PPI Forums

Just to let anyone else know, the first 13 chapters in the Interior Design Reference Manual were not the only ones cover in Exam Section I. The book clearly states Exam I is coverd in chapters 1-13 and Exam Section II is covered in ch. 14-29. This is not the case. Exam I also includes, lighting, acoustics, mechanical, exiting, building code, barrier free, sustainable design, and possibly structural.

I just completed exam secton I yesterday and found this out the hard way. I don't know if this was always the case with the exam or if it was a new change. Does anyone else know?

There did seem to be some bleed over questions from both Parts I and II on each test.

You are correct, the first 13 chapters were not the only ones you needed to study. I thought there was more than P&P on tpart 1. In addition, I am wondering if anyone else thought that the questions were poorly worded. This is the second time I have taken part 2, and I have a feeling I will need to take it again. I thought that the test was quite different from the test I had taken in April. I am at a loss on what to study.

Thanks for your comments. I found the exam to be worded poorly as well. It's good to know there might be some Exam I overlap into exam II. Just to be prepared.

That is very true. YOu can not take only section 1 or only section 2. It is pointless since they mix up all the questions in both of them. You can not only study only chapters 13 and only chapter 14-29 for section 2.... might as well take both sections together and study for them both.

I found section 1 hard,, in sense,,, if i have to take it again, i don't know what to study.. or just go to the test and try my luck... it was poorly worded and then it was from all over the place... it asked for ANSI-NFPA numbers that are not included in ballast.. not only included anywhere else... and i don't know if they are not that important, why even test us on that... what is NFPA 101 ????

it is like you spend months preparing for it.. when i got done,, my whole family is asking me ' SO HOW DID YOU DO?',,, and i have been telling all of them - ' I REALLY DON'T KNOW'.
YIKES....

Did the exam always mix the questions from all different chapters of the book? I just didn't know they did that.

NFPA 101 is the name of a book called "NFPA 101: Life Safety Code".
I'm pretty sure one of the answers on the fire code of a chair question is CAL 133 which is also know as NFPA 266. It seemed was the only answers which fit. It really shows they are out to trick us.

I think all of us are thinking the same thing regarding our results.

i thought section 2 was way worse than section 1. i feel like i spent all this time memorizing stuff they never asked. the questions were ambiguous and the info was vague. sometimes i knew the answer and it wasn't listed. so i'm not sure how i did. not feeling great about sect. 2 at all.

I agree with the poor wording on some of the questions. I have already drafted a letter to NCIDQ to make sure they know that some of the questions were either worded confusingly or did not give enough information to accurately answer the question.
I highly recommend everyone do the same so that they know the questions were not well done.
REMEMBER YOU ONLY HAVE 10 DAYS to send a letter to them regarding any concerns you had with the test!!!!!

I agree with you on the codes too. I was surprised at how little code questions there were.

I agree that part 1, but more so, part 2 were ambiguously worded. From what I understood from the ASID-STEP program, they do this on purpose to allow for multiple answers. Grading is based off the most chosen answer, not most correct -- which gives you a weird gray area that I had a really hard time with. By the end of part 2 my brian wasn't sure I was reading English anymore (and I speak no other language!). I felt there was way too much reading and more diagrams would have been appreciated.

For what it's worth, I felt the same way as you all do after I took Sections I and II in the spring...no clue how I did...and I did fine and passed both parts. So try to just take a deep breath, relax, and forget about this horrible thing until December.

Parts I & II have always overlapped, the questions have always been written extremely bad & ambiguous & NCIDQ just throws all of your complaint letters in the trash. So for all its worth, listen to Jennifer, you probably did better than you think. Don't waste your time getting worked up over it, just have a beer tonight & try to take the edge off,

There was one question that had 2 correct answers. It was the one with the adjacency matrix drawn and you had to tell which ones were directly adjacent. Two of them were according to the chart. Any idea how they plan on grading that one?

Good Question. If 2 of them were directly adjacent you might have had to check them both to get credit for the question-but I'm guessing.

As much talk as I'm hearing about Part II of the multiple choice being so different than expected, I am wondering if that opinion is the same for both new test takers & those who re-tested??

I also noticed 2 options were correct for that matrix question, but only checked one. Were you allowed to select multiple answers???

NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, mentioned several posts above, and knowledge of its contents is a large part of what differentiates an interior decorator from a registered interior designer. It has more to do with protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the public than any other single code. It is no surprise there are a few questions about it on the exam. To I-designer, I have an old copy of NFPA 101 I'd like to send you free of charge. It does not change that much from version to version and will still be a valuable study aid and a good reference book to have on the shelf. Drop your address, or company mailing address, to me at hpc-editor AT att DOT net and I'll have it on the way.