RJJ,
"It would be of interest to share a little exemplification of your thought process on closed book testing! "
I have taken serveral closed book tests for various licenses; some of which included hands on application; and passed all of them the first time.
The following exams were closed book tests;
In 1973 I took the Journeman's Plumbing test; and 30 days later; the Master Plumber's test for my license; and passed both the first time. Some of us are fortunate and tests seem to come easy. Also, note that I had never done any plumbing before those exams in my life; zero experience; none was required; just pass the test.
In 1987, I decided I wanted to sell real estate; and took the Real Estate Agent test; and a year later took the Broker's exam; also passed the first time.
When my wife became ill with cancer; I forgot to renew my Master Plumber's License and had to retake the Master's exam; and although I had a lot of experience running a plumbing company and doing plumbing found it much more difficult; but, passed the first time.
I decided I wanted to be a Plumbing Inspector and, I took the the Texas State Inspector's License exam. It was much easier; because I had just taken the Master Plumber's exam and the Inspector's exam didn't require hands on testing.
I have also taken and passed the Texas Home Inspector's exam, Water Supply Protection Specialist exam, Back Flow Prevention Assembly Tester exam, and Texas Code Enforcement Officer exam; all of which were closed book; and passed all the first time.
So, I do have some experience with "closed book" exams.
And, surprisingly, I find that the open book exams were more difficult for me.
I have also taken the following open book exams; and except for one; passed all of them the first time; and, am an ICC Certified;
Building Inspector, Mechanical Inspector, Plumbing Inspector, Plumbing Plans Examiner, Residential Building Inspector, Residential Combination Inspector, Residential Electrical Inspector, Residential Energy Inspector/Plans Examiner, Residential Mechanical Inspector, and Residential Plumbing Inspector.
The most difficult exam I have taken was my last; which was the Electrical Inspector; which I failed three times before passing it on the fourth attempt. I just don't like electricity; and am very cautious around it; which is probably a good thing. I've been shocked more than I care to remember. The worst, when I was working on an outside A/C unit (oops, I forgot, I was also a licensed HVAC Technician for about four months); and trusted the homeowner to turn off the correct breaker. When I regained conciousness, I had some nasty things to say; and quit doing that type of work. But, I digress.
Having taken both; I do believe that I learned more when studying for the open book exams than I did for the closed book exams.
As I stated in my previous post; the open book exam helped me learn how to navigate the codes, while teaching me the code requirements.
While the closed book exams were more of a, cramming for a test experience; and I closed my mind to the whole awful experience as soon as I walked out the door.
And, as I stated in my previous post; I believe that learning to navigate the codes and finding the answers is as important; if not more important; than memorizing the codes at the time we took the exam; and not knowing how to navigate the books to find the solutions to code questions.
Remember, we only took the test on the codes in place at that time; and not on the present codes; which have had many changes since we took the exam.
Uncle Bob