Studying CQI Primer for the CQT Exam - Having Problems - Can you help me?

[holly21]

First of all, I HAVE read other posts here about the CQT.

I've been studying for the upcoming CQT exam in March using the QCI Primer. Although I haven't gotten through all of the material yet, I'm having a lot of trouble with the section following the Ethics section and before the tools section (I don't remember off hand what it's called - could this be a bad sign? LOL - it has a lot of information about teaming and a six sigma overview.

I've read through this twice and still only manage to answer about 50% of the sample questions at the end of the section. The questions are ambiguous, but I also feel as though some of the questions require a deeper level of knowledge than what the primer provides.

Can anyone recommend an additional resource for this particular part of the exam? I've been through extensive "team training" throughout my professional career, but the teaming questions were the ones that I consistently missed (I think those are the ambiguous questions!).

Any additional references would be appreciated, however I do have a limited budget!

[Wes Bucey]

Holly, do you belong to ASQ? If so, one suggestion is to check with the Chair of your local section for referral to a fellow member who has been through the CQT and can give you some personal coaching. In the same vein, the ASQ Forum has a section open to the public where folks can post questions about certification exams. Frequently, ASQ staffers in charge of the exams drop in to provide more input. ASQ public Forums at http://www.asq.org/discussionBoards/index.jspa
Two of our Cove Moderators, Steve Prevette and Govind (Govindarajan Ramu) are also Moderators there and very helpful to folks asking certification questions.

[Govind]

Wes, Thanks for the quick feedback and valuable directions.

Holly,
You could be more specific on section of BOK. That can save our time and help you provide a more focused reply. From what you have described, there is only one subsection before Quality Tools called Quality Concepts (I.A)
Quality Concepts consists of:
1.Customers and suppliers
2.Quality principles for products and processes
3.Quality standards, requirements, and specifications
4.Cost of quality (COQ)
5.Six sigma
6.Continuous improvement techniques
May be you are talking about sub-sub section 5. (or even 6 included?)

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, QCI Question bank has approximately 10%~15% ambiguous questions. After you have written the CQT exam, you will realize that many of the QCI questions are more difficult than the actual ASQ Exam questions. I have had this feeling many times.

I think, one of the reasons is, ASQ Questions are item written by a group ASQ volunteers. These volunteers are trained for 1 day to item write and match the Cognitive level assigned to the section of the BOK. In addition, training is given to write and analyze any item until the Question has only one possible answer. (Occasionally, still couple of ambiguous questions pop up in some exams).

Iam not sure if QCI go through this rigor in item writing the questions. Don’t get me wrong, I used QCI for all my ASQ exams. There are many good questions in QCI and it is definitely in my opinion, starting point for ASQ Exam preparation..

To experience flavour of real exam questions, you may want to try:
http://www.asq.org/cert/pdf/cqt_sample_exam.pdf

If you find these questions also difficult, then your preparation may not be adequate.


For sub-sub section, Six Sigma, the Cognitive level is “Knowledge”. Hence, I would go for a Goal QPC-The Six Sigma Memory Jogger™ II.

For the section on Team Functions the Cognitive level is “Application”, I would choose:
http://qualitypress.asq.org/perl/catalog.cgi?item=H1103
(This combination seem to cover the various sub-sub section with addition of QCI Primer).

Answering multiple-choice questions comes with only adequate practice. You need to develop the skill of identifying the “intent” and “key word” of the question. If you get a good grasp of the Body of Knowledge and understand the intent of the question, you have high probability of passing any ASQ Exam.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Govind.

[Jennifer Kirley]

Wes and Govind are right on.

I liked Thomas Pyzdek's books the best. You can get accompanying study guides too, and the publisher Quality America (not an affiliate of mine) also has practice CDs--which may be rather superfluous when using the study guide books. The CDs are little more than a large bank of practice test questions.

I understand you don't have a lot to spend on this, so I would contact your local ASQ if you are a member. If you're not a member, try your area university libraries and/or industrial technology departments for loaner materials.

Taking such comprehensive questions requires a certain skill that is developed with practice. One should:

1. Be cautious not to read too much into the question; answer the question as it is, do not overanalyze the question's intent.

2. Appreciate there may be more than one (at least partially or contexturally) correct answer. Choose the best answer.

3. Understand the questions are written and edited by a wide range of professionals in various fields. You are bound to come across questions/answers with which you don't agree or completely approve of. Again, select the best answer among the choices and try not to second guess yourself into changing a lot of answers. Very often, the first answer you make is the best one.

4. Do take materials with you, but only those that you are familiar with (you can find subjects in easily) and/or those that have really great lookup features, like the indeces and tables of contents. Do not take stacks of books--I used three as a rule, and two most often for whichever exam.

5. Practice looking things up. You are not memorizing the Body Of Knowledge, you are becoming resourceful and wise to it. When I took my exams, there were few questions I didn't look up. Besides, I found I always learn more when I am looking up a particular question, than just reading a text (BIG yawn).

My best to you!

[holly21]

Thanks to all for taking the time to anwer my question, even though I wasn't very specific.... my apologies. I'm happy to hear that the CQI questionstend to be a little harder than the actual test. I've ordered an additional book that I feel will help fill in some of the gaps.

Now I just have to focus on statistics.... 72 days until exam time.

[Jennifer Kirley]

Originally Posted by holly21

Thanks to all for taking the time to anwer my question, even though I wasn't very specific.... my apologies. I'm happy to hear that the CQI questionstend to be a little harder than the actual test. I've ordered an additional book that I feel will help fill in some of the gaps.

Now I just have to focus on statistics.... 72 days until exam time.

The thing that really mattered to me most has always been the fact that reference books are allowed into the exam situations. Doing high level math should absolutely not require things like memorizing formulas. Use your resources.

One wonderful resource I spent $20 on was Quality America's CQE Quick Reference Notes. While I took my last CQT exam quite awhile ago and I don't know exactly what the statistics portion looks like, I found this Notes book quite valuable while taking the CQE for two reasons:

1. The descriptions, formulas and definitions it contains are to-the-point and easy to find/read. The language is, in my view, suitable in most respects to the CQT as well, although I don't expect you would need all of its contents.

2. There is a lot of room for note-taking. While to some this looks like empty space you are paying for, I used this space to show things like my own working through problems and the math's operations. Since I am weakest in math, it was very helpful to both work through the problems and keep my notes as reference. This is allowed in the exam rooms now, if I am not mistaken. So this $20 book doubled as a study guide and reference material. Excellent.

Like I said before, practice on problems in your materials. Many of these sample test questions are actual old exam questions. Looking up specific things and practicing reaching solutions is "Learning by doing", the best way the majority of people learn.