Re: Hi
Paul Chabarek ( (no email) )
Fri, 10 Jul 1998 12:15:41 -0400
Victoria, Re your (1), it's a good idea that can be quite helpful. Just
realize on Pt 9 there isn't a WHOLE lot new this time around (many though
not all of the "NEW" references in the Syllabus are revisions/updated
versions). I've prepared items like (2) in the past for previous exams, but
without a whole lot of new material, even without a distribution, you can
get a reasonable feel for varying emphasis by looking at the Actex old exam
questions, which at first glance appear to have improved quite a bit from
the 80's. Re "off-reading" questions, frequency varies from exam to exam,
but the intent of the CAS is to respond to students' complaints in the past
that there were too many rote memory type questions - they're trying to ask
more "thought" type questions. I wouldn't get too preoccupied or paranoid
about questions of this type being asked for a couple of reasons. First,
you can't explicitly prepare for this type of question other than mastering
the syllabus material as best you can, and you can't anticipate what could
be asked. If the question is asked fairly and clearly, and if you know your
syllabus well, and you spell out your logic, thought process, and state
your assumptions when you respond, you'll have a good chance at giving a
good answer. If the question's ambiguous or very unrelated to the Syllabus,
chances are excellent that very few candidates will be scoring many points
on that question so you won't lose much if any ground versus the pack re
the scoring curve. Another reason not to get overly concerned about
off-reading questions is that these questions are more difficult for the
questionmakers to devise and to evaluate/grade fairly/objectively, so the
frequency of such questions is not likely to be very high. All of the above
my opinion of course but hope it is helpful. Paul Chabarek
----------
> From: Victoria.Lusk@dora.state.co.us
> To: studygroup9@lists.casact.org; Yin.Lawn@cna.com
> Subject: RE: Hi
> Date: Thursday, July 09, 1998 5:27 PM
>
> Two things that worked very well (at least I liked and benefited from
> them) in the Part 8 study group were:
>
> (1) For new or newer papers which had few historical exam questions, one
> or more enterprising study group members would post possible exam
> questions (and answers).
>
> (2) one very kind person did a distribution of the point value of
> questions by paper for the last 5 or so exams and posted it. I found it
> interesting to see how the exams emphasized the various papers, and how
> it changed.
>
>
> Also: the syllabus says that "the exam will not necessarily be limited
> to the excerpts expressed in the listed readings" and that questions
> with no generally acceptable solution may be posed.
>
> Can anyone tell me how often these off-reading questions are put on the
> exam?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Victoria Lusk
>
>
> >----------
> >From: Lawn,Yin[SMTP:Yin.Lawn@cna.com]
> >Sent: Thursday, July 09, 1998 1:57 PM
> >To: studygroup9@lists.casact.org
> >Subject: Hi
> >
> >So, how should we do this? Are we going to post questions over the
> >internet? or are we going to focus on specific topics then people can
> >discuss about it then someone can wrap it up with a conclusion? Are we
> >going to make up questions then share with each other?
> >
> > ---Yin
> >