Practice Exams Online

[DrZoos]

Try this out and see what you think - its still under development by a guy i know but looks pretty good for practice exams and checking gaps in knowledge. Its not endorsed in any way and there may still be errors in it but it looks pretty good so far

 

http://www.pilotpracticeexams.com

 

 

[djpacro]

Good start.

 

Just went through the stall/spin/spiral questions. Got 40 correct out of 52. I didn't answer some. Happy to debate the 12 sometime.

 

 

[DrZoos]

Lol lets hope those 12 you got wrong dont happen while your flying....

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Good start.Just went through the stall/spin/spiral questions. Got 40 correct out of 52. I didn't answer some. Happy to debate the 12 sometime.

If our Doctor passed his exams with 80%, does that mean he is wrong 20% of the time?

Perhaps this just shows how ludicrous written tests can be. So 20th Century. With the gear available now we should be able to test students with some form of simulator to see if they are ready. Somewhere in there should be a human instructor with experience and the power to send them back for more. The machine would be able to record weak areas and reinforce learning and re-test.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Lol lets hope those 12 you got wrong dont happen while your flying....

LOL- I take it that you don't know what djpacro does for a living ?

 

 

[djpacro]

Lol lets hope those 12 you got wrong dont happen while your flying....

I didn't get any wrong.

[Peter008]

I came across this site some time ago. It has a different format as in showing the answer when selected instead of emailing the answer back to you. Good for the students that they are trying to attract.

 

http://www.airborne-aviation.com.au/resources/practice-exams-and-quizzes.php

 

 

[Guest Nobody]

Try this out and see what you think - its still under development by a guy i know but looks pretty good for practice exams and checking gaps in knowledge. Its not endorsed in any way and there may still be errors in it but it looks pretty good so farhttp://www.pilotpracticeexams.com

The concept and the layout are very good and I hope that my comments are seen as overly critical. I hope that the site can be improved to be something really great.

 

I only did the fist one (intro to flight) but I dislike the format of the questions and I think that some of the answers are incorrect or not accurate. Anyone who has studied a bit of education will tell you that it is very easy to write multiple choice questions that only test knowledge at a shallow level. Most of these questions are just asking what the names of things are. If a question could be answered with a dictionary it only tests memory and no higher learning skills.

 

The other thing is the technical accuracy of some of the questions is a bit suspect. For example:

 

Lift from a correctly designed aircraft wing acts at an angle:

 

 

• 1. equal to relative airflow
   
   
  
• 2. parallel to relative airflow
   
   
  
• 3. perpendicular to relative airflow
   
   
  
• 4. none of the above
   
   
  

 

 

The problem I have with this question is that lift on an incorrectly designed wing also acts perpendicular to the relative airflow. In fact lift is always perpendicular to the relative airflow. Another example:

 

 

Thrust is a force produced by the aircraft and in straight and level flight is roughly equal to:

 

• 1. Drag + Lift
   
   
  
• 2. Drag + Weight
   
   
  
• 3. Drag
   
   
  
• 4. Weight + Drag + Lift
   
   
  

 

 

In unaccelerated (straight and level) flight thrust is exactly equal drag, there is no roughly about it. Another example:

 

 

Relative airflow is a force that acts:

 

 

• 1. Opposite the flight path
   
   
  
• 2. Parallel to the wing chord
   
   
  
• 3. At the angle of attack
   
   
  
• 4. At the angle of incidence
   
   
  

 

 

Relative airflow is a force? Another example:

 

 

Stall speed is:

 

 

• 1. The minimum speed an aircraft can land at
   
   
  
• 2. The speed where drag and lift are equal
   
   
  
• 3. The minimum speed where lift exceeds weight
   
   
  
• 4. The minimum speed of an aircraft
   
   
  

 

 

The site gives answer 3 as the correct response which I would disagree with. In straight and level flight lift equals weight. Another Example:

 

 

(IAS) Indicated airspeed is:

 

 

• 1. The airspeed on the airspeed guage in the aircraft
   
   
  
• 2. Is the airspeed we generally talk about with beginning pilots
   
   
  
• 3. Is both the above
   
   
  
• 4. Is none of the above
   
   
  

 

 

The test gives answer 3 as the correct response. The problem I have is with with answer 2. Why would we talk about it? What makes it special? Why only beginning pilots? Perhaps the response would be better worded if it tried to working the concept of flight loads into the answer.

 

 

 

My suggestions to improve it would be:

 

• Have a look at the FAA flight instructors handbook. Though the topic is fairly dry the bit on levels of learning is likely to be worthwhile. http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/aviation_instructors_handbook/
   
   
  
• Rewrite the questions in a way that test understanding and application of knowledge not just rote learning.
   
   
  
• Get someone else to read the question to proof read them for typos. There are a few simple ones that sort of detract from it.
   
   
  
• Code in a back button. There are times when you press the wrong button, especially on an ipad and you know you have made a mistake but cant go back in the questions. (at least I couldnt)
   
   
  

 

 

 

 

[Ignition]

I have to agree with DJP, there are a few errors... (in both spelling, and question/answer combinations)

 

 

[facthunter]

46/52 in spins spirals etc. Had to try to work out what they wanted. Terminology questionable. Wouldn't consider that a good multi choice exam (even if I managed the lot) Nev

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Yep. Good concept, but needs lots of work before putting it up in the student thread here.

 

Keep up the good work, but check it through a few instructors first.

 

Cheers

 

 

[facthunter]

I have set quite a few of these multi choice exams. The more you refine them the more fair they will be on the student. The advantage is the marking is quick. The exam is a lot harder to compose well than one would think. The more the "luck" element is removed the more accurate the assessment. Make sure your later questions don't answer the previous ones. Nev

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

I wonder if these questions have been translated into English from another language, like a Google translation? Heh I got the roughened aerofoil wrong and I'm not happy....

 

 

[DrZoos]

Just spoke with him and mentioned all the above. He said its still very much Beta, and this is exactly the feedback he wants and needs

 

He has added a back button, made changes to most the questions mentioned above. He did say the use of certain words eg such as roughly equal to are specifically designed so that they didnt rote learn. They had to make the link between roughly and exactly to be able to answer the question rather then just remember its exactly. In any case he has listened to all feedback and made the suggested changes so far. He said it will be a few weeks before its edited. Its still in the data input stage. But all feedback, negative and positive is welcomed by him.

 

I prob jumped the gun a bit posting it in here, but i thought it looked great so far... without going into detail

 

 

[fly_tornado]

early feedback will save you a lot of time.

 

 

[Bandit12]

A suggestion for your friend - add a fifth option or present two questions at a time, the second one for feedback on that question. That way the feedback is systematic, and takes less time to match to the question it belongs to.

 

If your friend is into stats, IRT can be very useful to look at patterns of answers to see if there is any systematic errors going on (ie people of high ability should consistently get easy to moderate questions right, inconsistency points to poorly worded or confusing items).

 

With a bit of work, it can be a great idea.

 

 

[DrZoos]

He has added a heap more questions. There are 300 now. They now draw from a bank of qusestions and are presented in smal groups of say 10 questions from a bank of 20 etc. He has had the first few quizes edited for spelling / grammer. They have not yet been checked by an examiner, but they will be once its complete. http://www.pilotpracticeexams.com/

 

Bandit he added a feedback form and asks users to copy and paste the question into the feedback form if they find an error.

 

 

[facthunter]

I think the questions should be formed from a more complete knowledgebase. You are also getting to a stage where the terminology may be off course or unfamiliar. I can't see any improvement. I can honestly say I would not want my knowledge to be judged by these exams. Even if I scored 100% I wouldn't change my view.

 

Perhaps an indication of what the examiner considers the correct answer to be might be helpful and at least which answers are deemed to be incorrect. Nev

 

 

[DrZoos]

The questions are formed from the RAAus syllabus

 

Where do you want them to come from?

 

Drawing them from the CASA syllabus would make them CASA practice exams??

 

Nev which ones are you saying are incorrect. Constuctive criticism would help him far more then just criticism?? Hes doing this off his own bat just to help Rec student pilots , as everyone else out there is charging a fortune for these style quizzes.... So im all for helping him, rather then bagging his efforts...

 

The other thing is most the other quizzes out there dont self mark, so they can afford to have different types of responses. These ones self mark so the responses need to fit into that mold. ITs being done to help student pilots ensure they can answer questions from the RAAUS course work.

 

I can also say, every exam i have ever done is see questions where some questions have terminology different to the terminology im used to. Thats a good thing as it test my true understanding of the topic rather then my memory, even if i would prefer the questions to be worded differently. I will pass on your feedback.

 

 

[facthunter]

I don't know which answers I have given are incorrect. I have little confidence in the questions to feel I could GUARANTEE many of my answers ARE correct. I am not a stranger to exams. I mean exactly what I say here. I could probably approach it in a more "tricky" way to get better results, but I'm looking hard at the questions ( which is what you would want I presume) There is no point in me pussyfooting with the questions. I realise this is an open forum and perhaps not the best place to evaluate without some accusations going one way or another.

 

I believe in your aims.

 

Regarding your comment about varying terminology testing your (general) knowledge. I don't think it does.

 

It penalises someone who realises there are distinct differences in terminology and won't use a wrong one . Flying is like that. Confusion is to be avoided

 

If you think my critique is not constructive, and I'm bagging him I will stop. I assure you I'm not trying to do that. I really believe you have a problem that has to be addressed. If others think there is none, fine they are entitled to their opinion.. I did my best to get the Human Factors done properly. Long way to go yet. Nev

 

 

[DrZoos]

No Nev sorry if i came across that way. I will choose my words more carefully.

 

Hes a good mate of mine and he is a real doer. He is always doing stuff for the community and for others benefit. So for me to say to him, look people think your wordings wrong , or dont like your questions etc, its just not right for me to do so. Where as if i say hey question 3, 5 , and 14 in section ABC are worded confusingly then thats something he can fix. Because he has over 300 questions on there now , which is a fabulous effort. And im sure once its all edited and checked and fixed it will be a fantastic resouce for trainers and students studying RAAus.

 

He said the feedback from the site has been fantastic over the weekend. He changed a few questions and he is monitoring responses to see which ones people are getting wrong. My son is studying at present and he said its fantastic. He came to me with a few to check and we looked through his books and the questions where spot on, once we knew the answer.

 

Anyhow all im saying is the more specific one can be , ie with concrete examples the better.

 

 

[facthunter]

If it only works if you are studying from specific books then it is not really satisfactory. The topics I covered were ones I feel I have a good grounding in. The questions do come across as indicating a less than good knowledge of the subject. What books are you using as a knowledge base? The other question is how much are the words being changed by the questioner? I haven't logged in so perhaps more info is available that way. This doesn't alter the validity of my comments. nev

 

 

[Guest Nobody]

I think that there are levels of knowledge about a topic. When you get to the first level you know the topic, You understand it in your own mind. The second level is where you can teach that topic. You can explain it well enough to someone that they can get to the first level. The last one is when you know it so well that you can test someone elses knowledge of that topic. This requires knowing it so well that you can ask probing questions that clarify another persons understanding. This requires very good knowledge of the topic inside out and back to front.

 

 

[DrZoos]

I have always since my uni days had a saying. The more you know about something the more you know you dont know and the less you know about something the more you think you know. Its evident every time you go to a social gathering and the bufoon who knows least about most topics is the one shooting his mouth off about every topic of discussion.

 

Im not saying that about anyone in here in a nasty way, in fact quiet the opposite. Im implying that some in here are likely the very quiet intelligent type. There are perhaps some in here who's knowledge and understanding is so deep that they look at some multiple choice questions that are looking for a response from a beginner student to show the student has covered the topic at a basic level. And the question is looking for a response similar to that "written" in the curriculum. Where as some more experienced folks are thinking, hey that is not so simple. That cant be answered so simply or asked so simply, and in reality if it was being discussed by very experienced pilots they probably between them would not be able to agree on one simple answer. And if the instructor was discussing it with a student they would qualify and analyse it and discuss it in depth, but thats not possible in a multiple choice without complex copyrighted source material. I know in my profession that even simple issues are often highly debatable. Where as when your asking multiple choice questions its impossible to to test deep understanding without the use of complex source material , ie diagrams, tables, etc. All of which probably cant be put into online MC questions without a massive amount of extra work. And even if they could be put in they are probably subject to copyright issues. So if he was to ask deeper questions then those asked he would have to go to the individual source owners of all the diagrams etc and get permission off each one of them to publish it on the internet.... probably would make it impossible to do.

 

The reality is it has to be dumbed down to the type of question and response that can be put into a quiz without breaching copyright and without having to chase after permission for use of every source material, diagram and table. And i think if you keep that in mind hes done a great job. It clearly needs proofing which will come. But so far its shaping up like a good resource for the future "in my opinion". I know hes (he is) currently got an editor checking spelling and grammar (grammer lol).

 

 

[facthunter]

I am not in any way suggesting that one has to go into this to ridiculous depths. There is no need for that. You only have to get the basics right, but you DO have to get the BASICS right. Few people do physics these days but you would still have to understand some physics to fly a plane properly, regardless of how simple it is. Physics is not an opinion or belief. There are well constructed questions and there are correct answers. You offer the candidate the choice of linking them. At the beginning of this thread I said it was not easy. It must not be ambiguous or a game of chance. That is not fair on someone who really knows the subject. IF THEY can't anticipate and obtain a 100% mark, the exam is short of ideal, especially if it is a basic knowledge concept. Normally you might aim to make some questions quite searching by putting a nearly correct answer in. and make the correct one sound a bit suss . There are all kinds of tricks to make them hard. They can then be more of an IQ test than a knowledge test. IF you just test for the words from the book that will not give any indication of understanding of the subject. Nev