The AC Exam
A Valid, Reliable & Fair Direct or Indirect Measure for ACCE
Construction Program Student Learning Outcomes
Building Individual Professionalism
in Construction Since 1971.
Presentation
Overview
• The American Institute of
Constructors (AIC)
• AIC Constructor Certification
Commission
• American National Institute of
Standards (ANSI) Accreditation
• Constructor Certification
• Development of Associate
Constructor (AC) Certification
Examination
• Utilizing the AC Examination as
an ACCE Construction Outcome
Measure
About the AIC
• Founded in 1971
• Organization dedicated to
enhancing the professional
image of a constructor.
• Provides education,
networking and career
advancement opportunities for
it’s Members.
About the Commission
The Commission oversees all aspects
of the certification process.
1993
1996
Constructor Certification
Commission was founded to
establish the Constructor
Certification Program
Testing and
Awarding of
Certifications
Began
About the Commission
Sets the educational and experience
qualifications for Professional Constructors
Includes representatives from
the industry and academia,
including other trade and
professional organizations like
the ABC, AGC and ASA
Oversees the
examination
development
ANSI Accreditation
American National Standards Institute
Being accredited by ANSI serves as a third party national
recognition of both the AC and CPC certifications.
Steps to Becoming Accredited:
1.
Develop a comprehensive set of Operational Policies and
Processes based on ANSI Standards.
2.
Conduct a Role Delineation Study to identify cognitive
competencies required of ACs and CPCs, the relative
importance of each and the needed educational and
experiential experience to take the examinations.
3.
Based on the results of the Role Delineation Study develop
the certification exams, using nationally acceptable
psychometric methodology, to insure they are valid, reliable
and fair.
4.
Conduct a comprehensive Internal Audit.
5.
Submit application – 1000 plus pages.
What is Certification?
• A voluntary and nongovernmental process to
recognize the education and/or
experience of an individual who
meets certain criteria or
standards
• An ongoing proof of commitment
to ethics and professionalism
• Earned and maintained
throughout a career
Why Construction Certification
• Constructor Certification raises the standards of
professional practices across the industry
• Provides the Constructor a professional image, in
line with the Engineer or Architect
Benefits to the Employer
• Provides an independent
assessment of an employee’s
skills and knowledge
• Improves company
marketability to clients
• Added assurance that
employees will continue to
improve their skills and
knowledge
Benefits to the Owner
• Added assurance that their
projects are being managed
effectively
• Opportunity to use as a
pre-qualification
requirement
• Knowledge that their
construction management
team will be more
professional and ethical
Benefits to the
Constructor
• Nationally recognized
certification of one’s
skills and knowledge
• Enhanced image as a
professional to employers,
clients and the public
• Improved career
opportunities
• Sets one apart in a
competitive marketplace
Benefits to the Educator
• Provides a direct or indirect
assessment of students’
scores compared to national
averages, by subject area
• Provides a detailed
assessment mapped to
ACCE Program Outcomes
• Offers students unique
opportunity to become
certified upon graduation
Levels of Certification
Associate Constructor (AC) | Individuals within 12 months of
graduating from a Construction Management program OR a
professional with 4 years of experience in the management of the
construction process.
Certified Professional Constructor (CPC) | For seasoned
professionals. To qualify, you must have 8 years of qualifying
experience OR a mix of 8 years of qualifying experience and
education OR have obtained 4 years of qualifying experience since
obtaining the AC designation. In all cases, a candidate must have 2
years of experience in a position of overall responsibility of a project.
Certification Process
Establishment
of required
education
and/or
experience
qualifications
Application
Approval
Examination
Certification
Continuing
Professional
Development
Growth of the Program
• To date over 22,000 individuals
have taken the Level I examination
and 1,200 have taken the Level II
examination.
• Exams are given at over
70 locations, increasing yearly,
many of which are Universities.
Current Certified Constructors
2,500
Associate
Constructors
750
Certified
Professional
Constructors
Development of the AC Exam
Exam Specifications
• The Role Delineation Study provides information that is formatted
into examination specifications.
• Exam Specifications are topics and subtopics associated with the
identified knowledge of an individual at the respective level of
certification.
• The topics and subtopics are placed within the same major
categories that were used in the Role Delineation Study
for consistency.
• Exam Specifications are available to the public.
Development of the AC Exam
Body of Knowledge
Project Administration, 15%
Construction Geomatics,
2%
Communication Skills, 13%
Engineering Concepts, 5%
Construction Safety, 7%
Management Concepts ,
12%
Planning, Scheduling, and
Schedule Control, 12%
Materials, Methods and Project
Modeling and Visualization, 10%
Budgeting, Costs and Cost
Control, 12%
Bidding and Estimating,
12%
• Commission Examination Committee
develops the questions.
• Questions are mapped to the examination
specifications and reference sources (i.e.
textbook, etc.).
• All questions are placed in a data bank.
• Examination Committee randomly selects the
required number of questions in each
category to develop each examination.
• Examination Committee with oversight from
Examination Contractor determine the
minimum passing score.
Development of the AC Exam
Writing Questions
Development of the AC Exam
Exam Analysis
• Following the scoring of all of the examinations, the
Examination Committee with oversight by the
Examination Contractor, conducts a formal
psychometric analysis to determine the suitability of the
continual use of the questions as is or as revised.
• Questions that are deleted are removed from the
examination item data bank; those that need revision
are revised and placed back in the bank and those that
remain valid continue to remain in the bank.
AC Examination as a Third
Party Assessment
• Measure as to whether or not the
examinee has attained or mastered
specific knowledge needed to be effective
in the role for which the certification
examinations have been designed based
on the results of a Role Delineation Study.
• The AC examination has been determined
by ANSI to be a valid, reliable and fair
measure of the knowledge that the
industry has determined as needed to be
effective in the role of an entry level
manager of the construction process.
• Therefore, the AC examination can serve
as a direct or indirect measure of
knowledge needed to be able to perform a
designated outcome.
ACCE Student
Program Learning
Outcomes
Whether or not the AC examination can
serve as a direct or indirect measure of
the mastery of program student learning
outcomes is based on the degree to
which the examination questions assess
the mastery of the domain of concepts
associated with each outcome.
AC Exam as a Measure for
the ACCE Student Program
Learning Outcomes
• A mapping exercise was conducted to
determine for each ACCE Outcome, if there was
a broad enough range of questions associated
with a random sample of concepts within any
one domain or outcome.
• It was determined that the AC exam can be
used as a direct measure for the ACCE
Outcome Numbers 6-8 and 12-20. And as an
indirect measure for the other outcomes.
AC Exam as a Measure for
the ACCE Student Program
Learning Outcomes
• The assessment of the attainment of a specific
program student outcome is whether or not the
student has the prerequisite skills and/or
knowledge to effectively perform it.
• Example: Create a construction project
schedule – not – how they are creating a
schedule or the degree to which they have
mastered all of the individual concepts needed
to create a construction schedule – which are
skills/knowledge covered by specific course
outcomes or objectives.
AC Exam as a Measure for
the ACCE Student Program
Learning Outcomes
• Since the examination questions must remain
confidential for possible future use, they cannot
be shared to anyone, for any reason.
How can the results of the AC
examination be used to make
improvements relative to any
specific outcome?
Using AC Exam as a measure to make needed improvements
Case Study
SCENARIO:
The results from the
administration of the AC exam
indicated that a cohort of students
did not perform at a specific
construction education program
predetermined level (outcome
measure target) on a specific
outcome and the program needed
to work on making improvements.
Using AC Exam as a measure to make needed improvements
Case Study
SCENARIO:
The results from the
administration of the AC exam
indicated that a cohort of students
did not perform at a specific
construction education program
predetermined level (outcome
measure target) on a specific
outcome and the program needed
to work on making improvements.
ACTION:
The program faculty (with input
from students and others) would
have to assess the part of the
curriculum and/or how it is being
taught associated with the specific
outcome, using the AC
examination specifications,
and identify areas of possible
weakness, make needed revisions
and see if improvements have
occurred in the next testing
session.
Using AC Exam s a measure to make needed improvements
Keep in mind
ACTION:
that for any type of examination a student
The results from the
The program faculty (with input
may not be motivated to
perform well.
administration of the AC exam
from students and others) would
indicated that a cohort of students
have to assess the part of the
did not perform
at a specific
how it is being
If student
motivation tocurriculum
do welland/or
is identified
construction education program
taught associated with the specific
as the
reason
for low scores,
is then
predetermined
level
(outcome
outcome, it
using
the AC
measurenecessary
target) on a specific
examination
specifications,
to develop and
implement
outcome and the program needed
and identify areas of possible
ways to incentivize students
to improve
to work on making improvements.
weakness, make needed revisions
their performance.
and see if improvements have
occurred in the next testing
session.
Initiatives to Assist Construction
Programs to Utilize the AC Exam as
an Outcome Measure
• Approved educational institution examination
sites are provided a summary report of how
their students, as a group, performed on the
examination as a whole and by the 10 major
categories along with a similar report
combining all examination sites.
• Similar reports are made available by
examinee as long as the examinee has
provided prior permission for the Examination
Contractor to release his/her score.
• The Commission plans to make available
similar reports but by ACCE Construction
Outcome for the use of construction education
programs to use as a direct or indirect
measure for each.
• The Commission will work with educational
institutions to become approved test sites.
• AC Exam Study Guide is undergoing a
complete revision and will be available before
the end of 2015.
Why Support Use of the AC Exam?
•
•
•
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Examination Development
Examination Administration
Examination Accreditation
Examination Assessment
Building Individual Professionalism
in Construction Since 1971.
Thank You
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