Case # 1 - Question Bank Study - Failure

Say you prepared hard from your Question Banks but you had that one bad day on the day of the exam. Nothing went to plan.
After you’re done analyzing why you didn’t pass, maybe by the narrowest of margins, you get back to your ‘routine’…which one?...the one about preparing from question banks! Why? Let’s look at the possible thoughts in your mind right now.

“well, maybe I forgot a couple of correct answers to certain questions…”
“Maybe the examiner mixed up some of the options and wordings, so I’m going to be ready for that next time around!”
“I’ve come too far already now to go back and pound through leaflets and leaflets of jargon!”
You force yourself to pick up your regulations book once again, go through a few pages of that ‘jargon’ and – “Ah, I know this! This is that question…the answer to this is that…I know it all!”
“I think I need more questions. There are probably some questions I’ve not covered…let me buy that other question bank by that other author. More questions…more…more…collect more…collect…collect !”
And now that you’ve got a whole lot more questions, “Now we’ll see who’s smarter!”

In all likelihood, you’ll follow the question bank approach until you pass…finally! The thing about it is that you’ll have passed an exam, without much clue about the subject matter.
“Who cares?!”

Well, let’s see how this has actually brought you closer to failure, than success, to your goal of becoming an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer at a major airline.

Let's put this in perspective

With regards to taking ‘assistance’ from question banks for exam preparation, I’ve been there too. However, it has, as it should be, been associated with getting mentally attuned to an upcoming examination. It’s important to get the brain ready for an exam in the format it’s to be taken. One example of this is how sportsmen (any sport, from athletics, to tennis, to swimming, etc.) get themselves ready, even psyched up, before an important event.
So, using question banks is a great way to get into the ‘exam-mindset’. However, making it a core for your exam preparation is preparing for failure!

Lets draw an analogy with sports. Any training coach will always have his/her player/athlete go through rigorous physical training and development programs run to a likely tight schedule, before even picking up say a racquet to strike a tennis ball. Why? When an athlete goes into an important event, just prior to the start, the adrenalin starts to pump; in anticipation of ‘the big moment’. No matter how much practice you’ve put in, no matter how many hours of training, nothing can simulate the experience just prior to what can easily be labeled a ‘make-or-break’ event. If your body is not prepared adequately through rigorous physical training routines, the surge of adrenalin, before and during the event, can quite easily result in a disastrous and potentially very painful injury; ruling you out for weeks maybe months. The strain put on the muscles and tissues by powerful and sudden surges of adrenalin, is tremendous; and has led to tragedy on the sports field on various occasions.

So, what’s the comparison with writing the CAR exam? You’re not seriously implying I’ll have a heart failure when I see the exam paper?
No. maybe not. But maybe I can guide you closer to an answer by asking you if you’ve ever had the experience of sitting in an exam hall for an important exam, with maybe a hundred others (or alone, which is scarier by the way!) around you, and staring alternatively between the question in your exam paper and the mosaic/marble tiling/carpeted flooring just above and beyond your question paper? You have no idea whatsoever, about the topic the question is about let alone the answer to it! Blank! “what do I do now?”?? Now that, is the effect of your emotional brain. Powerful? Oh yes!
So, you can read, learn, mug all the questions and answers in those question banks. When you get the exam paper in front of your eyes, you will likely have difficulty recognizing the question (which you will realize later, was taken out directly from the question bank you were reading that same morning!), let alone having doubts about the correct answer to it!
That is through my own personal experience and the experience of many others I’ve spoken to through the years. And that is why, preparing ONLY from q banks, is preparing yourself, for failure!

Today's Students

Since a while I’ve been struggling a bit regards the direction this blog should take. Most AME Students I’ve talked to realize the importance of Air Regulations to Aircraft Maintenance, and making that perception core to their exam prep. However, going by their opinions it is not entirely an ‘effective’ way of getting through the exams.
There are other concerns with respect to passing these exams as well, about which, beyond mention, I am not getting into greater depth. These include rigging of exam results, corruption, incorrect markings etc.
The most reliable method, apparently, of getting through then is based on collecting questions from students appearing in these exams. The physical papers are not a take-away item, from the exam hall, (un)fortunately! So, questions from recent exams, question banks as their usually referred to. This does seem to be the ‘tried-and-tested’ method; as I’m guessing for most competitive exams.

“We go over the questions and their answers, again and again, until the question itself sits in our mind!” says one student about to appear in the July 2009 session. “Our seniors have passed it the same way. So will we.” “Do you have a somewhat clear idea of the subject matter associated with the question?” my question seems to draw a couple of sniggers. “Who Cares!”, “Passing, the exam, getting our license is what matters. Once we get a job in an airline, all these regulations come automatically”

This is ground reality. My reaction will need some reflecting. But your comments are welcome, particularly if you happen to be part of a community that travels by air frequently!