL.
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Old 30th Aug 2004, 06:51
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Bugsmasherdriverandjediknite
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Talking

True, it is an improvment, but only just.
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Old 1st Sep 2004, 02:59
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I agree that KDR's are generally unhelpful. But, I can also understand why we aren't given the question, the choices, the answer we picked and the correct answer - that would serve little purpose too. Not to mention schools being able to collect a database of casa questions and giving their students an unfair advantage.

What is the solution? Maybe we should go back to the old written exams. My old CFI had to write essays on each of the topics. Yuck. I thought my essay writing days were over.

The thing I object to most with the new system is that ASL is a monopoly and we students don't have the opportunity to get the best price by shopping around for exam providers. Should the exams be provided by flying schools? No, I don't think that's the solution either.

Just to add insult to injury, have you all seen the new casa charges for exams? If you go all teh way through to ATPL casa's new fees add $500 to the cost of your training, and that's if you pass everything first time.

Maybe I'm a cynic but the whole system is a bit off-colour. It seems that casa's philosophy is that low pass rates = high standard of training which isn't necessarily true. If we took the systems exams (both CPL and ATPL) as cases in point... Well, don't get me started about those two particular exams.

All I can say i thank goodnes I'm finally finished... At least until my grade 1 upgrade lol. Good luck to you all, and take it from me - once its over its worth it. Unitl then, stick it out, keep your chin out, and let your hair down occasionally.

71n.
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Old 2nd Sep 2004, 02:07
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You're going to spew, but back when they were written exams the CPLs (6 of) were A$0.75 ea. ATPLs (4 of) were an exorbitant A$2.10 ea.

It wasn't all good though. There were only 3 sittings per year with locations only in capital cities. Result times were quoted as 6 to 8 weeks (written exams take a lot longer to mark...). All working had to be submitted AND you were marked on the working, not just the answer. So, you could get the correct answer but if you used an incorrect method you failed the question. On the plus side, if you made a minor mathematical error marks would be deducted for that error but then the final answer was judged with that error included.

My ATPL flight planning exam had but two questions: A pre-flight planning one worth 60 or 70 marks, and an inflight replan worth 40 or 30 marks. You would be given a scenario to fly from A to B/Wx xyz etc for the pre flight & more or less told to 'go forth & plan!).

I think the written types force a better knowledge from the candidate (since the they're not 'led by the hand' to calculate particular items. The candidate must remember *all* the required steps)) but are much more expensive to administer.
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Old 12th Sep 2004, 01:24
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Unhappy

Having come to accept the poor service provided in the regional centers where the majority of Irex and ATPL candidates must be trying to sit the exams, now I cannot even get access to the ASL website to book with the required 3 months notice to get a slot.

What the is going on?
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Old 14th Sep 2004, 12:55
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more detail in KDR required

i can understand why they don't allow you to write down any questions.

this is similar to many IT vendor specific exams, where as soon as someone sits the exam they go out & brain dump every question they can remember, as close to the wording as they can manage, these are pooled & transcender practise exams evolve where students can get a feel for the types of questions that they may encounter. Often these transcender exams are almost identical questions to the actual exam, depending on how many times the exam has been sat & the amount of feedback from students

personally what i would like to see is a report with more detail than "80% pass", ie:
question 1 - correct
question 2 - incorrect
question 3 - correct
etc.

then being able to select that question & review to be able to verify:
a. what you answered
b. the correct answer &
c. an explanation

then if you were not happy with the question, you should be able to mark this question as 'contested' indicating to CASA that you do not agree with the question, perhaps a electronic feedback where the student can immediately argue the questions wording etc.

this needn't allow for the student to copy the question, but if it goes back to CASA, & they are not a training institution, they should allow you to be able to nominate your flight school/theory instructor, & the 'contested' questions forwarded back to them so that you can better undestand where (if) you went wrong & why. (other than just cocking up the answer). CASA don't have to enter into the realm of Training institution, however they should still be accountable for providing examinations with relavent questions to (real world) content studied

having just completed my Aero, i was less than satisfied with my score, being able to achieve 91%>100% in the 4 practise cyberexams, i only managed 80% in the CASA exam.

The questions seemed very ambiguous often to the point of being completely vague.

it was pretty frustrating for the significant effort i had put into the study for this one.

it does not give me any comfort to hear that correct answers can be graded incorrect.

in regards to ASL - i have found that simply booking a time with them is very difficult, once i have completed my study & am happy with my knowledge level, i go to the web site to book the exam, only to find that it can be 2 - 4 weeks before i can get an available slot.

in the meantime, i have to sit around & wait, not wanting to start the next subject, & have to keep revising the topic until the exam date rolls around.
which is a bit of a pain really.

anyone else had troubles with ASL?

also every time i'm in there, there is always at least 1 bloke without a photo id, but has all his credit cards etc. can do his signature perfectly, but the wowsers won't let him sit the exam, regardless if he has already sat 6 & this is the last one. i find it humourous that simple logic cannot be applied in this.

surely the last thing someone would want to do is willing subject themselves to these exams for the hell of it... hey i've got an hour to kill, lets go sit Air Law...just for the hell of it.
OK so they want to make sure the guy is who he says he is, surely there are other means besides a photo id to verify a persons idenity, i mean does anyone here withdraw money from (inside) a bank on a regular basis, when was the last time you were asked for a photo id?

That paragraph in human performance is coming back to haunt me
"Authority is assigned - Leadership is aquired...
...People who are leaders are automatically granted authority by the group, while people in authority often show no trace of leadership [Civil Aviation Safety Authority]"
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Old 14th Sep 2004, 13:51
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good post bloke!. pretty well sums up what I was trying to say.
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Old 15th Sep 2004, 12:14
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Amen gadgetguru!
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Old 15th Sep 2004, 13:44
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What you suggest, GadgetGuru cant be all that hard, since the UNSW & ETC (Educational Testing Centre) have been doing it for years.

Remember the Maths, Science and English Competitions back in school (run by UNSW/ETC)?

The feedback was:

Question:
You answered:
Correct answer:

This format would be much more helpful, no?

.....Disco
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