architect54

It is very likely I will reschedule my Programming, Planning and Practise exam. I have been very busy as of late and haven’t gotten to reading anything at all. Between work and classes, I haven’t had the time to focus. The only times I felt like reading was for another exam. For some strange reason, I been thinking about doing the mechanical exam or the structures exam or even methods and materials. Anyways, I didn’t have time to read anything on those topics either.

I did have enough time to get distracted and dig through my boxes and look for books that the exam or people on the areforum think are good resources to study. I staid up real late looking for Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings by Stein and Reynolds.  (Mine is the 8th edition, 1999.) It took all Wednesday night well after 12:00pm, but I found it victoriously. I paid for the lack of sleep, tho’. I was late to work and a meeting. I was chewed out by my supervisor. What could I say? “I staid up late and overslept, because I was looking for study material for an exam I haven’t even scheduled yet.” Oh boy.

Anyways I dug out some old textbooks, that I thought might be helpful. The good thing is I don’t have to pay for any of these books. These are books I already had. You just may have some too. I hope they will help me provide a thorough and solid perspective to tackling this exam.

It’s been a little over two weeks since my last exam. I have put off studying with the force that I had previously. The build up to Construction Documents and Services was so much that I’ve just been cooling it. I thought I’d post some study techniques that I have used and hope to use next week to pick up my momentum. Maybe you will find them useful as well.

All quoted material is from “Managing Your Mind, The Mental Fitness Guide, 2nd Edition”, by Butler and Hope, 2007, Oxford University Press, pages 450-451.

“Four Ways of Helping Yourself to Get Down to Work”

1. “Create a good work environment.
2. List the tasks beforehand.
3. Keep the benefits of study clearly in mind.
4. Leave your work environment inviting for the next time.”

What this means to me:

1. Go to the library.
2. Generally my task is just to have read 20 pages daily and on the weekends I do questions and vignettes. (A strategy I may return to.) I’m modifying that this time. My new tasks will be 20 pages (or a section) each day; 15 questions a day and a vignette every three or four days. (even if it’s the same vignette.)
3. I can say I’m an architect, without thinking “Well actually, I don’t have my license yet.” (Some people don’t think like that. I do.)

4. Leave the library.

“The Law of Mass Effect”

“This states that the amount of work you do (the amount you learn or the amount you write, for instance) is strongly correlated with the amount of time you spend doing it. … [This means] … Any worthwhile study will therefore take some time.” Do your best to make studying “easy to start, and fun to do” and commit to investing time.

What this means to me:

I had better get my ass in gear, because my exam is coming up and I don’t have that much time to invest. (Yeah, yeah I could always reschedule. I don’t want to. I’ll see.)

“Making It Easy to Start”

“Most people find it difficult to get down to work. You might promise yourself that you will sit down and write for an hour at eight o’clock in the evening. At eight o’clock you think it would be nice to have a cup of tea. At quarter past eight you make a quick phone call. At half past eight there is a program on the radio or TV. At nine o’clock you listen to the news. At 20 past nine a friend phones. At half past nine…

The problem with not getting down to work is twofold: first, it results in too little work being done; and second, it results in an unsatisfactory use of the time … [not work, not recreation] …worrying about work, not quite relaxing but not quite working either.

… Sometimes we need a kick-start to get going; but once in the swing of it, it is usually much easier to keep going and can be a real pleasure too.”

What this means to me:

I had better keep my momentum by studying in daily brief 1 hour periods. Starting up is hard and I’ve accomplished that. I’ve got to maintain a positive outlook about my goals and keep my face in the books. Keeping motivated is a new kind of challenge. I want the pleasure of having this behind me so I can continue to learn about architecture. The irony can not be stressed more.

Here is how Construction Documents and Services (CDS) went:

Like I said before, I didn’t leave jumping up and down, “Oh I knew that and this.” I did leave thinking I probably passed… I hope.

1st Part – 100 multiple choice questions in 2 hours. I finished with 24 minutes left. 15 marked for review. Reviewed them and changed one (or two?) questions and unmarked five. Began to review all questions. I read question and the answer I chose (not all four responses) and felt like that was the correct answer. Got thru reviewing 20 (or so) more questions and felt good with the selected answer. Time ran out.

I had answered 60 questions at the halfway mark (1 hour), which was reassuring. When I finished the 100 questions (with 24 minutes left), I took a moment to breathe and relax. The point is I paid attention to the time remaining. (And I remained calm.)

When I first sat down at the computer, before the exam started, (before even clicking anything on the computer), I did write the numbers 1 to 100 on the scrap paper to mark any questions for review. That was so I could put a slash through a number to indicate it for review, or put a division sign to indicate math, or any other indication. But I did not use this method much after the 5th question. I used the features provided on the computer.

2nd Part – Do a (graphic) building section in 1 hour. I got to the 30 minute mark and only half of the first floor was done! I responded by speeding up!!!!!! It took me 18 minutes to finish the rest, the upper floor and the large room! (Didn’t matter, a feeling of panic had set in.) I had time to double check measurements. I felt as though I got all of the non-rated walls, rated walls and ducts. Even tho’ drawing the section over the plan is the way to go… YOU CAN”T SEE THE PLAN!!! How come this horror never came to my attention before?

Is there a way to turn the drawn layers off? I don’t think so. I don’t remember one. Maybe there is. I didn’t remember it during the exam. I didn’t have time to look. There isn’t one is there? The drawn stuff has to stay visible. Right?

… and the effects of taking this exam become visible …

Actually in the building section vignette, as of my posting there is no way to turn what you have drawn off (slabs, fire rated walls, etc.). (In some vignettes, like site zoning you can.) Now I don’t want this to encourage people to draw below (or above) the plan and then MOVE your entire section. Should you choose to draw below or above, LEAVE it there!!! To be graded your section has to reference (touch) two lines. One is the grade line, which you draw. The other line is the “exterior face of section” line. To quote NCARB’s CDS study guide (p. 14) , “The left side of your section should be placed along the line that is designated “exterior face of section.”" Having said that, and barring my experience of not being able to see the plan, I would still draw over the plan. It helps align walls, ducts and joists. That’s all you are responsible for, that and slabs and footings.

On my scrap paper I distinctly wrote down the elements that determine heights for each floor. I made a list like this:

First Floor

• joist
• duct
• light
• floor-to-ceiling

I made this list once and then wrote the heights (2′-0″, 1′-0″, etc.) in this order for each area, the first floor, second floor and large room. There is always a large voluminous room. You’ll notice I left out the deck on top of the joists. Don’t forget to add this number when checking heights after you’re complete. When drawing I didn’t worry about it and used sketch rectangles to measure these heights. Determining these lists is probably what took me so long in the first half hour. So that way, time was spent wisely so I could draw without referring to the program anymore.

Another important issue is, you are looking for the largest duct and joist combination on the floor to make a level ceiling. This is very important! The largest joist and duct are not necessarily in the same place on the floor. This is so important to understand. Go the forum! If you understand only this from this post I have done something good!