Structural engineers and state board raise problems with NCEES—s new computer-based structural exam

During public comment the board heard a series of concerns about the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) computer-based test (CBT) rollout for the structural engineering exam.

Michael Parolini, representing the Structural Engineering Association of California and the NCSEA, told the board the association —s goal is to ensure that —passers of that exam are minimally competent engineers.— He said the association supports any pass rate that reflects competence but criticized the CBT implementation as —a reflection of can you get through a single screen— rather than a test of structural engineering knowledge.

Board staff and other commenters said problems include screen size and navigation, timing, and that some parts of the structural exam combine continuous and discrete administrations, which can produce a challenging candidate experience. Staff described recent informal calls between state boards and NCEES during which concerns were raised and said they will monitor vendor and NCEES responses.

The board—s exam manager and staff said California candidates may be less affected, in part because many civil and fundamentals exams have already transitioned to computer-based formats; however, the board will forward candidate complaints to NCEES and follow up with additional reporting at future meetings.

Speakers urged continued monitoring and collaboration between state boards, candidate groups and NCEES to improve the testing environment and to ensure the exam measures technical content rather than the ability to manage the testing interface.