Changes to FAA written test

crfguy51 said:
Man, sucks.

Some people put way too much faith in these tests...it's a joke. Publish the bank, select 50-60-100 questions of that bank and call it done. All this swapping without letting everyone know is bunk. I feel bad for all the guys blowing the FOI. The real test is that few hours you spend with the DE (or in the FOI's case) the Inspector..If you don't understand FOI he WILL figure it out then....not by completing some multiple choice test. I'm beginning to think the only reason these tests exist is because an industry has been created out of prep material and robbing us of $150 every time we attempt an exam only to find out the bank has been swapped. What a waste.
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The written, as constructed (and as FOI taught me) can only hope to measure the lower levels of learning anyway. Those levels should still be measured, but not relied upon.
 
I just took my CFI written exam today. I passed with an 89%. The question databank has DEFINATELY been changed. Approximately 20-25 questions on the written were NOT in the 2011 Gleim edition.
 
SilkyD said:
I just took my CFI written exam today. I passed with an 89%. The question databank has DEFINATELY been changed. Approximately 20-25 questions on the written were NOT in the 2011 Gleim edition.
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Just had a student take the CFI written (FIA) and he got a 77% on his written after getting 90's on his practice tests. He said the same thing as you, 20-25% of the questions were ones he never seen. (he was using Gleims online course thats guaranteed to be kept up to date)
 
jvinson.flygirl, please let us know about the NAFI/FAA meeting on the 22nd and if anything worthwhile was said... Thanks so much.
 
braunpilot said:
While I'm not big on the FAA knowledge tests (I'm working on the ATP written) here is an update site that is free, yes it's ASA but it's free!

http://www.asa2fly.com/testupdate
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Thanks much braumpilot, I was looking for something like this to share with my students.

Also an article I did not see posted on this thread is here and addresses the same issue. - Sharp rise in failures after changes to FAA Knowledge Test question banks http://www.generalaviationnews.com/...changes-to-faa-knowledge-test-question-banks/

I've been sitting on my CFII written which expires later this year so this is more motivation for me to get it done soon.
 
jvinson.flygirl said:
Solutions are being examined. NAFI is attending a meeting with the FAA on April 22, 10 miles away for a student like myself trying to complete my CFI. ASA has released what they believe to be a few of the altered questions, mainly regarding fatigue and commercial study guides. I'm not sure how much this will help, but it is a start.

If you have had an issue with these tests, PLEASE CONTACT SOMEONE, it isn't right for this to be happening and someone needs to be accountable. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I'm not sitting by idly while this occurs.
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Any update on this meeting?

I'm just about to call AOPA myself. Ended up with a 66% on Saturday for the FOI. I read the handbook through and through and used the Gleim, but found the new questions to be very hard, based mostly on semantics, and not in any way written by anyone with a background in educational psychology. They mostly looked like someone randomly picked out keywords words from the text and wrote questions around them.

Going forward, I'm throwing away the test preps, and just studying that book through and through taking as thorough notes as I ever had. :banghead:

Best of luck on the re-test to us all!
 
Apparently the private written has had some new subject areas added (not questions, but entire subject areas...) according to one of my friends who just took it. He still pulled an 87, but not anywhere near the 98s he scored on 4 consecutive practice exams. I'm going to be taking the comm. pretty soon, so I'll report any new stuff I see.
 
update!!!!

Just got a screaming ray of sunshine in the mail!

The FAA has recalculated my score based on a review of the wording of some of the questions on the FOI written, and they said that I have now passed the FOI!!!!

....with a 72%!!!!! my lowest written test score to date!!!! :laff:

woo-hoo! :rawk::rawk::rawk:

so that's 3 questions that they had recalculated. i'm so psyched I don't have to take this again...seriously...would much rather just cover all the FOI stuff on my oral.

Hope others here have the same luck I did!
 
Geez now I'm scared to take my FOI written within the next couple of months...I've got the current book, but it seems that even the people who read it cover to cover are not scoring well.
 
A150K said:
Geez now I'm scared to take my FOI written within the next couple of months...I've got the current book, but it seems that even the people who read it cover to cover are not scoring well.
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I did read it cover to cover and took notes as well. I think the biggest problem is the study guides, particularly the Gleim from the limited exposure to other guides I've had. Their updates are well behind ASA's (compare their updates online). I bought the Dauntless CFI test pair and have been using that for the last couple weeks. $40 and better in my opinion (practice tests are better on the computer than fumbling with a book hiding answers, IMO) in that the updates are automatic and the questions seem a little more like what I saw on the test - but not completely. They still reference 8083, and not 8083A which is the current 2008 one.

My main problem with the test itself is that it's incredibly semantic, and not very intuitive. I guess the FAA is starting to realize this based on the re-calculation letter I got claiming that some questions were worded "incorrectly" and could have been "mis-interpreted".

I think ultimately another reason I did so poorly is that I read through the handbook and made sure I fully understood the concepts, but left it up to Gleim to inadvertently do some rote memorization on some of the questions which weren't clear. What I should have done is not only understand the concepts from the book, but also make note of keywords used in particular places. My advice - use whatever test prep material you have to go through the test a few times, but use the handbook more as you get closer to the test. That way you know the type of questions you'll get based on the way the text reads. YMMV...

All in all though, people are still taking it and still passing first time from what I've heard around the FBO.

Good luck, and let us know!
 
I just took the FOI today, literally every question on there was from the new AIH.
There were only 2-3 questions that I recognized from the old FOI.
For anyone that will be taking the FOI, read the new AIH (2008 version).
 
citrus said:
I just took the FOI today, literally every question on there was from the new AIH.
There were only 2-3 questions that I recognized from the old FOI.
For anyone that will be taking the FOI, read the new AIH (2008 version).
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I've got the latest AIH. I'll let you all know how it goes in the next few months (3 writtens Comm (sooner rather than later), FIA, and FOI).
 
from what I've read/heard the new test was published sometime in Feb.
I know one guy failed cause he used the old test prep and the FAA had just put out the new test 3 days before he took it.
 
crfguy51 said:
The real test is that few hours you spend with the DE (or in the FOI's case) the Inspector..If you don't understand FOI he WILL figure it out then....not by completing some multiple choice test.
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I would have to agree with you 100%. I recently took a commercial checkride and the DE asked me a ton of questions that were on the written test even though he knew I had already passed the test. If I had not learned the material in a more in depth manner than what is required for the written test, thinking that the DE would not quiz me in detail since I already was tested on the stuff I would have easily failed my checkride.

I am currently studying for the FOI. I'm glad I got the heads up for the test because I always use the Gleim to study but it seems like people are still failing after studying from the FAA 2008 instructors handbook. After I bought my 2011 Gleim FOI study guide they emailed me 2 updates with some but not all of the new questions which should help. I plan on studying the handbook and the Gleim updates. Anybody pass it recently?
 
Troy said:
I would have to agree with you 100%. I recently took a commercial checkride and the DE asked me a ton of questions that were on the written test even though he knew I had already passed the test. If I had not learned the material in a more in depth manner than what is required for the written test, thinking that the DE would not quiz me in detail since I already was tested on the stuff I would have easily failed my checkride.

I am currently studying for the FOI. I'm glad I got the heads up for the test because I always use the Gleim to study but it seems like people are still failing after studying from the FAA 2008 instructors handbook. After I bought my 2011 Gleim FOI study guide they emailed me 2 updates with some but not all of the new questions which should help. I plan on studying the handbook and the Gleim updates. Anybody pass it recently?
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Haven't personally passed but from the people I've talked to who have recently taken it: "Get 100% on your practices before you go."

Most of them dropped 10-20% from what their practice exams were showing
 
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