The State of Scratch Paper?
Given the new upcoming changes to online proctoring, will scratch paper again be allowed in ARE exam settings?
NCARB's statement from Jan of '24:
"NCARB’s psychometricians had been encouraging NCARB to move to a “clean desk” policy for exams taken at the test center even before the launch of online proctoring. While learning to use the digital whiteboard can take some time and practice, it ultimately offers the same function as physical scratch paper."
A couple things:
1. Can someone elaborate on what these "psychometricians" idea is? Why is it a good thing for students and architects to have a "clean desk"?
2. I can't imagine anyone who studies education methodologies and how people learn and think would believe that using a virtual "whiteboard" glowing on a screen with little buttons is the same as a scribbling notes with pencil and paper. It has the "same function", yes, but it is far from the same thing. We use our hands to think. Is NCARB suggesting this change?
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kylewinston I think a lot of candidates share your frustration here - I also personally found the whiteboard very difficult to use when I took the ARE. From NCARB’s perspective, the clean desk policy is mainly about standardizing testing conditions and preventing exam content from leaving the room. NCARB has specifically said the digital whiteboard was adopted for exam security and consistency between in-person and online testing environments. While these additional security measures can feel like an inconvenience, I personally appreciated the flexibility in being able to test remotely from home.
While the digital whiteboard technically serves the same purpose as physical scratch paper, it definitely changes how many you process information, sketch relationships, track calculations, and think spatially under pressure. It's frustrating, but it is a policy candidates must abide by - so the best thing you can do is practice with a similar interface before test day. Use a basic digital sketchpad while doing practice problems can help build familiarity with typing notes, drawing diagrams with a mouse, organizing calculations digitally, and switching between windows efficiently. It doesn’t fully replace paper, but reducing the tool friction ahead of time can definitely help preserve mental energy during the actual exam!
Good luck!
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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Thanks for your generous response. I understand NCARB's desire for security and parity with at-home test taking.
My two main thoughts are:
- security will only get more stringent (seems to be an inevitability in technology, in general), and;
- all testing for all professionals ought not be the same (because you cannot separate testing for content from the means of accessing that content in our minds, be it diagramming set-backs or tracking totals from retainage or $/SF, etc.)
I am mostly interested in NCARB's use of "psychometricians" -- who are they and what do their studies reveal? Is it only about security and fairness? Because if that's the case, there will never be enough and it seems only inevitable that at-home test taking will cease to exist as cheaters I imagine will likely continue to find ways to get around the rules (you can only require so many cameras to surveil!), and they'll become more stringent, as they have recently.
I'd be curious to see how the ARE compares to other professional exams and the protocols or peer-institutions? For example, at your standard PSI testing facility -- this is anecdotal -- but you'll see dozens of test takers, and the vast majority of which (it seems) have access to a pencil and paper. Many even bring in text books. So it's ironic that the profession I'd argue more heavily dependent on pencil/paper cannot use it when it really matters to become a professional.
I imagine psychometricians are balancing lot of things, with security as the top priority. But I'd like to get a rationale, as fee-paying NCARB Associate, for this beyond security. Because security only gets more stringent. How are the experts considering how prospective professionals are taught? Do they distinguish architects from, say, engineers? I can only imagine that the psychometricians studying those students in mathematics, for example, are reluctant to take their pen and paper away knowing a single equation can likely fill up a single sheet. And that's them exercising judgement about the risk vs ability to test accurately and fairly. Are their psychometricians actually studying what's specific to architects?
I'd like to see an NCARB study documenting this. User-feedback and online surveys about this subject abound online and they are obviously not happy (I am new to this issue).
PS I am not interesting in complaining about the whiteboard. I think that misses the point.
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Totally fair. Architecture is uniquely visual, spatial, iterative, and diagram-driven compared to many other professions, so the medium itself becomes part of the cognitive process, not just a convenience.
These links actually reinforce your point pretty well and provide some additional context to how psychometricians are used in NCARB's processes:
I also think your comparison to other professional exams is fair. Though I can't speak personally on any of them, many standardized exams still allow some form of physical notation or controlled materials because the testing bodies decided the tradeoff was worth it for accurately assessing competency.
I'm sure others can provide their perspectives on this topic as well, so thank you for sparking the discussion!
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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