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WEEKLY TAKEAWAYS AS A FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEER

The Fire Protection PE Exam of 2020

10/14/2020

 
What a weird year for 2020.

Last year I thought this would be somewhat of a wild year for Fire Protection PE Prep - with the major computer-based changes, references changes, and question styling changes. That prediction ended up being too modest as we've had a total of 12 changes to the exam references (either removing, adding, or changing year editions) that shook up the prep space.

Yet, that of course was hardly the biggest shuffle this year. For the first time, the Fire Protection PE Exam is getting a second day in January (January 12th, 2021) due to limited capacities (re: Covid) in the testing centers on the original October 22nd date.

For those who are preparing for the exam and are in the PE Prep Series, all of the access for those exams are now extended through January 2021.

Thoughts on 2020 Prep Season
If you know someone taking the exam this year (...or in January), send them some flowers or ice cream or chocolate... if they're like many I've spoken with they probably feel like guinea pigs with all the changes, plus the uncertainty of actually being able to take the test, all on top of the normal uncertainty of whether all the preparation over the summer has been enough. That's rough.

Around here there's been so many changes due to the exam. The Prep Series was pretty much overhauled, as was the 2020 PE Prep Guide. Just this year over 150 questions were written or re-written to match the new exam specifications. 

Along with those overhauls comes the pain of errors in those questions. I've been thankful for the loads of input and feedback since I first wrote the guide in 2016. Each year up until now the number of errors and tweaks found in the books has gone down... up until the 2020 edition. It's discouraging on my end when we find errors in the material, but that's nothing compared to the frustration for an examinee that doesn't have reliable content. My goal when I started the Prep Guide was to continually improve it year over year, and try to be as open and transparent as possible when it comes to getting the material right. 

If you have a Prep Guide and haven't seen it yet, I've posted errata and have made updates to it throughout the year. It's located here: www.meyerfire.com/errata

I very much appreciate the feedback from examinees, especially with so many changes to the guide and online content this year.

Next Year & Continuing the PE Prep 
Helping with PE Prep materials has been extremely rewarding for me. I saw a positive review online the other day that said the value of the materials is well beyond the cost. The review mentioned they hope I don't raise prices to match other content out there...

I got a good laugh and am very happy to report that I have no intent to raise prices for future years.

The whole goal here from getting into PE Prep a few years ago was to be sure that there is quality, affordable content for Fire Protection examinees. It was extremely frustrating to me when I took the exam that the materials were so expensive and that there just wasn't a lot of great content at the time. My whole goal here it to try and mend that gap with helpful material that is reasonably priced. I certainly hope that's the case now and the case going forward.

Frequently Asked Questions on Scoring Correlations
I've gotten maybe half a dozen questions asking about how close question difficulty comes into play, and how a score on a MeyerFire exam compares to scores on the actual PE Exam. 

There's a ton to discuss here, but I'll try and pick off a few key points. First, is that with the data I've compiled, the average score for an examinee across the 20-weeks of the PE Prep Series is typically close to the raw score on the actual PE Exam. Meaning - if someone has averaged a 7.5 out of 10 on the PE Prep Series questions, they tend to score roughly 75% on the actual exam.

Historically I've connected these points from examinees who have reported their scores back and matched it up with the different data points taken in the PE Prep Series.

In general, exam day will feel closer to a new PE Prep Series exam or the full-length exam in the Prep Guide than it will to the 4-hour review exam or the 8.5-hour review exam in the Prep Series. In both of those longer online exams, the questions are review-only and you've already seen content that is the same or similar. There's a noticeable boost to your score on those review exams that aren't reflected in the PE Exam.

Also, just because we typically see a matching range on average Prep Series scores to the actual exam doesn't mean that it is always the case. There are always exceptions here both ways (people scoring much higher than the Prep Series, and people scoring lower).

All that to say - regardless of how you've tested so far - don't be discouraged by your scores. Go into exam day with confidence that you're going to give it your best effort and just see what happens from there.

The Blog
Oh, where has Joe been for the last few months? Other than question writing and posts on the Daily Forum page - I've been working on an awesome project that has just debuted - if you haven't seen it check it out here.

My hope in the coming weeks as the PE prep settles down is to hop right back in and continue to work on some new tools and tool improvements around the website going forward. 

Hope you and yours are safe and healthy and that you have a great week.
SK
10/19/2020 09:53:57 am

Hi Joe,

It was fantastic efforts till here but what if we can get another 10+ weekly exam and PE daily questions or 4/8.5 hrs PE full length exams to keep the pace till Jan 12 exam for this year only. This would be really great help those who are taking exam in Jan 12, 2021. We should be OK even this this cost little more than 20 odd week till here.

Appreciate your say on this.

Regards
Sunil

Joe Meyer
10/19/2020 10:02:41 am

Hi Sunil, that's a great idea.

It may not seem like it, but there's a tremendous amount of effort in writing, checking, and backchecking the content for accuracy and effectiveness. Unfortunately that's not something I'd be able to pull off in realtime for the January exam.

I am however keeping open all of the online content, and am allowing repeat tests for this year so that January participants can go re-review the material and stay fresh. Hopefully this extra practice is some help for you. Thanks Sunil!

SK
10/20/2020 01:40:12 pm

Thanks Joe for positive feedback. Really appreciate.

I mean repeat weekly test same as before?

Even if we can able to use repeat weekly test (about any 10+ weekly basis) from earlier conducted weekly tests (assume nothing new, just random selections), i believe purpose should be fulfilled with minimum efforts with publishing the results weekly. Weekly tests are really fantastic.

I've no idea how many folks are taking the exam on Jan 12 and who else would be interested in but actually weekly test help us to measures the progress on weekly bases against peer to peer as we go along and maintain the pace till the final exam. In this case Jan 12. Off course, it's absolutely your call and it make a sense if many others would be interest.

Anyways, really appreciate your great efforts making this series.

Thanks


Comments are closed.
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The views, opinions, and information found on this site represent solely the author shown and do not represent the opinions of any other party, nor does the presented material assume responsibility for its use. Fire protection and life safety systems constitute a critical component for public health and safety and you should consult with a licensed professional for proper design and code adherence. Some (not all) outbound links on this website, such as Amazon links, are affiliate-based where we receive a commission for orders placed elsewhere.
  • Blog
  • Daily
  • Exam Prep
    • CFPS Tools
    • NICET Tools
    • PE Forum & Errata
    • PE Problems
    • PE Store
    • PE Tools
    • PE Prep Series
  • TOOLS
    • TOOLKIT (FREE TRIAL)
    • *TOOLKIT (PURCHASE)
    • SUBMIT AN IDEA
    • BACKFLOW DATABASE*
    • CLEAN AGENT ESTIMATOR
    • CLOUD CEILING CALCULATOR
    • DOMESTIC DEMAND
    • FIRE PUMP ANALYZER
    • FIRE PUMP DATABASE*
    • FIRE FLOW CALCULATOR*
    • FRICTION LOSS CALCULATOR
    • HANGER SPACER
    • IBC TRANSLATOR*
    • K-FACTOR SELECTOR
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('19 ONLY)
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('99-'19)*
    • LIQUIDS ANALYZER*
    • OBSTRUCTION CALCULATOR
    • OBSTRUCTIONS AGAINST WALL*
    • PLUMBING FIXTURE COUNTS
    • REMOTE AREA ANALYZER
    • QUICK RESPONSE AREA REDUCTION
    • SPRINKLER DATABASE*
    • SPRINKLER FLOW*
    • TEST & DRAIN CALCULATOR
    • THRUST BLOCK CALCULATOR
    • TRAPEZE CALCULATOR
    • UNIT CONVERTER
    • VOLUME & COMPRESSOR CALCULATOR
    • WATER SUPPLY (US)
    • WATER SUPPLY (METRIC)
  • CODE CALLS
  • LOGIN
  • STORE
  • About